Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 13:45:02 -0400
Reply-To: doug.alcock@HEWITT.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@HEWITT.COM>
Subject: Re: cap for fridge exhaust
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>Hi All,
>
>I've got an 80 westy and 82 diesel westy. I never had
>an exhaust cover on either (what's the cover supposed
>to do?). The 80 refer won't stay lit during hard wind
>gusts that hits the side of the van. The 82 refer
>stays lit so well, you could drive with it on if it
>weren't for safety considerations. I've heard you
>can't get parts for these refers anymore, is this
>correct?
>
>Rob
Hi Rob -- I've don't have one of these covers --- neither do a lot of other
listees --- as someone has already posted, they're to keep carwash water and
heavy rain out of the chimneys and firebox. If your fridge blows out in the wind
you're getting errant air currents and need to seal up and align your chimney.
Remove the vent cover assembly. Do this very carefully and keep track of how it
goes back together --- it's rather strange and you'll be glad you paid
attention. You want to have perfect alignment of the chimney to the plate it
screws to --- don't rely on the screws to 'draw it together' The easiest way to
do this is to take a dowel or broomstick and use it to twist the chimney into
alignment. Once this is done, reassemble -- some people have used silicon
sealer here and there (like between the rubber gasket and the body) to be extra
sure --- I used silicon and re-aligned the chimney when I first fixed my fridge.
I've since taken the fridge vent off (to paint the van) and replaced ti without
renewing the silicone --- with no problems. So I think the alignment is the
crucial thing YMMV of course. All this was in aid of getting the fridge to stay
lit while driving -- which it now does with no problem. I and a number of other
listees drive with the fridge lit on propane all the time --- though there are
differing opinions about the safety of this. This thread crops up form time to
time and would be in the archives if your were interested. As for parts,
www.bus-boys.com has a fair selection. While I think of it --- if the above fix
doesn't work you could have actual holes in the chimney --- fixable with muffler
tape or even a bad rubber gasket in the combustion chamber itself.
I seem to have rambled on here --- I'll stop myself now. Guess I don't feel much
like working today....
Cheers,
Doug Alcock
'84 Westy "BlueBelle"
Toronto, Canada
http://www.torontovanagon.com
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