OK, so I've got my fridge out (again) to give it one last chance and
noticed the cooling fan didn't turn very freely. After hooking it up to
the battery, nothing! That's one good reason it was not getting very
cold! The burn chamber was pretty clean with only a bit of rusty ash
and evidence of some water that had sat on the bottom. Time for a flue
cover.

I noticed that the upper part of the exhaust flue is not insulated and
I wonder if anyone can think of a reason NOT to wrap it with fiberglass
to keep the heat in the flue.

Next project is to find 2 fans. One for cooling the fins and one to
exhaust heated air out the water inlet housing that I never use. I plan
on using my friends ban saw to carefully slice off the back. It could
be glued back on again later to restore normal function. Another
thought occurred to me: maybe a flexible hose would be a better way of
hooking up the fan to the outside vent. The fan could be placed near
the top where the heat goes?

Bench testing happens today. The LP tank is hooked up and I have
ignition, but no cooling due to no 12 volt power. So I have to get
power to the unit and then see how it performs. Testing the fan heat
sensor switch went fine: goes on when heated and off when the heat is
removed. By the way, a regular BBQ regulator/hose assembly conveniently
fits the LP inlet without any conversion parts!

Before the fridge goes back in, the fiberglass insulation comes out and
sound-deadening material with a few layers of foil-bubble insulation
goes in.

Stay tuned for results...

Keith O