Ugh, sorry.

d

On Sun, Jul 2, 2017 at 12:50 AM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:

> It was a great old box, a fine old box, > But at last it met its end. > > Its owner and a fellow Vanagon man > did their best on two weekends. > > But the fall from the work table, wow, > That was its final bow. > > I had the propane line reinstalled, hooked up, checked for leaks (none). > It started up on propane immediately, with the flame visible in the site > glass (thanks for teaching me how to view that, Robert). > > I was getting things cleared away for reinstalling it and to check how well > it would cool when the neighbor's dog, a Weimeramer kept for guard duty, > appeared in the shop door, snarling and growling. He must've found a gate > open or something. He came toward me, full voice, and I moved to put > something between me and him, and to get a club into my hand. I bumped the > table, and perhaps the refrigerator. At any rate, it fell over and onto > the concrete shop floor. > > The neighbor appeared, corralled the dog, and never so much as asked if > everything was ok before departing without speaking a word. > > After all the excitement, I hooked everything up. There was no 12 V. I > checked over everything obvious, wires and so on, nothing pulled loose that > I could find, no electrical parts obviously broken. I retightened > electrical connections, and tried again, still no DC, no flashing light for > propane, and more careful examination revealed also a crack to the burner > box, and another around the brazing where the drain pipe connects to the > burner box. The drain pipe was bent. Other components are likely damaged. > > I installed it anyway, figuring that having it in place, and no propane > leaks, is better for the upcoming camping starting after the 4th than > having the cabinet space open but with the propane line exposed. I'll cap > that off, figure a fix to cover the line and other connections (and the > flue vent opening) after we get back. > > I do know that GoWesty sells a kit for refrigerator decommissioning and > making a finished look cabinet space, but I should be able to do the same > job for considerably less money. We'll see. Or maybe I will buy the > GoWesty kit. > > I really don't like this, as I always liked having that little, inadequate > refrigerator. It always worked great, especially on propane, until it > started being hard to start and not staying lit just before I had to stop > using it for a couple of years. We used to regularly stay out for two > weeks, and keep eggs and other perishables in the refrigerator. > > Well, I learned a good bit about the Dometic, anyway, thanks especially to > Robert. I also confirmed what I knew from past experience, that my > mechanical prowess is short of superb, and that a job that takes someone > else a half day takes me two. Unfortunately, I also learned a little more > about my neighbor. I always thought he was a nice person. I'll chalk his > behavior up to not knowing exactly what to do in the circumstances. > > mcneely >