Sounds very interesting… let us know.

Jim

On Jan 13, 2012, at 7:30 PM, Anthony Egeln <regnsuzanne@YAHOO.COM> wrote:

> Has anyone tried to use a wireless thermometer to get outside air temperature to the van?
> 
> I would think that the remote (outside) sensor could be placed just about anywhere on
> the car and be close enough to send a good signal.
> 
> Would the engine electrics disrupt the signal?
> 
> Ace Hardware has one now for $10 until the 16th.  If I can get to Ace in time I may try it.
> 
> Cheers, Anthony
> '89 Syncro GL (Hidalgo)
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
> Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 10:21 AM
> Subject: A simple idea that worked—inside/outside thermometer installation
> 
> I have been carrying an indoor/outdoor type thermometer (Radio Shack, it
> does a bunch of other stuff, too) with the intention of installing it in my
> Westy. I tried to observe and consider all the pluses and minuses of
> putting it here or there.
> 
> Nowhere on the dash turned out to be a good place as the direct sunlight
> drove the inside temp way out of whack. I didn't want to go through a
> firewall opening with the probe, since it would be difficult to undo if I
> didn't like it and depending on the hole I used, might require cutting and
> resoldering the probe leads, another issue if I were to decide to move it.
> I also didn't want it up front because it would be near the radiator, and I
> was looking for as true an indoor and outdoor temperature as possible.
> 
> I didn't want to drill any new holes. I wanted it up front where I could
> see it from the drivers seat. The display is large enough to see it from
> the back.
> 
> A few weeks ago when playing around with it, it hit me: outside the door
> seal is outside the car, even if it appears to be within the bodywork. So
> that's where I put the probe—stuck on the inside of the cavity the outer
> sheet metal makes above the passenger-side upper hinge, even with the dash.
> That way, the probe wire is closed under the rubber seal with the door
> shuts. It runs right behind the glove box where the spare lead length can
> be stored. There is enough lead loose behind the heater vent cover to allow
> the thing to be snapped out of its base (which is double-stick taped to the
> metal panel between the dash and the heater vent cover) to change out the
> AA batteries when the time comes. It could optionally be wired into the
> car's wiring with the supplied adapter cable, which would allow me to take
> advantage of the built in voltmeter, but that can come later.
> 
> No wires are visible, nor is the probe, unless you look inside the body's
> metal cavity when the door is open, and even then you would almost have to
> want to see it to notice it.
> 
> As it is, the display is easy to see and the thermometer seems to reads its
> respective temperatures accurately, even in bright sunlight, which cannot
> reach the inside unit where it is mounted. The outside unit, mounted just
> outside the rubber, can't be warmed by anything but direct heat on that
> side of the car, but that is going to happen anywhere you mount it,
> including underneath, where it could be distorted by hot asphalt, etc.
> 
> Anyway, just passing this along for those thinking about doing something
> similar.
> 
> Jim