Date:         Sun, 9 Oct 94 0:11:06 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <schwarze@io.nosc.mil>
Subject:      Fridges, more rambling...

Another Saturday, another trip to the junkyard in search of replacement parts
for the Franken-boat.  We are fortunate enough (?) to have three Ecology
yards here in San Diego (where you pay $1 to get in and the prices are cheap
but you take off all the parts yourself).  One of them had a 75 westy that
donated its innards to my rommmate's 73 van.  I was after the heat exchangers
but, sure enough, now that I had come prepared to do battle with those
beasties it was gone (sorry Sami!  :( ).  In it's place was a 79 westy!
Looks like it had just arrived, too!  A quick check inside, yes, the fridge
was there!  I have been looking for some time for a fridge to replace the
one in my camper cause it is falling apart.  I remember someone on the list
saying recently that the 79 had a better fridge than the 78 and before.
This one looked like the older ones - next to the bed, lid-on-top type, etc..
I wondered if it had a compressor, or was one of those types with a heating
element in it.  Lifted the left panel and saw lots of fins and curved metal
pipes... maybe it IS a compressor type!  I find out that they want $25 bucks
for it, and decide that it's too cheap to pass up.
	Had to remove most of the rest of the Westfalia interior to get that
pup outta there, but finally got it removed.  Once home, I hook it up to a
battery and wait anxiously.  Nothing!  Start looking closely at the innards
and I discover that it is NOT the type with a compressor, but has the heating
element.  Arrrrgh!  Oh well, maybe it will still work alright.  Check the
current with an ammeter and it is drawing 5.2 amps, just like it is supposed
to.  Decided to let it run awhile and see what happens.  A half hour later
the cooling finns inside the fridge start to feel a little cool.  I put a
gallon of water inside and leave it for 6 hours with a thermometer inside.
The thermometer reads 55 on the bottom of the fridge, water still warm, light
frost on the end of the cooling fins.  I'll check back in the morning, and
dammit that water better be at 33 degrees!
	Are all of the fridges in Westys the same way?  Or is this one
messed up somehow?  Would a small fan inside help?  Would a small fan
*outside* help?  I'd really like to use this fridge in my camper, but if
it can't chill drinks, well...

-David

=============================================================================
David Schwarze			'73 VW Safare Custom Camper (Da Boat)
SAIC Comsystems, San Diego	'73 Capri GT 2800 (Da Beast)
schwarze@nosc.mil		'87 Mustang Lx 5.0 (Da Bruiser?  Soon...)
=============================================================================