He as my vote... a great member of this list.
Great info on his site.

Nice of you to tell that publicly

Keeping /making info available on a website is not easy, on top of giving
such great advices is time consuming. Some acknowledgment is nice once in a
wile.

Ben
http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:15:54 -0400, Jake Beaulieu <jbeaulie@ND.EDU> wrote:

>I just wanted to take a moment to thank Jim Thompson from Old Volks Home
>for providing so much invaluable information to the list.  The e-mail
>pasted below is just one example of the accurate and detailed responses he
>has posted in response to questions that generally start something
>like, "I am trying to replace this thingy and I don't know what its called
>or where I can find a new one.."  In addition to helping us figure out if
>a whatchamacallit from a 1988 van will fit a 1982 van, he has also written
>up detailed instructions on how to swap instrument clusters between vans.
>This document has greatly simplified the process.
>
>Thanks a bunch Jim,
>Jake
>
>On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:42:55 -0700, Old Volks Home
><oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>>You didn't give a year and more importantly, the model number of your
>fridge
>>(RM182A, B or BEGI).  Westfalia shows two different Thermostats:
>>
>>VW# 253 070 522 80-86 w/RM182A or B
>>
>>VW# 255 070 527 87-91 w/RM182B or BEGI
>>
>>It is basically a disc shaped piece with two electrical terminals and the
>>disc bracket attaches to the fins on the fridge.  While, VW has
>discontinued
>>carrying these, but are still available from RV supply houses with prices
>>ranging from $40 to $50.  While VW doesn't indicate the earlier one being
>>superseded to the later one, from my research, it shows that Dometic only
>>offers one replacement regardless of fridge RM182 series model.  Here's a
>>link to a place in Texas that offers them (around $44):
>>
>>http://www.rvdealership.com/rvdstore/pc-120614-1-switcht-stat-n.aspx
>>
>>or Bus Depot (at $16 higher, if they can get them):
>>http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=255070527
>>
>>I'm not sure what you mean by the "tube rather broken".  Are you sure
>you're
>>talking about the Thermostat or the ThermoCouple (VW # 253 070 589 [now
>255
>>070 506]), which has a long copper tube?  2 entirely different items.
>>
>>If what you're looking for is the ThermoCouple, here's a few links:
>>
>>From GoWesty:
>>http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?
>id=2446&category_id=129&category_parent_id
>>=
>>
>>From that Texas place I described earlier (almost $10 higher than
>GoWesty):
>>http://www.rvdealership.com/rvdstore/pc-141787-1-thermocouple-n.aspx
>>
>>From Bus Depot (over $20 higher than GoWesty):
>>http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=253070589
>>
>>Hope this info might help.....and I agree with Dennis Haynes, a heater
>>regulator/home thermostat would not work very well, if at all.
>>--
>>Jim Thompson
>>84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
>>84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
>>73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
>>72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
>>oldvolkshome@gmail.com
>>http://www.oldvolkshome.com
>>***********************************