Fridge running on gas, switch to electricity but don’t turn off gas, voila!
Jeff
Been there done that. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 30, 2022, at 3:34 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dennis, how could this be done?  I don't see it given the controls.  I
> don't have any skin in this game any longer, since I took out the
> refrigerator, but given that one has to select one of the settings, how
> could it happen that two of them are operable simultaneously?
> 
>> On Sat, Jul 30, 2022 at 12:40 PM Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>> There is nothing preventing operation of the Fridge on either electric
>> source or Propane simultaneously. Yes, the fridge will operate the propane
>> burner while either the 12 volt or 120 volt heater is energized. This can
>> overheat the fluid and ruin the fridge.
>> 
>> Dennis
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> On Behalf Of Jim
>> Felder
>> Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2022 2:12 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: An electrical thing I never noticed in 20 years of Westy
>> ownership
>> 
>> 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
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>