So, today I modified my 82 qt ARB fridge, to hopefully make it more efficient. This is the mods that I did: added a small piece of aluminum to the bottom of the radiator/evap coils, so the fan would push ALL of the air it moves through the radiator/evap coils & not through the space on the bottom. It seems air is like water, it takes the path of least resistance. Then, using 1/8" sticky back foil insulation by Frost King, from HDepot @ $18 for a 18"x 15' roll & card board, I insulated the cooler side of the compressor compartment & the top of the compressor compartment. I used 2 layers, one on top of the other, on top of the card board-so it is removeable. Very tight quarters in there. It was a PITA to be sure. But I am happy with the results. The compressor & evap coil are directly under the "shelf" inside the cooler & is the reason why it is noticeably warmer than the rest of the cooler. I would not put miracle whip or eggs on it before. But now, I don't think it would be an issue. It is noticeably cooler to the touch. I have no scientific data but certainly agree with "Stumpalump's" findings on this thread. After the mods, I plugged it in, inside a 73* air conditioned house, it was set @ 32*. When it came on, it said inside temp was 83* (it was outside all day in the garage for the mods). It was down to 32* in 40 minutes. Like I said, nothing scientific, but it has to help immensely. In his thread, he said compressor was reading 115* while running inside an air conditioned house. After 25 minutes of not running, it only cooled down to 104*. So all that time, the heat is migrating upwards into the shelf area inside the fridge. That is also the reason I use an extra 8" high velocity fan, pointed at the compressor/vents/evap coil, when I have 120v power avail, if it is blazing hot out.
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threa ... ridge-mods
I will be doing the 50 qt fridge in the near future as well. Why they dont do that from the factory is beyond me. It would literally only add about $2 to the cost of the fridge, & It would be so much easier to do before all that crap was in there.
