Thanks to all for your advice on this issue.  I am dropping the mini-fridge
idea.  The chief problem is compressor start-up draw.  And I will now
concentrate on getting the best I can out of the built in refrigerator.
 Luckily for a complete novice to these vehicles the refrigerator does work
on the Westy I bought.  At least it does work on AC and it gets down to
about 40 degrees fahrenheit.  I haven't tried it on DC yet but will.  I
havent even used the propane system yet.  I think before I do I need get it
pressure tested to make sure its ok.  On the few camping trips we have
taken we used a chest style cooler and it worked fine.  I have a ton of
those freezer packs that they mail my sons meds with and I put those in.
 Could put those in the Dometic too.  FYI there is a ton of information on
the use of inverters on the internet.   Truckers in particular have a lot
of experience with them.

Jim
Frederick, MD
85 Westy

On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 11:32 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> Pretty close Dave :) last measurement was 35.96F in fridge, and 76.64F in
> van.
> So that is about a 40F degree diff.
>
>
>
> My fridge had the fins cleaned, and the (added) internal fan was not on. I
> do not think I had the mains water port aux fan on. That mod, in which you
> gut the city water port and add a fan so that it vents the body space
> behind the fridge, is a worthy mod. I would guess it would add few degrees
> to the temp difference. But I think it would be maxing out the potential of
> the system.
>
> In the field, I found the big killer is the sun beating down on the fridge
> side of van. I have rigged up a space blanket (the fabric reinforced shiny
> mylar type) to shade that part of the van. Without the shade that part of
> the body is hot to the touch.
>
> alistair
>
>
>
>
> On 2013-06-10, at 8:16 PM, Dave Mcneely wrote:
>
> > ---- Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@MYMTS.NET> wrote:
> >> Impressive!  Am i reading that right?  After three hours, solely on
> propane, hardly any change in interior temperature, and you're almost at
> freezing?  Any tips?  Interior fan to circulate air or something?
> >>
> >> I can get that kind of cooling with shore power but propane takes
> longer - or so I assume since i haven't kept track like you did :)  And I
> never use 12V.
> >
> > Actually Jeff, he had an ambient temperature drop from low 80s F to mid
> 70s F, and achieved a refrigerator temperature of about 36 F.  mcneely
>