Date:         Wed, 23 Jul 1997 09:03:50 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Kelly Bauman <bauman@ICAN.NET>
Subject:      Re: Westfalia Fridge

Scott,

For what it is worth here are some tips from my Dometc experience.

First of all, there are two possibilities for the buzzing noise.  If it is
the fridge burner don't worry.  My fridge does it and it is my
understanding they all make some kind of noise (buzzing, roaring, rumbling,
etc.).  If it is the ventilation fan (thermostatically controlled), and it
is on too frequently, then reduce the thermostat on the fridge.  Also, try
not to park the drivers side of the van (fridge burner vent side) in the sun.

As for cooling it on AC or DC, you should check that the AC plug is plugged
in to the Vanagon AC socket under the sink.   Open the cupboard to the
right of the fridge and look at the back wall.  You will see it.  Also
check the fuses in the small black box on the wall behind the drivers seat.
 My fridge works great on 110V AC.

On the advice of several listees, I tried running the fridge on propane
while driving.  Works great!  So fire the fridge up before you leave, fill
it with pre-cooled food, and never switch modes.  Works for me.

Happy trails.

Kelly Bauman
Delta, BC
'91 Westy

>Hello all. I have a newly acquired '85 Westfalia with the original
>Dometic fridge (in good condition) that I have a couple of questions
>about.
>
>Question #1:This fridge seems to take forever to get cold. Is this
>right? Here are my observations:
>
>AC - (while plugged into the house) it took 2 hours for the fins to even
>feel slightly cool. Didn't wait to see if it would get colder.
>Propane - Got it lit no problem (I can see blue flame through the little
>peep hole in the bottom of the fridge). I ran it for an hour and the
>fins were nice and cold but there was a loud buzzing noise (question
>#2).
>DC - ran it while cruising down the highway for an hour without the fins
>feeling cool at all.
>
>The woman at my local RV place (Evergreen RV in Seattle, the local
>authorized repair shop for the Dometic brand fridge) said that this is
>all expected behavior!? She also said the 12V operation is only to
>"maintain" the current temp and will not actually "cool" the
>fridge.Therefore a scenario (as far as I can tell) for this fridge would
>be to cool it overnight using AC, run DC while you are driving to your
>campsite to maintain the cold, and run propane while you are camping
>away from an AC source. So much for spontaneity. If this is the case,
>most likely I will resort to using a block of ice in the thing.
>
>Question #2: When running off of propane, I lit the stove, hung out for
>5 min or so to make sure my van wasn't going to blow up, then left. When
>I came back an hour later, the fridge was cold but it was making a loud
>buzzing/humming noise. Definately too loud to sleep through. I turned
>the propane off and a few minutes later the buzzing stopped. I restarted
>the fridge no problem and in the few minutes I waited, no buzzing.
>Anyone have any idea what is going on here?
>
>Scott Semyan
>'85 Westie
>
>