Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2010 16:26:19 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Kitchen out; Any suggestions?
In-Reply-To: <9EBE65FD-11B7-45A4-B268-870DB8A7E73A@ocotillofield.net>
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Mark, I generally put anything in the refrigerator that I want to stay cold. I freeze meats at home, and put them in frozen. They thaw after a couple of days, but stay cold enough for 3 or 4 days after that. I use the refrigerator for eggs, butter, milk, juice, vegetables -- pretty much everything except beer, which I do put in a cooler most of the time, mainly because of volume limitations. I have used the refrigerator for beer on occasion, just not usually. The only thing I ever had spoil was some chopped green onions in a plastic bag that I kept for a week. They might have spoiled in my refrigerator at home, too, since I chopped them, left them out all through preparing a meal and while eating, then put them in the refrigerator, by which time they were at ambient temperature.
The Dometic is good for enough food for a several day trip for us. In fact, we used it this summer in Glacier National Park for a week and only bought additional food the last couple of days, and then because we wanted some particular things we didn't have, not because our stash had run out. Now, it was a lot cooler in Glacier than it is here in Oklahoma in the summer, granted. We do use dried and some canned foods of course, and carry things like potatoes, onions, melons without refrigerating them.
I have, when fishing, filleted fish, put them in a plastic bag and laid it on top of the chilling unit. The fish cooled and I kept them that way for a couple of days before cooking them. No spoilage. In fact, the closest thing to "spoilage" that mattered was that some eggs and vegetables have frozen. Of course, the eggs were fine when they thawed, but the vegetables weren't.
When driving, I use the 12 V mode as the camper owner's book says to do. If I am stopping for more than a brief stop for gas or something (for a lunch break for example), I switch to propane, then back to 12 V to get back on the road. Twelve volt will warm up a little more than propane does, but the food stays cold enough. I've never run it on A.C. except for prechilling, but when I do that, it gets quite cold. Take that back, one time I stayed in a state park in Texas for four days, during which I ran on A.C. Stayed cold, parked in the shade of a pecan tree. Daytime temperatures were in the eighties F.
The Dometic temperature is not as constant as in a good home refrigerator. I kept a thermometer in my Dometic for a while, and measured temperatures from -2 C (too cold) to 6 C. I'm sure it has been warmer than that on occasion, especially on 12 V or when I failed to switch it when stopped. The recommended temperature for a home refrigerator is 2.8 C (37 F), and is expected not to vary much from that.
My camper owner's book says not to run on propane when driving for safety reasons (and to make sure the propane is shut off), though owners of earlier models say theirs say nothing about that, and many folks seem to do it all the time. Some say they have practiced that routinely for years. My owner's book repeats the warning in several different places. I have a '91 Volkswagen Vanagon GL Campmobile. I think it is important that the unit is cleaned. I pulled mine one time and cleaned (I've had the thing 17 months, have driven it 12K miles, almost all highway driving for camping purposes). That was a pretty big job, and without the detailed instructions that Frank Condelli provides, I probably could not have done it. However, mine wasn't very dirty, either. All I did when I had it pulled was vacuum everything really well. No rust, btw.
David
---- Mark Hineline <hineline@ocotillofield.net> wrote:
> David, this is a useful summary, but what things to you put in the
> fridge? What things don't you put in there? Have you had anything spoil?
>
> Mark
> Peregrine fille
> San Diego, CA
>
>
>
> On Sep 12, 2010, at 12:37 PM, Dave Mcneely wrote:
>
> > ---- Werner Schink <werner.calnr@SBCGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
> >
> >> The westy fridge is pretty useless. There's other options - check
> >> out
> >> gowesty's site for ideas.
> >
> > The Dometic works well for what it is intended for, when used
> > properly. I prechill mine, as recommended in the camper owner's
> > book, and put in only precooled foods. It works on all three modes,
> > cools enough to stay at or below 40 F except during the hottest
> > times of the summer. And I use it in Oklahoma and Texas. Shade on
> > the camper side or better insulation (or both) would help, but the
> > insulation jobs that people advocate don't really increase the R
> > factor. They do perhaps help to keep the space drier than with the
> > factory insulation. Added fans evidently do help, and I'm thinking
> > about that.
> >
> > If your Dometic is worthless, it needs attention, like making sure
> > its factory fan is working properly, that it is venting properly,
> > and so on.
> >
> > David McNeely
>
--
David McNeely
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