On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 10:39 AM, neil N<musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> Hopefully this isn't something that's been beaten to death. Searched,
> but didn't readily see what I need.
>
> Parked under carport. Hot sunny day. Morning/early afternoon, Dometic
> temps "ok". But later, when sun at kitchen side, Dometic interior temp
> drops.
>
> There isn't any insulation between Vanagon sheet metal and rear of
> fridge. I'm sure this compounds the problem.
>
> Will installing insulation make *that* much of a difference in terms
> of how well a Dometic cools/stays cool?
>
> Just trying to decide if it's worth yanking the fridge and adding insulation.

So. In spite of making some minor changes, (flame might be bigger.
"new" 182A thermostat helped?) and doing a little maintenance, it
seems that adding insulation helps.

http://tinyurl.com/ry43am

http://tinyurl.com/q8h9v8

Besides installing insulation, I made a channel of sorts to help air
flow up and out (you can see tin on each side) and to keep city fan
from drawing air from sides behind rest of cabinetry (un-insulated)

Before, albeit in somewhat hotter weather, when sun hit side of van,
same position, same time of day, frost would melt from cooling fins,
temp would go up into the mid-high 50'sF or more. At 4:30 today,
almost the same sun position, 76F inside van, fridge still frosty and
36F.

I'll be curious to see what happens on a really hot day, but I'm
pretty sure that the insulation helps.

FWIW, I used residential type bubble/foil one side, hot water tank
wrap. Put down 2 strips first, as per instructions, then 3 layers foil
side toward sheet metal. Topped it off with HardiBacker 1/2" cement
board, cement side toward fridge. (wasn't sure if fins on rear of
fridge would get hot enough to damage plastic bubble insulation) There
appears to be sufficient clearance between fridge and insulation. IR
thermometer shows lower temps when pointed at new insulation (fridge
running on LP), though not totally accurate as it's a bit crowded to
do so via opening at upper LH rear part of cabinet.

Neil.

--
Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"

http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines