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Date:         Sat, 30 Jul 2022 13:11:40 -0500
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: An electrical thing I never noticed in 20 years of Westy
              ownership
Comments: To: Mark Drillock <madvws@cox.net>
In-Reply-To:  <9f90234f-4e19-ac38-a6b0-8e8c65661102@cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Yep, that's probably happening. Dont know why I never noticed it before. I bet if I pulled the car cover over it it might prevent the battery drain.

Jim

On Sat, Jul 30, 2022 at 12:52 PM Mark Drillock <madvws@cox.net> wrote:

> Here is part of a Vanagon list post from Apr 1999 regarding the stock > fridge. > > > " Finally, keep the fridge side of the Westy shaded. I use a small > silver colored tarp to shade this side. The sun can heat the area behind > the fridge enough to cause the fan to cycle EVEN WHEN THE FRIDGE IS OFF. > I believe that this is part of why the fans all seem to be worn out. > Most of the Westy fridges have seen little use but the fans wear out > anyway because they operate even if the fridge is off. Darker colored > vanagons are more likely to have this occur. This is also why the > batteries in parked Westys can sometimes seem to run down unexpectedly. > When the sun shines on the left side of the Camper the fan will likely > be triggered. We all know how hot it can get inside a Westy on a sunny > day with the top down even when it is cool outside." > > > > On 7/29/2022 6:18 PM, Jim Felder wrote: > > Interesting. Maybe that's what was running my battery down in the first > place. If that is the case, and I'm sure it is, it might be advisable to > install a switch to break that circuit when the cooling fan was on but > serving no purpose but to run the battery out. > > Jim > > On Fri, Jul 29, 2022 at 6:26 PM Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> > wrote: > > > The fridge condenser fan is controlled by a thermo switch on the condenser > coil There is no other control for it. If the interior gets hot enough that > fan will turn on regardless of any of the fridge settings. > > Dennis > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> On Behalf Of Jim > Felder > Sent: Friday, July 29, 2022 6:40 PM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: An electrical thing I never noticed in 20 years of Westy ownership > > When I park my Westy after camping, my habit has always been to switch the > gas knob to OFF and the mode switch to 120 when I parked the car. I just > went out to check on something in my Westy (1983 diesel) and heard a > whirring noise which I immediately knew could only be the fridge fan. I > checked and it was. Why was it on? Further checking I realized that I had > the car on a trickle charger plugged into the cabin 120 outlet, and had > house current going into electrical shore power outlet. > > Since my bout with chemo a few years back, I don't tolerate summer heat so > well and thus go through the hot months without driving the car very often. > This often caused the battery to be flat when I went to start it, hence > the smart trickle charger that successfully keeps the battery at the ready. > So, though I had not realized it, the house power has been running the > fridge for a couple of months now, and since it has been so hot the gowesty > fan upgrade has been running too for weeks on end. I didn't realize that > would happen when I hooked it up. So now, I have the mode switch on GAS and > the gas turned off at the knob and the tank. Probably no problem for anyone > but me, but just wanted everyone to know that running a trickle charger > with 110 plugged into the utility outlet will run the fridge``and wear out > your auxiliary fan if you don't do something about it. > > Jim > > >


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