Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 21:34:50 -0700
Reply-To: The River Clan <staff@EARTHNOW.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The River Clan <staff@EARTHNOW.ORG>
Subject: The #@$@ Dometic R182 Fridge
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi gang!
Back to trying to get the wiring and the fridge done. Today was fridge day.
We put in the 12v little micro fan like suggested by a listmember/vanagon
site, and it really helps! We put a switch for it so we could use it in
propane mode right above the flame indicator meter by all the other
buttons. We epoxied it to the top of the aluminum cooler fins, and ran a
hole up the top. We scavenged the power from the lilac lead (the constant
12v line) and ran it to the switch. Very cool....! <Pun fully intended!>
The fuseholder on the RM182 (Not the b, but just the 182) uses a funky
swedish/metric fuse that requires custom ordering from Dometic. <And geez,
do RV dealers dislike our westy, even knowing we have one!> Well, we went
to Radio Shaque and they had a replacement fuse holder, that fit in the
plastic bezel on the top of the fridge.... just exactly like the stock one.
And it takes regular fuses!
Now it works on 12v and 120v! Hooray
But propane... we have a real head scratcher here. We're having troubles
getting the fridge to light. <Right, who doesn't have this problem from
what I hear> but everything, and I mean everything checks out. We had it
all apart, the jet is clear, the combustion chamber clean and sealed, all
the tubes blown out and cleaned, spark at the ignitor... sigh. But. It's
not a virgin fridge, it's been opened up before! We noticed funky screws
here and there, and some writing on it that is indistinguishable to us.
In the RM182B (Yes I know it's a different fridge, but I can't find
anything for the RM182) Repair Manual that you can download through one of
the vanagon sites. (Jeesh, I can't find it right now, I just downloaded it)
It states as one of the options in the trouble shooting chart for not
lighting, "Gauze in Burner Head Clogged".
What gauze are they talking about? There isn't any gauze in the burner head
at all. Doesn't appear to have ever had any from what we can tell, unless
PO took it out?
Can someone please enlighten us about this "gauze in the the burner head"?
Is this RM182 just a junker fridge that was discontinued so fast that they
didn't bother to write manuals for it? Is propane use on it a lost cause?
Is anyone out there that can send us hope?
Thanks ever so much more so,
Ri
87 Gl Westy