Date:         Mon, 10 Mar 2003 18:14:55 -0800
Reply-To:     laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Delanty <laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM>
Subject:      Fridge R+R... how I spent my weekend (long)
In-Reply-To:  <00eb01c2e4d9$3ef56160$f809b83f@computer>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Thanks to Edward, George, Gerald, Jim, Mark, Mike, Roy and others
who responded to my question about fridge removal and fan upgrades.
I got some great tips from you guys!

I also got a couple requests that I  "pass along" any good tips that
I received privately. That seems fair enough. So here's how I removed,
upgraded and reinstalled the fridge... Be warned, it's long.

To start with, I would highly recommend the excellent series of articles
on Dometic 182 fridge care and feeding at:
http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm
They were what got me started on my quest for improved fridge performance.
I recommend reading all that site has to offer about the Dometic fridge
before proceeding with removal.
-------

Step 1: REMOVAL

Make sure the main LPG valve is turned off outside !!
Disconnect the battery ground.
Open the doors and windows on the van. When you disconnect the gas
line, some propane will escape, so you want ventilation. No smoking, etc.

Now remove the little ventilation grill on the left side of the fridge cabinet.
That makes it easier to see back there. You can see the intake/exhaust
tubes, and also where the gas line connects at the right top rear corner
of the fridge.

Remove the drawer under the sink, and remove the little strap on the
cupboard door so you can open it all the way and get your head in there.
Unplug the AC cord from it's receptacle under the sink.
Unplug the 2 DC connectors under the sink.
Disconnect the gas line.  (13/16" wrench) You can easily see the gas line
through the vent hole on the left side of the cabinet, but it's easiest to
get a wrench on from the sink cupboard side. You can see it back there
if you shove your head way into the cupboard...
When the gas line comes off, some propane will escape and stink up
the place. Let it air out a couple minutes before you continue.

Go outside and remove the flue vent. Remove all the screws and hardware
until it's just the hole in the body and the vent tubes. Pay attention to
how it comes apart. You'll wan to be able to put it back, right?

Go back inside and remove the fridge door (just open it and lift the door
off the hinge pins.) Put it somewhere safe.
Remove the plastic caps and the 4 screws that hold the fridge front panel
on. Swing the right side of the panel outward an inch or two, then slide it
to the right a bit until the left side lets go. Put it somewhere safe.

Before you remove the 4 side screws that hold the fridge in, take a pencil
and make some marks on the inside of the fridge cabinet to locate where
the front edge of the fridge sits. When you put it back together it will be
easier
to get the 4 side screws back in if you know exactly how far back in the hole
to push the fridge...

Remove the 4 side screws that hold the fridge in. The righthand 2 are in the
sink cupboard, sunk into holes about 5" and 20" up from the floor.
The left hand lower one is accessible through the little storage cubbyhole to
the left of the fridge, and the upper through the flat cubby above it.

At this point, the fridge is disconnected and ready to slide out.
Before you start pulling, have a couple short (15"?) chunks of 2 x 4 lumber
handy to set the fridge on when it's out. This will prevent setting the fridge
on the drain tube and damaging it.

Now comes the fun...  Sliding the fridge out takes a little finesse. The
problem
is that there is a wood shelf just underneath the stove. The air/exhaust vent
pipes on the fridge will hit the back of this shelf as you slide the fridge
out.
You need to tip the fridge backward to get the pipes low enough to clear the
shelf as you slide the fridge out. In addition to clearing the shelf, you
also need
to make sure the vent tubes don't hang up in the hole. It probably helps to
have
someone outside to watch/guide the vents while you work from the inside.
I did it alone, but had to make a few trips in and out to see what was up.
DO NOT bend, fold, spindle, mutilate, or otherwise damage the vent tubes
or put excess force on them. It looks like it would be easy to crack or break
them where they connect to the burner assembly at the bottom.
Work the fridge outward, tipping it backwards as you go until the vents
clear the shelf and the fridge comes out.
Carefully set it down on the wood blocks to avoid damage to the vent tube.
YEEHAW !!    It's out...
------

Step 2: UPGRADES

The reason I wanted my fridge out was to fix the fan (which was horribly noisy)
and to add an internal fan and a thermometer.

Once the fridge was out, the first obvious order of business was cleaning.
17years of small trash bits that were piled up behind the fridge, and the
fridge
cooling fins had obviously been home to many spiders over the years.
Much vacuuming took care of that mess...

Next up was the rear (external) cooling fan. I cut the wires loose from it and
removed the 3 screws that held fan and bracket to the back of the fridge.
I mounted a 3" cooling fan from Radio Shack in place of the original fan
using 2 small "L" brackets. I drilled each bracket to a larger hole on one
end, and put rubber grommets in the holes. The fans are bolted to the
brackets through the grommeted holes to provide some vibration isolation.
Wires from the new fan were connect to the old fan power wires with
solder and heatshrink tubing.
I also made 2 small aluminum baffles which I screwed to the back of the
fridge to help encourage the fan to pull air from below and blow it upwards
rather than just push it around in circles behind the fridge.
Hopefully I managed to help airflow with the fan running without hurting it
when the fan is off. I intended to get some photos, but the time just
slipped away and... well, you know...
While I was fooling with the rear fan, I also removed the thermostat switch
from the cooling fins and put a tiny bit of heatsink grease on the fin and
the back of the thermoswitch. Only a tiny bit of grease is required.
Reinstall switch.

The next order of business was to add an internal fan and a thermometer.
The fan is a small (2"?) CPU fan from Radio Shack. It doesn't take much
fan here... you just need a little air circulation, not a gale wind. Remember
that the power the fan uses is wasted as heat INSIDE your fridge cabinet,
so a small, low wattage is good here!

The thermometer is an "indoor/outdoor" electronic thermometer (also from
Radio Shack, about $20). The thermometer gets mounted somewhere in
the van where it's visible and the outdoor temp probe goes into the fridge.
This requires drilling a small hole in the back of the fridge for the temp
probe (and fan wires) to pass through. I drilled my hole right next to the one
for the fridge thermostat, which comes in behind the cooling heatsink
inside the fridge. Slowly and carefully is the key here. Don't drill through
anything vital!
I glued the fan to the top of the cooling heatsink with silicone sealant.
I started by putting a small bead of silicone all around the edge of the fan
and a little dot in the center. This was allowed to set up for a couple hours
before I put a second bead on top of the first. The fan was then put in
place on the heatsink and tied down with a rubber band to cure
Putting the first bead down and letting it cure first made sure there was
a rubbery "cushion" between the fan and heatsink to help isolate noise.
Mine is facing so the air blows downward. Some folks point them up,
some down. I doubt it matters much. Toss a coin if you can't decide.
Once the fan was glued in place, the wires were shoved through the
hole to the outside. The temp probe was shoved through the hole to the
inside. Some heatshrink tubing protects the wires where they pass
through the fridge, and some plumbers putty seals the hole up around
the wires on both the inside and outside.

The next order of business was to install a switch to turn the internal
fan on and off. I decided to mount the switch external to the fridge,
where it was accessible without opening the fridge door, along with
an LED to indicate when it was on. I decide to mount my switch and
LED to the right of the stock "indicator panel". I drilled 2 holes between
the indicator panel and the word Westfalia. Wires from the switch go
through some quick disconnects (accessible by removing the indicator panel)
and then back and down to the fridge. Hot wire for the fan switch connects
to the wiring terminal block under the sheet metal cover on top of fridge.
Under this cover you can pick up unswitched power (always on) which
is where my fan is connected. You can also pick up switched power
(only on with engine running) and ground. Also the 120VAC connections
are available there if you have some need for them...
-------

Step 3: REASSEMBLY

So, now that the fridge is cleaned, modified, all wires are tie-wrapped
securely in place and all that good stuff, it's time to put it back in the
hole.
First thing, I took a little saw and cut out a chunk of the shelf that the
fridge vent tubes hit during disassembly. I cut out a piece about 5" long
and 3/4" deep. That's all it took to make reassembly a breeze.

Next thing was to get the fridge back in place. Tip it back and slide it
into the hole, top first,  sliding it backward and then tilting it upright as
the vent tubes allow. Be careful to get the vent tubes lined up with the
hole in the side of the van. A bit of jiggling and pushing and it should be
back in place!  Push it back until the front of the fridge is back to the
pencil marks you made in the cabinet earlier. When it's lined up you
can put the 4 side screws back in that hold the fridge in place.
Next up is to reconnect the gas line in the back.
Once the line is on and tightened, open the LPG valve outside and then
do a leak test on the connection. Use a soap solution to test for
bubbles. I like good old bubble soap from the toy store, and it comes
with a free bubble wand you can play with later. Be ABSOLUTELY
certain that there are no leaks. Be willing to bet your life on it.
If there's ANY doubt, or if you see ANY bubbles form at the connection,
*immediately* turn off the LPG at the tank and find the cause of the trouble.

Next reassemble the flue vent stuff from the outside.
It should all fit nicely, because you were careful to not bend the tubes
during disassembly, right?
Make sure that the rubber gasket seals good to the body and to the vent parts.
I've been warned that if air leaks in this area that it can cause the flame
to blow out when travelling with the windows open. Mine looked like
it sealed up just fine.  (crossed fingers)

Reconnect the DC connectors under the sink, and plug the AC cord back in.
Connect the wires that go to the new fan switch.
At this point, it's probably a good idea to reconnect the battery and turn
the gas back on (you're sure it doesn't leak, right) and test the fridge to
make sure it works. I made sure that it lit on gas O.K., and that the fans
worked before I put the cabinet face back on and all that.

That's about all there is to it. It's an all day project to remove, add the
fans
and reinstall the fridge, but it's not very hard nor is it rocket science.
It just
takes some time and care to make sure nothing bad happens. Mostly you
need to make sure that the vent tubes aren't bent or damaged, and that
the gas plumbing doesn't leak when you are done.

Summer is coming... soon I'll see how well the fridge works with it's new fans.
It'll be nice to have a thermometer built in so I can see if my milk is
getting rotten or not...

Cheers,
  Steve