Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 07:17:33 -0500
Reply-To: tom ring <taring@TARING.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: tom ring <taring@TARING.ORG>
Organization: Tippen Ringware
Subject: Re: Fridge question
In-Reply-To: <5046dec9.a652b40a.2c94.2c7a@mx.google.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Great stuff! Thanks to you and all the others that have given me lots of work
to do this coming weekend!
It'll be fun. Sort of. And it's supposed to be cooler, unlike all the 90
degree days lately.
tom
On 5 Sep 2012 at 1:10, David Beierl wrote:
> At 09:21 PM 9/4/2012, tom ring wrote:
> >My fridge works fine on 120 and propane but poorly on 12 volts. I
> >have checked
> >and it draws 6.3 amps on "12" volts which seems to be as expected.
>
> Check along the 12 V wiring for voltage drops. Replace fuse on
> pillar with a Littelfuse glass version that isn't prone to losing
> contact at the retaining hole as the Euro fuses do. Increase spring
> tension there.
>
> Check using an inverter to power it on 110 V while you're driving
> down the road. The fridge never works as well when under way as the
> vehicle's motion interferes to some extent with the internal
> flows. If no inverter, use propane. If you stick a thermometer on
> the cooling fins/tube with heat sink compound and cover it with putty
> you'll be able to see fin temperature rise within moments of driving off.
>
> Check supply voltage at load end of fuse and current (ammeter
> inserted in line with fuse -- I think the supply wires on that
> fixture use screw terminals). Leave the fuse in circuit since by its
> nature it produces a voltage drop. Product of voltage and amperage
> should be at least 85 watts (rating of the heater). If not there's a
> poor connection somewhere and/or thicker wires needed. Poor
> connection may be on top of the fridge.
>
> If above checks are ok, pull fridge and investigate the heater pocket
> - heater is held in with a setscrew. Rarely they break off the
> boiler, otherwise it's possible that corrosion may be interfering
> with heat transfer (not too likely given that the identical AC setup seems ok).
>
> The easiest overall solution *may* be to simply use an inverter on
> the road. This minimizes voltage drops (taken as percentage of the
> total) and lets you have a thermostat without modifying the fridge.
>
> Yours,
> David
>
>
-----------------------------------------
Tom Ring K0TAR, ex-WA2PHW EN34hx
taring@taring.org
What happens if a big asteroid hits the Earth? Judging from realistic
simulations
involving a sledge hammer and a common laboratory frog, we can
assume it will
be pretty bad.
- Dave Barry
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