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Old 08-05-11, 10:26 PM   #21
AC_Hacker
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Piwoslaw have you thought about replacing the plastic cap with a metal one? If it was replaced with a metal dish and had some thermal compound for computer heat sinks it would allow it to passively cool quicker, or even adding an old spare CPU heat sink to cool it faster.
If I understand Piwoslaw correctly, the plastic cap is just a catch bowl to hold condensed water that drains from the refrigerator compartment. It holds the water and the heat rising off the compressor evaporates the water.

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Old 08-06-11, 02:12 PM   #22
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If I understand Piwoslaw correctly, the plastic cap is just a catch bowl to hold condensed water that drains from the refrigerator compartment. It holds the water and the heat rising off the compressor evaporates the water.
I understand that but plastic is a poor conductor of heat so the cap is holding heat in a bit at the top like wearing a hat in the winter. If it was metal it would conduct heat away and more effectively use the cooling generated be the evaporating water and overall giving more surface area to draw the heat out.
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Old 08-06-11, 03:12 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by Phantom View Post
Piwoslaw have you thought about replacing the plastic cap with a metal one? If it was replaced with a metal dish and had some thermal compound for computer heat sinks it would allow it to passively cool quicker, or even adding an old spare CPU heat sink to cool it faster.
I gave that some thought, but decided that it'd be better to keep the compressor from cooling off too quickly. Here's why:
If the compressor cools off very slowly, slow enough to still be warm when it turns on again, then it didn't lose all of its heat, so that heat didn't get a chance to penetrate into the freezer or fridge compartment. The natural next step would be to insulate the compressor itself, but I'm afraid that would raise its operating temperature by too much, which may not be good.

Also, if the compressor radiates its heat slowly, then what it does radiate is at a lower temperature, reducing the temperature differential across the refrigerator wall. So it boils down to higher temperature for a shorter time vs lower temperature for a longer time. I'm probably down to splitting hairs at this moment, tho...

BTW I can't remember: Is heat transfer through a medium a polynomial (quadratic?) or exponential function? Gotta look that up...
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Old 01-10-12, 06:43 AM   #24
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Default Condensation?!?

I noticed a small puddle of water under the rear of the fridge today. There was a droplet still hanging and it appears to have come from under the insulation I attached to the back wall. After making sure that the tube which drains moisture from the inside isn't clogged I got the idea that maybe water vapor is condensing on the rear wall. That wall is now slightly cooler with the insulation on it, especially since the coils aren't heating it anymore, plus the insulation hinders ventilation.
I'm not ready to de-insulate yet, and I'm not even sure if I should be worried, but I will have to see how much water is coming out from under there and make sure it isn't dripping on anything electrical.
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Old 09-28-12, 03:38 AM   #25
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Living in a cold climate for at least for half the year I had considerd a coil outside with alcohol pumped in to a small fan powered HX in the fridge. As the long cold nights would provide chilled alcohol -12 deg C and colder for much of the time during winter. But better judgement prevaled, during the winter months the warm air blowing down accross the floor from the fridges condensor is a welcomed evil.

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