Date:         Wed, 19 Sep 2001 23:52:03 -0700
Reply-To:     Charles McGehee <chasm@ELLTEL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Charles McGehee <chasm@ELLTEL.NET>
Subject:      Re: info on the fridge
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Mark,

When I got my rig a few years ago, I pulled my fridge out to see why it
wouldn't light.  Pulling it out is a monstrous job and I wouldn't want to
do it again.  Still, it was worth it.  There were all sorts of cobwebs but
worse, the flame pot and drain tube was all rusted and corroded.  I cleaned
them up, but more importantly I modified the air pump.  Dometic had a pump
modification kit available for older fridges (mine is an '85; newer models
may already have the modification), but it cost a lot and wasn't readily
available.  I studied and thought about it and concluded that all the
modification did was put a check valve in the air line from the pump to the
fire chamber so the pump wouldn't suck the air out that it had just pushed
in.  I found a plastic vacuum check value at NAPA which had the same size
intake and output tubes and was the right size for the air line, and
drilled the inside diameter of one of the tubes out so that both sides were
the same (very, very carefully holding and twisting the drill bit only with
my fingers to keep from puncturing the diaphram of the check valve).  That
enabled the pump to put air in without sucking it back out.  I cut the air
line behind the pump and installed it and while I was at it lubricated the
leather seals of the pump with some light oil to increase the
pressure.  After all that, it lights much more easily now.

One other thing I do is to make sure that when I turn the fridge off, I
turn the gas off first at the fridge itself and then outside at the tank so
that the gas line is not emptied.  That way I don't have to wait for the
line to fill up again when I light it the next time.  It's true that the
little green light is hard to see, but if I cup my hands around it, I can
see it glow.  Holding the button down for 15 or 20 seconds, pumping
violently 5 or 6 times and then snapping the ignitor rapidly 5 or 6 times
usually lights it right away.  I also leave the drain plug on the floor
open to facilitate air flow.

I like the idea of replacing the green light with blue or another color,
but I'm not about to pull the fridge out again to do it.  Does anyone know
if there's a way to get at the circuit board without pulling the whole
unit?  I haven't been able to get the stove apart.

Charles
'85 Westy