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Date:         Wed, 17 Apr 2002 16:03:53 -0700
Reply-To:     Steve Johnson <stevej@WB32TV.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Johnson <stevej@WB32TV.COM>
Organization: WB32
Subject:      Re: new non-westy fridge
Comments: To: joseph Trussell <joetruss@HOTMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Joseph,

I have one of these and it works pretty well as long as you don't expect too much. It is not a refrigerator like you're used to using at home.

It works best on long trips when you're driving a good part of the day. The best idea is to get it cold and keep it cold. I freeze several containers of blue ice and chill all of the food before I put it in the fridge. Then I run the fridge while I'm driving and turn it off if I'm stopping for a while (more than an hour).

I only put food in it that I don't want to get wet and crushed. I keep it closed and think before I open it, get out what I need and close it.

The beer and soft drinks go in a regular cooler with lots of ice! (It will be opened often). Never use real ice (frozen water) in a fridge like this as the water is bad for the electric circuits.

I like it because it has shelves and keeps everything neat, clean and dry. I've always kept my food in one cooler and drinks in another for long campouts. I can't stand fishing around for my food in a wet cooler with all those dirty containers floating in it. If I had a real westy fridge I'd still have the second cooler and set it up the same way I just wouldn't need to freeze the blue ice.

If your just going overnight or something then eveything can go in the 12V, but chill everything first, run the fridge until you get where your going, and then don't leave it open too long. One of my all time biggest pet peeves is when people just open a cooler and stare at it or make a sandwhich while the lid is up. These are the same people that always think one bag of ice is enough!

The blue ice is the secret in my opinion. The cooling power of the fridge will keep the blue ice cold much longer.

Steve Johnson ' 91 Carat

P.S. I too have a second battery with a Hella charging relay, but, unlike many people I only use it as a backup. If somehow I unwittingly discharge the main battery I have a spare ready and waiting to jump start it with (only one cable required as both batteries are grounded). Only cost me $80 total!

-----Original Message----- From: joseph Trussell [SMTP:joetruss@HOTMAIL.COM] Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 12:45 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: new non-westy fridge

Hi List,

Please excuse my ignorance on this, but I got one of these 12-volt coolers as a wedding present:

http://www.target.com/common/catalog/product.jhtml?prodid=9701&navAction=jump&navCount=1

and I have a couple of questions about it before I go running off to the mountains with it. It runs through the cigarette lighter, so is it going to suck a ton of power if I keep it going when I go camping?

Should I look into setting up an additional battery and run it, as well as other accessories that I plan on adding like lighting and a possible inverter for a laptop, directly from the addtional battery?

I've looked in the archives and know that there has been much discussion of the second battery, but not much talk about the real neccessity of installing one.

Thanks in advance, joe t.

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