Date:         Mon, 16 Feb 2004 20:34:30 -0500
Reply-To:     Jason Willenbrock <pooncerelli@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jason Willenbrock <pooncerelli@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      fridge upgrade test results-long
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

hey all,
okay for those who are at all concerned or even care about my little fridge
experiment, here are the results.
to recap, per derek drew's article on fridge improvements from the vanagon
webpage, i decided to try them out and document them, i guess i got a lot of
spare time.

i bought a 12v fan from radio shack to install over the cooling fins.  i
bought a digi probe thermometer to gauge temps, driilled a hole in back
corner of fridge to run the wire and probe then sealed with silicone
sealant.  i also bought some self adhesive weather stripping to install
around frige opening on the wood side of fridge door frame, more on that
later.

okay i ran the fridge in my house on 110v with nothing inside of it.  the
room temp was a constant 72 throughout experiment an important figure for
accuracy.  without doing anything to the fridge i ran it from completely
warm to cold over night without opening door.. within first hour the fridge
temp went from 72 to 56 degress.  in 2 hours down to 47 degrees.  within
eight hours the temp was 33.  not bad.

i then installed the fan over the cooling fins and ran the wire through the
same hole as the digi probe and sealed it.  now since this is a 12v fan i
could only run it off a 9v battery thus utilizing only 3/4 its power.   i
then started fridge from 72 degrees and within 1 hour temp was 53.  within 2
hours it dropped to 45.  within 8 hours the fridge temp was an very
exceptable 31 degrees.

so with this fan running only on 3/4 power a two degree temp difference is
noticed.  with full power of fan i imagine a 3-4 degree temp difference.
not too bad when a few degrees can mean spoilage on a 90 degree day.

i am now running the fridge with prechilled food and drinks inside of it to
show how cold air retention is met.  with the fridge empty and at 33
operating degrees, if you open the door for 45 seconds the temp in fridge
quickly falls to 55 degrees.  once closed the temp takes roughly two and
half hours to fall back to 33 degrees.  with the fridge packed with
prechilled food and drinks and at 33 operating temp, open the door for forty
five seconds, temp again drops to 55 degrees.  however, because of the
insulating of the food it only takes half an hour to reach 33 degrees again.

now about the seals, before i began these experiments i made one
modification, i put in 3/4 self adhesive weatherstripping from ace hardware
around the wood frame that houses the fridge door.  they are installed to
compliment the already existing seals and end just around the perimeter of
the existing seal.  the reason i did this was when i first ran the fridge i
was inspecting it for air leaks and found several due to the poor sealing of
my fridge.  so once installed, the air leaks were no more and this made a
much tighter fit.  i had to use 1/4 inch longer screws to reinstal to make
up for the difference.

i find these results very satisfying for moderate outside temps.  even at 85
degrees the fridge temps are still adequate.  after 90, the cooling becomes
very inefficient.  i am glad i do my camping in the mountains and temps
rarley go over 90, especially at night.  the last word is open the door less
and for only very short times to keep things cool.  also the use of frozen
gel packs are effective.  keep two constantly freezing over the fins and two
somewhere near the food.  when the two near the food become soft swap with
the frozen ones on the fins and this should keep a very efficient cooling
cycle going.

hopefully someone out there found this experiment valuable, maybe everyone
was already aware of these results, but i wasn't.  i will however have
better cooling and less spoiled half n half when i need my coffee most
take care
jason
87 syncro westy project (90% complete)

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