Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 20:11:38 -0700
Reply-To: Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Fridge....should it stay on...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Stan wrote:
>> The refrigerator is one of the most laughable
things about a Westy. The Westy fridge is a good way
to keep flies off your hot dogs and keep stuff in a
dark place but I'd never trust it to preserve food for
more than 48 hours unless it was in a can, box or
didn't even need refrigeration.
I am continually perplexed by how underappreciated the
stock Westy fridge often is, and by the number of
Westy owners I meet in campgrounds, etc. who say they
never use theirs, and who prefer a good old fashioned
ice chest instead. So they store peanut butter and
music CDs in their unused fridge, and happily
sacrifice another 3 or 4 cubic feet of precious cabin
space in order to accommodate a bulky and outdated
plastic cooler.
A conventional camping cooler may seem larger upon
first glance, but the most common size is 48
quarts—the same capacity as the Westy fridge. And much
of that space is consumed by at least several pounds
of ice, which is crucial to its operation and which
must be frequently replenished while on the road.
Stick a warm six pack in an icechest, and your ice
will melt that much faster as BTUs are exchanged;
stick the same sixer in the Westy fridge and, although
it may take a while, it will soon be appreciably
chilled with no discernible increased use of fuel.
Sheesh, iceboxes are early 19th-century innovations,
and don't offer nearly the flexibility of the
efficient and multi-powered Westy fridge. Besides
getting underfoot, a heavy cooler full of icy water
and cans of soda can be a noisy passenger too.
By contrast, the Westy fridge is tucked out of the
way, is perpetually cold, and largely
maintenance-free. Offering 1.5 cubic feet (45 liters)
of refrigerated space, the stock Westy fridge will run
on LP and 12VDC cleanly, safely, and economically for
perhaps 30 days and nights before requiring a
five-dollar refill. I can count on one hand the number
of times we've bothered to hook it up to a 120VAC
campsite power supply, so although a handy option,
that is hardly required. Though small, it holds all of
our necessary refrigerated items for a multi-week
trip, assuming periodic restocking. And unlike the
familiar camping cooler, you won't find your wieners
and cheese swimming in tepid water before lunchtime.
If your fridge isn't working right, check out the
helpful info on the Vanagon.com site, or Frank
Condelli's site:
http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/fridge.htm Of course,
it's entirely possible a PO ruined the unit by running
it off-level, so it may be a lost cause.
Jeffrey Earl
1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"
http://www.vanthology.com/
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