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Subject:Re: VW Vanagon newsgroup
Date:Tue, 15 Jul 1997 10:53:39 -0700

While Kevin Lindbloom was complaining on 11.jun about his Norcold fridge 
not starting at high altitude, two of us EV owners were comiserating about 
the same problem in the Utah National Parks at 8000 ft.  Effectively we
were roasting at 90+ degF, had to throw the food away.

>From discussions with Norcold and Winnebago the starting and burning problem 
in an oxygen-poor environment is already known; depending on fuel pressure and
mixture achieved, individual units may exhibit the problem at different elevations;
I don't know whether the temperature has any effect.  No recall by Winnebago,
but a vent kit is now made available to those who have hurt enough and go
to the trouble of complaining to the right place.

Have any other listees experienced this problem while above 5000 ft?  Anybody tried 
out the suggested fix?  Anybody (Rick Gordon's 12.jun post)) tried out their system
under these conditions and had no trouble?  I wonder what made the difference?

A possibly related problem:  we left the heat of southern Utah and went to
Yellowstone, were caught in a snowstorm at 7900 ft;  now the LP furnace wouldn't
work at night;  the airblower kicks in but no heat.  We tried it several times
the next day, again the altitude seems to be the culprit.  The Winnebago rep.
thinks this is only a fuel pressure problem.  The dum thing: I can take it in
for repair, but they cannot duplicate the environmental conditions.

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