Fridge vent covers

Hi, in the destruction manual it states these should put on when the temp is below as certain level. Does this also mean the top cover as well when the fridge is running via gas ?

Thank you Niall.

yes

I had issues with doing this last month - take a look: https://www.autosleeper-ownersforum.com/t28228-fridge-vent-covers-caused-fridge-to-overheat

Never use mine at all, except when it’s sitting unused on the drive...I found my fridge overheated if I put the covers on...

Ray

On my vents, behind the slats, I have a mesh (bug protection perhaps)
I suspect that this mesh inhibits air flow and probably keeps a reasonable temperature in the area so preventing cooling issues when the winter temperatures get below 5 or so degs!
Just my logic...

Ray

Thanks fore the replies everyone, and the link Roger. Very useful reading.

Niall.

Last time I used mine in the winter the freezer defrosted.  Now when it's really cold I just use them while travelling or laying the van up .
Rich..

Yes, use them when outside temp is low as in wintertime and use them when washing down the MH to prevent water penetration.

Leighton.

Use the covers for van storage and cleaning only.

I went away over Christmas this year (hit minus figures overnight) and fridge worked fine without them - we actually had to turn it down as it was getting too cold in the main compartment.

Up to this van, none of the vans I've owned even came with covers and the fridges operated fine without them in all weathers (all absorption fridges).

On other forums people even said in winter the fridge wouldn't operate well until the covers were removed.

Have always used them in winter temperatures on all of our vans without any problems.

The difference could be the appliance. Our last van had only a fridge and the covers worked well, we now have a fridge freezer and with the top cover on the warm air is trapped and subsequently reduces the effectiveness of the freezer stopping it from achieving the required temperature to keep food frozen.  The hand book doesn't acknowledge this and gives the advise to cover up if the temperature falls below 6°, I won't do this and everything is ok. Just my opinion of course.
Rich..

I fitted the top and bottom fridge covers to my 2013 Broadway FB when temperatures dropped to near zero and the top cover nearly melted. So, I took that off and just used the bottom one. I found the fridge didn’t work as effectively with it on, so I took that one off and have not bothered fitting any since. 
You might have to use a bit of trial and error to see if yours benefit you, but I suspect as people use their van differently, your findings might differ from others too.

ajrm wrote:I fitted the top and bottom fridge covers to my 2013 Broadway FB when temperatures dropped to near zero and the top cover nearly melted. So, I took that off and just used the bottom one. I found the fridge didn’t work as effectively with it on, so I took that one off and have not bothered fitting any since. 
You might have to use a bit of trial and error to see if yours benefit you, but I suspect as people use their van differently, your findings might differ from others too.

Thanks, will keep a close eye on fridge freezer operation in future with vents in situ. An addition to other frequent inspections like covert water leaks, tyre pressures, winter battery status etc etc. Regards.

For summer use, I found the hotter the outside temperature, the worse the fridge, and especially the freezer, operated. Obviously, this is the opposite of what you need. 
I fitted a fridge vent cooling fan kit. It worked so much better afterwards. 
Worth thinking about if your ice creams in the freezer get soft in the summer!

Just a thought. Would running on gas or mains make a difference when using vent covers? We rarely use EHU so run on gas most of the time. The gas burner will keep the air at the back of the fridge quite warm whatever the weather outside. Maybe those that use the vent covers when on EHU find the fridge is working better as there won’t be as much direct heat in the vent ducts. 
Or am I talking rubbish here?

ajrm wrote:I fitted a fridge vent cooling fan kit. It worked so much better afterwards. 
Worth thinking about if your ice creams in the freezer get soft in the summer!

Will do and thanks again.

I always use fridge on EHU and if necessary covers on too, found no problem with that choice.

The fastenings on our covers aren’t good, so we need to replace them.  I had the bottom cover fitted on the recent trip - but not the top one as I couldn’t get it to stay on - and the fridge worked fine.  We removed it when we reached warmer temperatures and then forgot to replace it.  I don’t know if there is any connection, but when we reached sub zero temperatures again, the fridge was struggling to fire up on gas, and ended up stopping working on gas altogether.  It’s now in for repairs.

I intend to get replacement covers but may not use the top cover - not sure it makes sense to do so.

It becomes a quandary when the dedicated instructions to the fridge freezer together with same in the van owner's manual dictate conditions for use.

I have been trialing different combinations over the last couple of days .... currently in north wales and it’s sub zero so ideal !, well it is for this purpose.
The best combination for my fridge/freezer is bottom cover on and top cover off. If I put the top cover on as well the fridge temperature starts to rise. No covers on at all and again the fridge struggles to get down to temp.


Niall.

Its important to remember that there are several different models of Dometic fridge in us and to be aware that during 2016 they started varying their advice on use of fridge covers (especially the top one) depending on model (capacity) and fuel source, some of this advice was not reflected in the AS handbooks at the time so do refer to the Dometic handbook.


The same may apply to Thetford fridges but I don't know.

That’s useful Peter thanks.

Paramedic wrote:It becomes a quandary when the dedicated instructions to the fridge freezer together with same in the van owner's manual dictate conditions for use.

Revisiting both sets of instructions again, it's now become more clearer to me, a sort of 'light bulb moment' slow as I am sometimes. They refer only to a single winter cover which of course relates to the efficient running of the fridge! I had mistaken the two pictures of different types of vent covers to mean must cover both vents. Therefore I now hopefully understand why some members don't feel the need to cover the top vent being the freezer. However will fit both covers when hosing down for cleaning. Hope this makes sense.