Here are some more observations on the fridge:

On "Poppie" my '82 Westy, the fridge has been working flawlessly
and cooling well since I got it. Some years ago I pulled the insulation
behind the fridge, and that seems to have improved fridge performance
a little bit. (Presumably by allowing more cooling air to circulate
unrestricted between fridge and body)

On "Popul" the '85 Westy, getting the fridge lit, staying lit and cooling
well is a chore. Some observations:
The relationship between flame strength and cooling seems very non-linear.
I can set (with my variable gas regulator) a medium flame. Then have no
cooling at all. Then just increase the flame very little and get very good
cooling
in the fridge (after the required wait).

Once above this breakpoint, andy further flame increase does nothing to
improve cooling.

Above some point, more gas will simply starve the combustion chamber of
air and the flame goes down (eventually out)

Martin

--
Martin Jagersand
University of Alberta
http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~jag/