Date:         Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:52:14 -0400
Reply-To:     Phil Zimmerman <philzimm1@SHAW.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Phil Zimmerman <philzimm1@SHAW.CA>
Subject:      Re: insulating hot side of Dometic refer

Edward,

Ditto what Dennis and Alistair said.
Recall Roger S., Rocket Squirrel and many others have done exhaustive experiments and
measurements to gain better performance out of the Dometic.

My pov,  the City Water exhaust fan addition, a Ceramic Sleeve (Blanket) around the
corrugated Aluminum exhaust pipe and insulation on the wall behind the Fridge were the
three most effective modifications.  Essentially, exhausting/reducing heat gain behind the
unit.

Adding an insulation Sleeve around the exhaust pipe did raise the temperature of the
exhaust/intake Fitting on the Van's side wall. What was once warm to the touch, was now
pretty warm approaching hot.  My assumption here, more heat being dumped outside the
Van.

The material for this was sourced at a FLAPS. Aluminized ceramic cloth with a velcro
zipper. Cut to length and wrap around bare Al exhaust pipe. For AB, that's were Neil
obtained his insulation... My leftovers... 8:)

Roger Sizler sp? tried different insulations inside the heater-column. Anything but the
original glass-fibre smelled pretty awful under operating temps, he reported. From my
touch-of-hand observations, the Column does not get that warm. The bare Aluminum
exhaust pipe  does get very Hot! Thus, my experiment with insulation this portion of the
exhaust.

Heat-Transfer goop? Radio Shack (USA) was the old standby source....

Good hunting in your quest for better cooling.

Pz
On a rock off the west coast.
----------------

On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:01:19 -0700, Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA> wrote:

>Neil has done some work on the insulating topic, and so have I.
>Neil insulated the exhaust pipe I think.
>
>I was less than overwhelmed with the result. But the city water mod really does work.
>
>On 2011-09-25, at 8:28 AM, Edward Maglott wrote:

  How about adding insulation around the "hot column"
>> and on the exposed exhaust pipe as it goes up from the column to the
>> exit outside?  That is just bare metal throwing off heat behind the
>> cabinet.  Any ideas or comments?

  What is the best choice these days for a heat transfer
>> compound to put between the cold-pipe and aluminum fins inside the fridge?
>>
>> Edward