Yep, that's probably happening. Dont know why I never noticed it before. I
bet if I pulled the car cover over it it might prevent the battery drain.

Jim

On Sat, Jul 30, 2022 at 12:52 PM Mark Drillock <madvws@cox.net> wrote:

> Here is part of a Vanagon list post from Apr 1999 regarding the stock
> fridge.
>
>
>  "  Finally, keep the fridge side of the Westy shaded.  I use a small
> silver colored tarp to shade this side. The sun can heat the area behind
> the fridge enough to cause the fan to cycle EVEN WHEN THE FRIDGE IS OFF.
> I believe that this is part of why the fans all seem to be worn out.
> Most of the Westy fridges have seen little use but the fans wear out
> anyway because they operate even if the fridge is off. Darker colored
> vanagons are more likely to have this occur. This is also why the
> batteries in parked Westys can sometimes seem to run down unexpectedly.
> When the sun shines on the left side of the Camper the fan will likely
> be triggered. We all know how hot it can get inside a Westy on a sunny
> day with the top down even when it is cool outside."
>
>
>
> On 7/29/2022 6:18 PM, Jim Felder wrote:
>
> Interesting. Maybe that's what was running my battery down in the first
> place. If that is the case, and I'm sure it is, it might be advisable to
> install a switch to break that circuit when the cooling fan was on but
> serving no purpose but to run the battery out.
>
> Jim
>
> On Fri, Jul 29, 2022 at 6:26 PM Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> The fridge condenser fan is controlled by a thermo switch on the condenser
> coil There is no other control for it. If the interior gets hot enough that
> fan will turn on regardless of any of the fridge settings.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> On Behalf Of Jim
> Felder
> Sent: Friday, July 29, 2022 6:40 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: An electrical thing I never noticed in 20 years of Westy ownership
>
> When I park my Westy after camping, my habit has always been to switch the
> gas knob to OFF and the mode switch to 120 when I parked the car. I just
> went out to check on something in my Westy (1983 diesel) and heard a
> whirring noise which I immediately knew could only be the fridge fan. I
> checked and it was. Why was it on? Further checking I realized that I had
> the car on a trickle charger plugged into the cabin 120 outlet, and had
> house current going into electrical shore power outlet.
>
> Since my bout with chemo a few years back, I don't tolerate summer heat so
> well and thus go through the hot months without driving the car very often.
> This often caused the battery to be flat when I went to start it, hence
> the smart trickle  charger that successfully keeps the battery at the ready.
> So, though I had not realized it, the house power has been running the
> fridge for a couple of months now, and since it has been so hot the gowesty
> fan upgrade has been running too for weeks on end. I didn't realize that
> would happen when I hooked it up. So now, I have the mode switch on GAS and
> the gas turned off at the knob and the tank. Probably no problem for anyone
> but me, but just wanted everyone to know that running a trickle charger
> with 110 plugged into the utility outlet will run the fridge``and wear out
> your auxiliary fan if you don't do something about it.
>
> Jim
>
>
>