Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:29:55 -0400
Reply-To: Edward Duntz <eduntz@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Edward Duntz <eduntz@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: First camping trip!
In-Reply-To: <699b6e3f0808172322q258e7753x21a5635bdd9cd654@mail.gmail.com>
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I would get the Mr. Heater Buddy heater. I think it gives you much more flexibility, and even with a 1-lb cylinder, doesn't last that less a time than the others. I have a Dynaglo brand almost identical to it, but cheaper. It gives you the flexiblilty of using a larger tank, so you don't wake up cold in the middle of the night. (Some people warn against sleeping with them left on; that's another topic of discussion. I would recommend a combination CO and smoke detector and keeping the heater in a safe location, with the bulk propane tank stored outside your van. Or plumb it into your stock tank under the van)
Mine takes a few tries to light. If I think I'll be warm for a while, but may want to re-light it in the middle of the night, to make it easier, I don't turn it off completely, but leave it on the pilot setting. Then when I want to put it on the low or high setting, it's very fast and I don't neet to keep hitting the piezo-electric lighter. Coleman lists run time on the Black Cat as seven hours. You can get six out of the Mr. Buddy type on low setting. Slightly mre heat, slightly less time. And if it gets really cold, you will need the high setting of the Mr. Buddy.
As for the Dometic- I had tried to get mine to light on propane with no success. I could have pulled it out to do the whole troubleshooting routine, but I guess I wasn't ambitious enough. I used it for dry storage, and brought along an Igloo 5-day cooler. I would keep five to ten pounds of ice in one of those "dry bags" uusally used to keep your belongings dry while rafting. I'd keep this on top of my food. This way, I never got my food all wet from dripping ice bags.
I finally decided I wanted something better. I was tired of dragging along the cooler, having it in the way, and having a fridge that didn't work well. So I invested in the Vitrifrigo that you may have seen mentioned on the list. (www.westyventures.com, then "parts" and see the installation of Karl Mullendore's) It runs on a.c.(if you pay a little extra for that model) or dc. I use two extra deep-cycle batteries under my rear seat for it. I used it last weekend in Ontario, Canada, and loved it. Installation was a bit of a pain, but it is a real working rerigerator.
If your Dometic works on a.c. and d.c., I would make a modest effort to use it on propane, and see how well it cools. Some people get them going without too much effort. If you're more ambitious, take it out and troubleshoot using Frank Condelli's web page description.
Good Luck,
Ed Duntz in CT
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