Fridge-in-a-box?

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Hi all.

So far, I've read through about 50 pages of back posts.

Say I want to build an off-road camping trailer, and I want it to be capable of fording small streams, so I'm thinking a solid, waterproof main box. And a solid lid to keep the rain out, natually.

I want to keep an electric Freezer/Fridge in it.

Is it necessary to vent the trailer somehow to let the warm air out? And how do you do that without letting in tons of road dust when it's dry?

Some of you have fridges in your trailers. How do you handle this? Or is it not really a problem?

Regards
John

 

[Martyn]

It's not an issue, so long as you have the recommended clearances around the fridge. The temperatures inside a trailer are typically lower than those found inside a vehicle.

A few caveats.
We are talking about 45-60 liter compressor fridges
The fridge is located in the main box
The main box has a volume at least 5 times that of the fridge
The fridge is a high efficiency fridge i.e. Engel, National Luna, ARB

The only time I have seen issues due to heat is when a fridge is mounted in the nose box. In that case vents are needed.

Second note, building a trailer that is water and dust resistant is more complex that just the fit and seals between the body and lid. You have to remove any flex in the design. No matter how well your openings seal if the trailer flexes the trailer box will leak.

 

[rctr03]

i have a cdn 101 and i bought an engle 35 from martyn 3 years ago for the trailer. i have never had a problem with heat or dust, and no vents.

jimmy