Date:         Tue, 11 Jul 2000 16:45:27 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net>
Subject:      Re: Fridge goes out while driving???
Comments: To: Doug Alcock <dgalcock@hewitt.com>
In-Reply-To:  <86256919.0068C6D9.00@lintng1.hewitt.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 14:59 7/11/2000, Doug Alcock wrote:
>      Glad Gerry's back as I have a question??? My fridge won't seem to
> stay lit
>while driving for more than
>30 minutes to an hour. What are the common reasons for this and what should I
>try?? I pulled the fridge and  cleaned

Air leak.  Common difficulty after taking the fridge out.  Dometic even has
a service bulletin out about it -- you can find it at
http://www.rvmobile.com/ if you look hard enough.  But no real need -- the
vent fitting has to seal to the body, the corrugated tubes have to seal to
the aluminum fitting, everything has to seal.  If any air can get in or out
of the firebox without passing through the appointed holes in the vent
fitting, pfffft.  And the fitting won't seal unless the tubes are lined up
almost perfectly before pulling them in with the mounting screws, as the
tubes are stronger than the vent fitting and the van skin.  If you're
having to pull the fitting together more   than about 1/8" with the screws,
that's too far, and if it's not already parallel that's a problem too.  I
use a rounded dowel inserted into the exhaust hole to bend and align as
necessary before mounting it up with screws.  I siliconed the
tube-to-fitting joints (rather than looking for new O-rings), siliconed the
aluminum plate/rubber gasket to the outside of the van, routinely silicone
the aluminum head fitting before I mount it to the aluminum plate. When/if
ever the fridge starts blowing out on the road, I redo that stuff and it
always cures the problem.  None of this was necessary until the van was
about seven years old, which is when the O-rings on the corrugated tubes
got leaky.

Another possibility -- one of those tubes is screwed onto the flue with a
brass nut.  If that's loose for some reason, there's a leak there.  Also
the condensation drain may not be sealing, lost its gasket or something.

david
David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"