Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 20:51:48 PDT
Reply-To: Mike Finkbiner <mike_l_f@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mike Finkbiner <mike_l_f@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Refrigerator Fan Control
Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed;
Volks -
I had the Dometic refrigerator out of my '87 Westy to work on the gas, and
decided that now was the time to take advantage of all of the good advice
people have like Bill Davidson and Derek Drew have given about improving
the fan system.
I replaced the noisy standard fan with two computer fans, and I picked up a
tiny 12v fan from Radio Shack for $10, to use for an inside fan.
Various ideas had been discussed for controlling the inside fan, but I
wanted something that was at least semi-automatic. Even though it's a very
small current draw, I didn't want to accidentally leave it running for a
week when I wasn't using the van.
The best method seemed to be a thermostat, and rather than trying to fit one
inside the fridge, or figure out how to use the existing one, I bought a
small snap disc fan control. It closes as the temperature goes up, and
opens when it drops. This one is a disc about 3/4" in diameter and
thickness mounted in an oval metal plate about 1 1/2" long. That's small
enough so I could pop apart the metal housing that surrounds the heating
elements on the back of the fridge and push it into the insulation.
Snap disc thermostats come in a variety of temperatures. My meat
thermometer showed that the metal vent pipe inside the insulation got up to
about 190 degrees F after half an hour on gas. I didn't have a powerful 12
volt supply to test the fridge on that power source, but I was sure the temp
would be less, so I chose a thermostat that closed at 130 F and then
re-opened when it cooled down to 115 F. Two of them cost me $16 with
shipping from Johnstone Supply.
I ran power from the block on the top rear of the fridge. Be sure to use
the fan circuit, not the heater circuit, if you do that because the heater
circuit won't work if the ignition is off.
I used some hi-temperature wire for the part of the circuit that was close
to the heat, and put a small switch in the front of the refrigerator, so I
could turn the fan off manually when I didn't want it to run. The fan is
rather noisy, so I mounted it inside a block of stiff foam, with appropriate
sized holes for air flow, and wedged it in on top of the cooling fins at the
back of the fridge.
So far so good. I'll have to see how it works this summer, but I think it
will be a better performer than the one in my '83.
I didn't want to go into a lot of details, but if anyone has questions, drop
me a note.
Mike Finkbiner
'87 Westy, with three new fans!
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