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Date:         Wed, 15 Sep 2004 12:49:33 -0700
Reply-To:     developtrust <developtrust@COX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         developtrust <developtrust@COX.NET>
Subject:      Re: Top-Load Fridge for Westy
Comments: To: Stan Wilder <wilden1-1@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252";
              reply-type=original

ALSO by storing drinking water in recycled plastic containers gives you cool drinking water AND extra cooling with no wasted space. Freezing all meals helps too except for fruit, but fruit tastes better when at room temperature anyhow, right? William

>I think you've missed my point. > I installed a FAN INSIDE of the fridge to keep air flowing. > If you look at the power requirements on a computer CPU cooling fan you'll > see it's no burden on your system. > > Stan Wilder > More Power with Performance Coatings > http://www.engineceramics.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vince S [mailto:gipsyflies@comcast.net] > Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 12:24 PM > To: wilden1-1@sbcglobal.net; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: RE: Top-Load Fridge for Westy > > I swapped the factory fan with a computer fan 12 years ago when the OE > fan died. The fan I added uses 1/2 the power of the stock fan as it is > the more efficient brushless. I am reluctant to add more fan due to the > added current overhead. My plan is to improve the heat dissipation > venting to the outside using just one fan. > > Using ice to supplement the fridge performance likens the solution used > in marine except they use glycol instead of water to store the 'cold'. > Unfortunately retrofitting this feature requires trading off the what > already meager internal volume. > > There is room for efficiency improvement of the Dometic while at the > same time not to increase the dc power consumption by adding cooling > fans. > > > > > - Vince > > http://gipsyflies.home.comcast.net > 1989 Vanagon GL Camper > 1993 Mazda Miata (for sale) > 1996 Land Rover Discovery > 2005 Mini Cooper S > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Stan Wilder [mailto:wilden1-1@sbcglobal.net] > Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 10:00 AM > To: Vince S; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: RE: Top-Load Fridge for Westy > > > I substantially improved the performance and cold recovery in my > standard Dometic simply by adding a little 12v Computer CPU fan to the > sidewall of the fridge. As preparation for travel I normally put a > container of Ice in my fridge and ran it on 120v for an overnight prep > period. Everything I put in the fridge from that point forward was pre > cooled either from my home refrigerator at departure time or from being > in my ice chest that I always carried too. One of the big culprits of > refrigerator poor performance is simply hardened door seals that leak > constantly. All of the things above do nothing to stop drop out of cold > when the door is opened but it will produce two munchkin trays of ice > once a day. Some of the highest quality, thick sidewall Styrofoam > coolers come from Omaha Steaks and Honey Cured Hams as shipping > containers. I've kept three bags of ice for three days in these with > very little melt down. > > Stan Wilder > More Power with Performance Coatings http://www.engineceramics.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf > Of Vince S > Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 11:29 AM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Top-Load Fridge for Westy > > There has been some recent discussions on the ideal fridge set up for > Westy/Vanagon. Many expressed the desired to have a top load as the cold > air does not drop out when you open the door. I was interest in how to > improve the fridge performance while able to maintain the stock > appearance and floor plan of the Westy. > > Here is the good news from my recent research for a good portable > fridge/freezer. Without substantially changing the Westy floor plan you > can install a 35-45 quart units made by Engel or Waeco. > > Waeco's Coolmatic series are based on the German Danfoss DF35 compressor > very widely used in marine and high end vehicles as OEM cooler fridge. > Coolmatic also make a line of high end cooler/freezer for truckers. You > can read up on all this at Waeco's website. > > Engel in addition to selling under their own brand also makes most if > not all of the DC fridge for Norcold as well as a series of portable > fridge/freezers. Engel also makes all the MRFT series portable units for > Norcold. Engel is unique in the compressor technology with their own > swing compressor which they have used for over 35 years. It is an > electro mechanical design with take advantage of resonance > characteristic instead of the common reciprocal design (piston) driven > rotary motor. > > Here is the skinnies: > Waeco and Engel portable units in the 1 to 2 cu ft are around 14" wide > with varied height and width. Most of these model will fit in the space > of the cabinet adjacent to the bench seat. The depth (horizontal depth) > of these space inside the cabinetry is between 15" at the bottom and 16" > at the top due to the curvature of the body. You will have to relocate > the fresh water tank to make room for the fridge. The obvious location > would be to take out the Dometic as you won't need it. Better yet you > should be able to accommodate a real deep cycle battery in it's vacancy. > If planned carefully you would be able to maintain the stock appearance > of the Westy cabinetry. You might have to slight alter the two cubby > hole doors for better fridge access. > > The costs of the Engel and Coolmatic ac/dc units are very close while > the dc only Coolmatic are much cheaper. Both manufacturers products are > very good and will keep the internal temperature below freezing (able to > keep ice cream frozen) if you choose to. Judging from their spec and > user feedback/reviews they seems quite comparable though Engel appears > to have a slight edge. The Coolmatic unit has the unique battery monitor > function which you can set to automatically stop drawing the current > when the battery voltage gets too low. > > Am I ready to do this conversion? > It is a hard question. My Dometic has been trouble free all these years. > My only complaint is the heat it throw into the cabin and the lack of > freezer space to keep meat and seafood from spoiling. I like the fact > that it draw so little dc current that I can run it days on end. I also > hate to butcher the nice Westy cabinet. I am leaning solving the cabin > heat gain from the Dometic fridge and modifying the cold plate to hold > the meat better. After I have a chance to test out my planned purchase > of the Engel 35 for used in my other vehicle it might change my mind. > > Here are some links to the products: > > http://www.i-m-d.com/engel/1products.htm > http://www.coolmatic.net http://www.norcold.com/acdc_mrft440.cfm > > There are also many other links in my other recent threads on > refrigeration. > > - Vince > > http://gipsyflies.home.comcast.net > 1989 Vanagon GL Camper > 1993 Mazda Miata (for sale) > 1996 Land Rover Discovery > 2005 Mini Cooper S > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free by AVG. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.762 / Virus Database: 510 - Release Date: 9/13/2004 > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free by AVG. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.762 / Virus Database: 510 - Release Date: 9/13/2004 > > > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free by AVG. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.762 / Virus Database: 510 - Release Date: 9/13/2004 > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free by AVG. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.762 / Virus Database: 510 - Release Date: 9/13/2004 >


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