T&T: 12 volt thermostat

[Albin43SDtr]

'Lo All,

Years ago, I installed a cheap household-type thermostat that was 
made for heating and cooling, located behind the refrigerator. This 
type thermostat is normally run on 24V AC, but I connected it to 12V 
DC as the current draw of these 'computer' fans is very small. Be 
sure to connect the fan(s) to the cooling side of the thermostat. I 
run the two fans on 12 DC and have never had a problem. I set the 
thermostat to turn on at about 80 degrees, if I remember correctly. 
In the summer, they run constantly, in the winter, they cycle. The 
thermostats, being nothing more than a switch use no power themselves.

The Never-Cold became a Too-Cold after the fans were installed - we 
had to run it at a lower setting as it froze some things like 
lettuce. We have not had a problem with the Norcold since. (Knock on 
wood - not that I am superstitious, I just don't take chances.)

I used the same thermostat setup for ventilating/cooling the inverter 
compartment. Again, we have had no problems.

Hmmm, it just dawned on me....we did have a problem. The original 
fans had sleeve-type bearings. They lasted about a year before they 
started making a lot of racket. I replaced them with ball-bearing 
type fans and have had no further problems for 4-5(?) years.


Take care and be safe.

Wayne
Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck
Near Panama City, FL