Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:47:38 -0700
Reply-To: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Dometic in 100F ambient?
In-Reply-To: <081420072259.1865.46C233BA0003533A000007492200763692979A09019B0E0D9A9D@comcast.net>
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Hi Todd.
just thought i'd throw in my .02 here.
Have been in mid 80's to 90 F weather in B.C. interior. Temps in van
slightly higher. Fridge has maintained (when driving, or at camp with open
slider door) low 40's and down to 28 at night. (it's much cooloer outside at
night) When I parked a the mall here, it was 86. Fridge is at 39.
I have found an average of 40F differential.
I have a 5" fan in place of stock fan at rear, and of real use an internal
CPU fan. FWIW the thermal has the rear fan on almost all the time, but of
course fan is switchable.
Also of note I did a lot of maintenance/trouble shooting recently, so this
has helped with efficiency.
Neil.
On 8/14/07, Todd Last <rubatoguy@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Isn't it a fact of the design of the Dometic (or any ammonia apsorption
> fridge) that you are not going to get any better than 20-30 degrees lower
> than the ambient temperature?
>
>
> Todd
> '88 Westy
>
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Michael Diehr <md03@XOCHI.COM>
> > After this last weekend's positive experience with a coleman xtreme
> > cooler in 100F+ temperatures, I'm wondering if there's even any
> > reason trying to fix up the Dometic.
> >
> > First question -- has anyone ever had a working dometic provide
> > adequate cooling in 100F+ temperatures?
> >
> > Looking at the coleman cooler, I notice that it has almost 2" of foam
> > insulation. Looking at the dometic, it seems to have very little
> > insulation, and it also seems to be self-defeating as it dumps so
> > much waste heat under the cabinet, so it's basically bathing itself
> > in hear.
> >
> > Second question -- is re-insulating the dometic with some sort of
> > modern insulator a possibility?
> >
> > Third question -- does venting the waste heat out of the van make a
> > serious difference? The dometic has a fan already, but all it seems
> > to do is stir up the air behind the cabinet. Would a fan that vents
> > the air outside of the van actually be better?
>
--
Please send me your Vanagon/Westfalia links!
http://vanagonlinks.googlepages.com/home
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia.
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
