Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 19:29:04 -0700
Reply-To: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Dometic cooling, was Temps under van vs inside
In-Reply-To: <44A71FC9.8020500@earthlink.net>
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You must have a remarkably efficient Dometic. I have removed the Dometic
and have blown clean the combustion chamber and stack and have taken
things apart and fluffed and folded where applicable. I have installed
that exhaust fan; I have, O yes I have, installed that internal fan to
circulate air, and it is TRUE that I have installed additional
insulation between the hot metal on the sunlit side of the van's outside
skin and the rear of the Dometic. Indeed, I have hung a Space Blanket on
the skin outside to REFLECT the evil heat away from the metal to aid the
Dometic in its endeavor to dump its own heat. I have mounted a new
blower on the rear, as have you, to urge the hot air to Move Along,
Nothing To See Here, Folks.
Yet, and still, the best I could pull was an internal temp no fewer than
40 degrees Fahrenheit below the outside temperature. "Thick frost" on
the inside fins?!? -- never seen such a thing when the outside temp was
greater than 70F -- either my Dometic is a wastoid, or yours is some
steroid-drenched MONSTER!
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR
mark drillock wrote:
> Not surprised, I think the real temp issue is the temp behind the
> fridge. I have many times camped for a week or more in Baja where
> daytime temps were in the high 90s, low 100s and night times in the low
> 80s or high 70s at the coolest. My Dometic has always kept thick frost
> on the inside fins, even when the thermometer inside the van said 100
> for many hours. Our milk always stayed good for a week plus. We do have
> an added exhaust fan on the side of the van that I open in warm weather
> to extract the heat from behind the fridge. It has a small fan and an
> automatic temp switch set lower than the Dometic fan temp switch. In the
> kind of heat I talk about above, the exhaust fan stays on for days on
> end. The Dometic rear fan runs most of the time by day and cycles on a
> lot at night. I have long ago replaced the original Dometic fan with a
> similar looking slightly more powerful fan once sold by Camping World
> and elsewhere in the fridge accessory section. I originally added the
> exhaust fan to get the fridge heat out of the cabin for better comfort
> but I'm sure now it also helps the fridge.
>
> Mark
>
> Michael Elliott wrote:
>
>> Following up on the research Neil is doing to see if there is cooler air
>> under the van available to be ducted up to cool the radiator fins on the
>> back of the Dometic refrigerator, I did some measurements which model
>> the way I use Mellow Yellow when we go camping during warm weather
>>
>> ......................
>> Conclusion.
>> Under these conditions, there is not a significant difference in
>> temperature. Anyone who camps like we do, with their windows and zips
>> all open during the day, should not count on finding cooler air under
>> the van.
>>
>
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