Date:         Thu, 23 Aug 2001 15:35:21 -0800
Reply-To:     "Standley, Craig" <standlc@DATA-IO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Standley, Craig" <standlc@DATA-IO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Refrigerator cooling: Do extra fans help?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

You mean your fridge won't run on 12V?  Never heard of that before.  I don't
know how much power it takes but I seriously doubt it takes 90 amps to run
it.  I've left it on when I run in the store for an hour and the car started
right up again.

-Craig

> -----Original Message-----
> From: wilden1@juno.com [SMTP:wilden1@juno.com]
> Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 2:29 PM
> To:   standlc@DATA-IO.COM
> Cc:   vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject:      Re: Refrigerator cooling: Do extra fans help?
>
> Well I'm one of those poor stoopid fellers that hasn't got a 80 or 90 AMP
> alternator.
> I'm just trying to figure which wire on a Vanagon or Westfalia will
> handle 90 AMPS without, as they say letting its smoke out.
> Who needs to run it on 12 volts, the lakes in North Texas are at almost
> every mile marker than ends in Zero. Its a little different when you head
> West from Dallas the lakes are then at every mile marker with 66 in it.
> I've never had to drive more than four hours to get to my camping
> destination and that little bucket of ice is still nearly all frozen when
> I get there.
>
> Stan
>
> On Thu, 23 Aug 2001 15:10:16 -0800 "Standley, Craig"
> <standlc@DATA-IO.COM> writes:
> > Why not just use the 12V setting when driving?  I usually do that an
> > it
> > stays plenty cold.  It's also against the law in several states to
> > have the
> > propane tank open when driving, the chance of you getting caught is
> > slim.
> > However in an accident if the tank comes off the Vanagon and is open
> > and
> > spewing propane it would not be a pretty sight.
> >
> > OK, enough preaching.  :)
> >
> > I also stock up with cold stuff on my way out of town to give the
> > fridge a
> > boost.  We fill it up with half and half (for coffee), various meats
> > (hot
> > dogs usually), cheese and beer and start it up in 12V mode.  By the
> > time we
> > arrive at the campground (1-3 hours later) it's generally nice and
> > cold.
> >
> > -Craig
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Shawn Wright [SMTP:swright@SLS.BC.CA]
> > > Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 1:34 PM
> > > To:   vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > > Subject:      Re: Refrigerator cooling: Do extra fans help?
> > >
> > > On 23 Aug 2001 at 12:08, Stan Wilder wrote:
> > >
> > > > What works best on my Westy Refrigerators is:
> > > > Pre Cool the night before with 110 v or Lp fuel.
> > > > Put a can of ice cubes or pre cooled aluminum cans of drinks in
> > the box.
> > > > Install a little computer CPU fan with the heat sink up high on
> > the wall
> > > > or roof area on the interior of the box (use double sided 3 M
> > tape). 12v
> > > > dc runs on your car current.
> > > > Fans in the rear might help but I never had to go that far to
> > get my
> > > > munchkin ice trays to freeze.
> > > > Conditioning the fridge before you leave is the single most
> > important
> > > > thing I've found to enhance the abilities of the fridge. Once
> > the
> > > > interior temp is brought down the unit has no problem
> > maintaining it.
> > > > Without this pre conditioning it sometimes takes 12-20 hours to
> > freeze
> > > > the munchkin cubes, with the computer fan, can of ice it will be
> > frozen
> > > > in less than 4 hours. Your fridge will be at about 42 degrees or
> > less
> > > > within 2 hours. Once the temp is down remove the cvan of half
> > melted ice
> > > > cubes and stock your fridge.
> > > > Strange but true.
> > > >
> > >
> > > I have found similar to the above, but also note this, learned
> > from our
> > > first long trip where we actually had more than 2 days of sunshine
> > in a
> > > row:
> > >
> > > We spent 9 days at Premier Lake in BC (awesome spot, btw), where
> > > daytime highs were usually from 30-35C, but it got down to 7-8C at
> > > night, being in the mountains. I found the fridge had no problem
> > > keeping cold for the whole time, since the cool nights gave it a
> > chance
> > > to "catch up". We were able to restock 8-10 cans of beer fairly
> > often
> > > (hey, it was hot! :) and it could cool them within a few hours,
> > and keep
> > > a gallon of milk and other small things cold quite nicely.
> > > I suspect if the night temp did not drop so much, the poor fridge
> > would
> > > have been struggling a lot more.
> > > The only problem I have now is the fridge no longer stays lit (on
> > gas)
> > > while driving ever since I pulled it out and cleaned the burner,
> > etc. This
> > > is still a mystery to me, as it seems the same otherwise.
> > >
> > > ps: Historically, we've had such lousy weather when camping that
> > the
> > > fridge has been plenty cold enough, even freezing milk on several
> > > occasions...========================
> > > Shawn Wright
> > > Computer Systems Manager
> > > Shawnigan Lake School
> > > http://www.sls.bc.ca
> > > swright@sls.bc.ca
>
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