Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2022 09:30:53 -0700
Reply-To: David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Stock fridge vent delete option
In-Reply-To: <D67EFC56-580C-4FE3-BF84-FD16B88C9332@shaw.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Thanks Alistair. I removed the stock refrigerator 2 years ago to free up
space, as it was for all practical purposes dead. It still cooled, but
inadequately, and I cleaned and reinsulated the flue, cleaned the burner
box, put additional insulation behind the refrigerator, added a small fan
in the vent space, did pretty much everything that should have helped. No
or marginal improvement, so I just took it out and rely on a Yeti cooler.
The old Dometic now sits in my shop, taking up space there, but at least
not frustrating me with warm beer on a camping trip. But I really liked the
refrigerator when it worked well, and it did for several years after I got
the van. If I decide to upgrade with solar and a house battery, then I
will also go with a new refrigerator. But how long can we keep these
antiques going? I'm really anxious for the new EV Buzz, but it may be too
high tech for me.
On Sun, Jul 24, 2022 at 8:28 AM Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
> Hi Dave,
>
> The fridge is a wee bit larger capacity. Not much, but more usable space
> as there isn’t any cooling unit exposed . The top 1/3 can be sectioned off
> by a neat removable partition and door to make a freezer section.
>
> The overall width is smaller than stock, as is the hight. The depth is a
> little more though so it does protrude from cabinetry abiut an inch. You
> can mod the fridge , cut some insulation… to fix that , but I didn’t want
> to do that.
>
> Cools very nicely. Got this fridge last summer, did a number of bench
> tests on it. Roughly, from memory, the power draw averages out to around
> 0.9A per hour at 12.7 volts. The compressor is very quiet when running, a
> little less noise than the stock fridge external cooling fan.
>
> There are less expensive fridges ones the market… truckfridge for example.
> And there is an European fridge…. Might be a vitrifrigo model… that fits
> the stock space much better. But I got a good price on this unit. And I
> already have a 200 Ahr aux battery and 160watts of solar, so really an
> electric fridge is a no brainer.
>
>
> https://www.dometic.com/en-nz/outdoor/nz/products/food-and-beverage/refrigerators/rv-refrigerators/dometic-coolmatic-crx-50-_-55521
>
> Alistair
>
> On Jul 23, 2022, at 9:11 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Alistair, What about fit? Dimensions a close replacement for the stock
> refrigerator? It is quite a bit bigger, inside volume (cooled space).
>
> On Sat, Jul 23, 2022 at 6:55 PM Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>> Yeah I went over. I’ve installed a Dometic CRX-50 fridge. And I
>> repurposed the stock fridge vent .
>> https://shufti.blog/2022/07/23/vanagon-stock-fridge-vent-delete-option/
>>
>> Alistair
>>
>
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