Date:         Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:10:24 -0700
Reply-To:     Tobin Copley <tcopley@SFU.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tobin Copley <tcopley@SFU.CA>
Subject:      Dead fridge fan: questions
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

So the Dometic fridge fan in my '82 Westy died with a squeal, a
shriek, then an eerie silence.  I'm gonna have to replace it. I have
a few questions, and I can't seem to find clear answers to them on
the web (and my list archives searches seem to bomb every time).

I've already pulled the fridge out, and have removed the fan.  I also
went down to my FLEPS and bought a rectangular 12V computer cooling
fan.  It's rated at 50 CFM and draws 0.20 amps.

Questions:
1) The original Dometic fan doesn't have its current draw shown on it
anywhere.  How does this new 0.20 A fan compare?  (I often camp 50 km
or more from the nearest civilization, so a dead battery would be
rather, ah, inconvenient.)

2) There is a small blue-ish cylinder soldered next to the fan on the
original fan's harness.  Is this a resistor?  Should I transfer this
thing to the new fan?

3) Have people worked out a clever way to mount a computer fan to the
back of the fridge?  The new fan will require fabrication of a new
mount.  I have some thin aluminum angle stock lying around and am
thinking of building a mounting bracket out of that, but if someone
has already worked out a neat solution, I might as well draw on that
knowledge.

4) I'll have to drill new mounting holes in the back of the fridge
for the new fan mount.  Are there any sensitive bits of plumbing
inside there I should be aware of or avoid?  If so, are there "safe
zones" for drilling or putting short metal screws in?

If there are other "gotchas" I should be aware of, I'd welcome a
heads up!

Good news is, other than the dead fan, the fridge works very well!

Thanks in advance,

T.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin Copley        Vancouver, BC, Canada

.                             =============
.                            /_| |_L| |__|:| clatter
.        SPEED KILLS!       {.            .| clatter!
.   Drive a Vanagon diesel   ~-()-==----()-~

'82 Westfalia 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell
'99 daughter Margaret
'06 Cannondale R5000 road racing bike
'06 Fuji Track SE racing bike
'07 Louis Garneau SteepleX cyclocross racing bike