Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:14:42 -0700
Reply-To: Michael Elliott <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Elliott <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Frig on 12v
In-Reply-To: <42DC0D36.6030409@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
On 7/18/2005 1:12 PM mark drillock wrote:
> What you describe is very possible, even likely.
>
> The stock Westy kitchen and fridge connect to the main fuse panel by a
> wire about 10 feet long. This make the fridge electrically very far from
> the alternator and battery. The longer the wire is, the more voltage is
> lost by the time it reaches the end where you need it. A volt meter
> reading of the voltage that is actually reaching the fridge heating
> element will tell the tale. The early Vanagon models in particular
> suffer from an inadequate supply voltage to begin with at the dash
> fuse/relay panel and then the fridge is even farther away. One way of
> dealing with this is to have a proper dual battery setup (not the GW or
> TBD relay kits) under the driver's seat and to make sure the wire for
> the fridge element connects as directly to this battery as possible.
> This will largely keep dash area electrical loads from dropping the
> voltage at the fridge. I have done this to both my Campers and they work
> fine on 12 volts.
>
> It all has to do with how much voltage is actually reaching the fridge
> heating element. The design of the Westy wiring does not allow it to age
> gracefully. It must be enhanced as well as maintained. You must begin by
> actually measuring the voltage with the engine running, at the fridge
> wiring connector and comparing this to the voltage at the alternator.
> The amount of drop in voltage between these 2 locations will give you an
> idea how much room for improvement there is on a particular Westy. The
> higher the voltage reaching the fridge the better it will cool on 12
> volts. I have seen fridges that were getting under 9 volts while the
> alternator put out 14 volts.
Thanks, Mark -- I foolishly assumed that the wiring is adequate.
I still baulk at accepting GW's explanation of "different charging rate"
for the aux battery, unless they are saying that when the reefer is
running, the voltage drop across the wire that straps the two batteries
together is so big that the battery can't get charged adequately. If so,
they are using weenie wire. A skinny wire, or high-resistance
connection, between the aux battery and the reefer is a different story,
and "different charging rate" doesn't apply.
The test, as always, is to find out how much voltage is getting to the
reefer.
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
Carlsbad, CA
KG6RCR
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