John,

The brand of ammonia refrigerator you are looking for is or Servel.

My grandmother in B'ham bought one new in the twenties or thirties
and it had to be replaced in the seventies with a new unit because
the hinges wore out, not because it stopped making cold.

You can make an ammonia refrigerator with two propane tanks and some
pipe fittings. Google "Icy Ball Refigerator." What a hoot! Made for
the pre-electric family who needed a wood-burning icebox. There was
one in a junk store near me until a few years ago, I shoulda snapped
it up.

Jim

On Jul 24, 2006, at 1:08 PM, Kim Brennan wrote:

> What you need to be looking for is an Ammonia based AC (rather than a
> Propane fired one), which happens to use propane for the heat source.
> Many decades ago (oops!) the house I lived in had an Ammonia based AC
> system. It died (unusual) and was replaced with a heat pump.
>
> Most modern ammonia based AC systems should be pretty fuel efficient.
>
> On Jul 24, 2006, at 12:37 PM, John Rodgers wrote:
>
> The current thread dealing with battery power for the refrigerator
> brought the above subject to mind..
>
> The propane/115v refrigerator/freezer I had in my motor home some
> years
> back was outstanding. When running on propane, it never let me
> down. Nor
> did it on 115V electricity, either. It was not made to use battery
> power
> in any way. And that thing would freeze a halibut solid as a block of
> tombstone granite..
>
> So my question is, if there are propane fired refrigeration units that
> work well, can there not be a propane fired AC unit somewhere,
> CERVEL(Cervil?), or some other brand. If not, could one be cobbled
> together with parts from a propane fired fridge. After all, they
> aren't
> much more than a coil, a fan, and a heating unit. It seems to me
> if the
> shape was right, it would work great as a cooler for the camper on the
> weekend outing.
>
> Ideas, comments, slams??
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver.
>