Date:         Wed, 11 Aug 1999 19:34:00 EDT
Reply-To:     Ssittservl@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         S Sittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: fridge Q, "weekender cabinet" project
Comments: To: dfrandolph@talkam.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>  Date:    8/11/99 10:06:20 AM CDT
>  From:    dfrandolph@TALKAM.NET (Fitz-Randolph, Douglas)
>
>  I didn't leave the fridge plugged in from more than a few minutes - I
>  unplugged it after nothing seemed to be happening.... Should something
>  happen immediately? It does make noise when it runs - it's not silent
>  like a thermoelectric fridge, right?

It's silent.  All three operating modes (propane, 110V, 12V) simply run
one of three independant heating elements (propane flame, 110V heater,
12V heater).  And yes, even though I've read how it works, it still always
strikes me as really odd to make stuff cold by using a heating element.

The exception to the silence is the coil fan; this runs on 12V when
the area around the coils gets too warm (about 120 degrees, if I
remember right).  It runs regardless of the oprating mode, and,
surprisingly, even when the fridge is off.  The fridge doesn't
really need it so much when running in the open, but it's important
when the fridge is installed in its cabinet.  The fridge coils move heat
from inside the fridge to behind the fridge.  The fan moves heat
from behind the fridge to the rest of the van.  Without the fan, the
heat builds up behind the fridge, so there's no place to move the
heat from the inside to, so the inside won't get as cold (particularly
on a warm day).  Dead fans are apparently one of the most
common failures for these fridges; the fridge continues to work,
but not very well.  (Not that they're that they're exactly Arctic cold
even when the fan DOES work.)

                                             -Steven Sittser