The more expensive way to do this is to get a gauge to measure the pressure.
It depends on if you have more time than money - or more money than time.

I bought a gauge, but have not tried it out yet.
It sits in my tool kit with the "one use" tools.

regards,
Todd

Marshall wrote:

>Another post of interest to the fridge-obsessed.
>
>Marshall Ruskin
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mark Drillock" <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 07:41 AM
>Subject: Westy Fridge-Checking Propane Pressure
>
>
>>DO NOT do this is you do not understand what you are doing. I measured
>>it with a tool made from a long piece of clear hose. You must remove one
>>of the copper lines from the "y" fitting at the tank regulator and push
>>it to one side out of the way. The lower one is easiest to get to. I
>>first removed the bottom shield from the tank. It is held on by two 13
>>mm bolts and nuts.  Use a wrench on the square sides of the "y" to hold
>>it while you use a wrench on the copper tubing nut. I disconnected the
>>lower copper line from the propane tank and pushed the 5/8" ID hose over
>>the nipple. The hose needs to be 6-10 feet long. Bend the rest of it
>>into a "U" shape touching the ground and fill the bottom of the "U" with
>>water. The water should be 12" deep on each side of the "U". DO NOT put
>>in too much water. DO NOT move the hose so that the water goes all the
>>way to the tank. Now move the sides of the "U" closer together and look
>>at the height of the water in each. They should match. Now turn on the
>>propane and the gas will push down on one end of the water and the other
>>will of course rise. Use a tape measure or ruler and measure the height
>>difference of the ends of the water. The Dometic spec is 11 inches. Mine
>>was at 8 inches and I set it to 10. On the body of the Marshall pressure
>>regulator is a white plastic screw in plug. Remove this plug to get at
>>the adjustment screw. A Phillips screwdriver is needed to turn the
>>adjusting screw. DO NOT MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENT UNLESS YOU HAVE THE "GAUGE"
>>CONNECTED AND WORKING. I found that on my Marshall 260 that one FULL
>>turn clockwise increased the pressure by 1 inch. I set mine to 10
>>inches. CHECK FOR LEAKS WITH SOAPY WATER AFTER RECONNECTING THE COPPER
>>GAS LINE.
>>
>>Mark
>>
>>
>>
>>drc11 wrote:
>>
>>>Mark, how did you measure 8 vs 11 inches?  Is it marked on the
>>>
>adjustment
>
>>>screw/knob?  madeline
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
>>>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>>>Date: Monday, May 24, 1999 9:44 AM
>>>Subject: Westy Fridge Now Works Great! 23 Degrees F
>>>
>>>>Yesterday I made the discovery that the propane pressure was set to
>>>>
>only
>
>>>>8 inches on my 82 Westy. The Dometic manual specifies 11 inches. Since
>>>>last week when I blew out the fridge flue vents with compressed air,
>>>>this unit has been lighting easily and staying lit for days on end. It
>>>>has been cooling down to 37 degrees F when left overnight set to max. I
>>>>thought that this was pretty good, especially after hearing from many
>>>>people that they would love for theirs to work this well. My 87 Syncro
>>>>Camper on the other hand cools down to 27 degrees overnight with the
>>>>temp setting knob straight up, not max. I wondered why the one cooled
>>>>
>so
>
>>>>well, and some suggested that I was just "lucky" to have a "super"
>>>>fridge that few others had. This turns out not to be the case. The
>>>>"super" fridge is running on 10.5 inches of pressure. When I increased
>>>>the pressure on my 82 Westy tank regulator from 8 up to 10 inches, that
>>>>refrigerator suddenly became a "super" model too. It cooled overnight
>>>>down to 28 degrees with the temp knob straight up. Early this morning I
>>>>set it to max and the temp fell to 23 degrees. The sun induced temp
>>>>inside the van is now 84 degrees. This is a 60 degree difference.
>>>>
>What's
>
>>>>more, the fridge is not running full blast to maintain this
>>>>
>temperature,
>
>>>>but is cycling on and off under thermostatic control. This implies
>>>>additional cooling capacity in reserve to maintain the low fridge temp
>>>>as the ambient air temp increases. I urge anyone who needs more cooling
>>>>to investigate the pressure setting of their tank regulator. This
>>>>
>simple
>
>>>>adjustment made a HUGE difference. I am not saying that this will
>>>>magically fix all problems, only that the pressure drastically affects
>>>>cooling capacity. DO NOT set it above the factory spec of 11 inches. I
>>>>suggest 10 inches as a starting point. At high altitudes a lower
>>>>
>setting
>
>>>>may be needed as there is less oxygen in the air. Also if the flue vent
>>>>system is not completely clear, there may not be enough oxygen coming
>>>>
>in
>
>>>>to support the higher burn rate with the higher pressure. Both of these
>>>>situations can result in the fridge flame going out. All of my tests
>>>>
>and
>
>>>>most of my camping is at very near sea level. THANKS to everyone who
>>>>
>has
>
>>>>so far taken part in this Westy Fridge Project. Thanks to Otmar for
>>>>suggesting propane pressure as an avenue to pursue and to David Beierl
>>>>for the simple but effective measuring device design. Let's keep at it
>>>>until they all work well.
>>>>
>>>>Mark Drillock
>>>>
>
>
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