Turbo "vent"ilation!

When we purchased Eleanor we knew we were going to have to do something about the fridge vent as not only had it badly yellowed but was only really held on in three corners as one had broken

As par for the course the vents are no longer available and it was a very odd size so nothing new would fit. Also there was only 1 vent, now a standard installation has 2 underneath each other allowing air to pass over the elements and aid cooling, so the fridge was going to be a little disadvantaged.
In addition the gas vent did not guarantee to vent outside which I prefer for safety reasons
So it was time to have a ponder. I came up with the idea of using a plastic back plate to which everything else would be attached.
The only really available material in white sheet form which would laser cut was perspex which by nature is brittle and it took three attempts to get to the end of the process without breaking it!
I made up a cardboard template which with assistance from my talented daughter we converted into a computer design which Rebecca laser cut for me at work from 3mm material.

The first job was to remove the vent cover and its mounting and then clean up the area.

What this photo also shows albeit faintly is a top tip for getting the mounting holes in the right place on the perspex. Stick two strips of masking tape one vertical and one horizontal over each hole and draw a straight line along each bisecting the hole. then tape the mounting plate over the top and transfer the lines onto that . This means that the holes should be exactly in the right place. If they are out by much you will be trying to screw at an angle (sorry!) and the perspex may crack which I found out myself.

Drilling the perspex needs to done with care and on a flat surface starting with a small drill and working up to the size needed. Drill all the holes before going any further.
Now the next stage was giving an option to improve the air flow in hot weather. This was done using 2 computer fans sourced from ebay. This is quite a common modification on modern caravan especially by people touring to warmer climes.
These can be wired via a thermostactic switch but I opted for a simple on / off switch mounted under the sink. These were mounted to the back of the plate.

Next top tip is to make sure they are the  right bl**dy  way round otherwise they will suck rather than blow! I wonder how I know that!
On my third attempt I used some self adhesive neoprene strip as a seal.

This set up was the offered up and carefully screwed into place fitting a second hand gas vent obtained from a local breaker

After that it is just a case of fitting the covers again using the neoprene strip as a gasket. I am quite pleased with end result.