MontanaChinook Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hm. Well we'll see what I have time for. I'm doing so much just to get the thing ready to head out of town, I don't know if there's time to fool with fans right now. Got the head back on and everything attached, now working on the oil pump gasket and front main seal. Which means speedy sleeve. At least I got the crank bolt off and everything cleaned. Old seal out and new seal in. Though I'll bet the old seal was fine, and it's just the groove in the pulley causing my leak. So the sleeve ought to fix that. But then I need to cut those holes, get the fridge in and seal around it, and cut a new faceplate for the whole cabinet it sits in, since that got destroyed taking it out. Then put back together the rest of the countertops and other stuff I had to take apart to get the fridge out. I didn't think I'd be taking the fridge back out, ever, when I put it in there... And I'm planning on leaving around the 23rd. Still waiting on some parts, too, is the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Thanks Karin. Those would be really nice, but are still too big to fit in the space I have to work with. Hopefully 3 of those little 2" vents in a line will allow enough flow. This is one of those situations where having a 3D printer would be really useful for making a custom sized vent to fit exactly into the space. I will have to keep that in mind on my projects since I have access to one and can do the design work for such things. Which reminds me I need to do something about my tail lights too. They need a custom shaped base to sit on as the curvature of the Sunrader does not fit them. But with my Iphone and the use of an app I can now do a 3D scan of the surface of the area and use it to create the base. Ain't life grand, yesterdays problems just got easier to solve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Yes, this would be the perfect situation for a 3D printer. I also think I'm not going to be able to find a vented lower access door for the fridge. I looked around online for awhile and didn't see anything even close to the size of my door. So...I had one little 2" vent left, so I drilled out a hole in the middle of the door and put the vent in there. Might do two more at some point when I buy more vents. But for now, there will at least be a little air coming in from the lower door. A friend of mine was getting really into scanning and printing and showed me an app he had on his phone a year or so ago. He took a couple pictures of a sculpture at an art opening, and showed me how his phone then had a complete image of the sculpture. You could view it from any angle, spin it around, flip it over etc. Very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Louvers in a sheet metal door. Where there is a will there is often a low tech way to do it. Aluminum will be much easier to form than steel http://curtissjennyrestoration.blogspot.com/2011/11/cowl-burnishing-louvers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 That's pretty cool. Well, I know that many times while I'm doing stuff I have the thought that "if I just knew a little more or had someone with a ton of experience around, there must be a better way to do this" etc. But...oh well. I just drilled a 2" hole in my aluminum access door and put one of those plastic vents in. It looks like there will be plenty of room for two more at some point, so it should work. Assuming my fridge even works, it will be much better ventilated now that it was before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Why not find out if the fridge works 1st with the door wide open? And then maybe install something like this:- http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=232138-52595-GLFF1212WH&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3284752&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 That's pretty cool. Well, I know that many times while I'm doing stuff I have the thought that "if I just knew a little more or had someone with a ton of experience around, there must be a better way to do this" etc. But...oh well. I just drilled a 2" hole in my aluminum access door and put one of those plastic vents in. It looks like there will be plenty of room for two more at some point, so it should work. Assuming my fridge even works, it will be much better ventilated now that it was before. The good thing to know if your 2" vents don't work is that you have a back-up plan for buying some metal and making a new door with louvers. An alternative to that is to make a custom door out of fiberglass. You would create a wood pattern much like the one in the first plywood pattern shown on that website. You want the mold as smooth as possible, auto body filler can be used to fix any surface irregularities in the mold. Then coat it with mold release. Next lay over the mold with fiberglass cloth. You cut the bottom opening of the vent slots after it has cured and trim the perimeter edges then too. When you design a mold for fiberglass lay up just remember all the edges need a radius, no sharp corners allowed. The mold is glued up from layers of wood, it is not cut as a single piece. That makes it easy to create those transitional radius with a router. I have not made a louvered door for my Sunrader but at least I do know how to do it if I need to and now so do you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MgBikgcWnY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Why not find out if the fridge works 1st with the door wide open? And then maybe install something like this:- http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=232138-52595-GLFF1212WH&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3284752&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1 Even that is too big. My door is something like 12x7". Either way, it all comes down to retrofitting something into the existing door to create a little airflow, which is exactly what I'm doing. Short of doing something a bit more fancy like Karin is thinking up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 How about replacing your whole 12" x 7" door with expanded metal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 Wouldn't repel water very well... I could have just made long, horizontal cuts in my door, with short vertical cuts at either end, and bent them up, basically making my door a louvered vent. But I just don't have the tools, or patience right now, to do that. I'm ready to hit the road and have enough to do just getting my stuff back in the camper, getting the engine back together and tuned, and just getting the fridge back in. Which, by the way, had no problem getting down to 32 degrees this evening on gas. When it was 45 outside... But it's clearly doing something. So that's a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Wouldn't repel water very well... I could have just made long, horizontal cuts in my door, with short vertical cuts at either end, and bent them up, basically making my door a louvered vent. But I just don't have the tools, or patience right now, to do that. I'm ready to hit the road and have enough to do just getting my stuff back in the camper, getting the engine back together and tuned, and just getting the fridge back in. Which, by the way, had no problem getting down to 32 degrees this evening on gas. When it was 45 outside... But it's clearly doing something. So that's a good sign. Road trip! Woot... Bookmark this page if your fridge needs more help. Cost around $35 to $45 to have them build you an aluminum, custom sized, fixed louvered vent. Its from the HVAC trade where they don't have the high prices for custom work like the RV businesses do. You might have spent close to that much on ice last year! http://www.bestlouver.com/bl-fixed-aluminum-louver/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 Great, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred heath Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Zach, Do you have enough clearance behind the fridge to mount a small 12v fan pulling the air through a bottom discharge.? If yes, maybe use the factory grill like an air intake and exhaust out the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 I have enough space. This thread is getting long so I don't blame you for not reading the whole thing, but we went over the fan thing. Ideally I would have installed a fan. But I wasn't completely sure my fridge was even working yet, was short on time with lots of other projects going on, and figured I'd start out with the vents, and if the fridge works and is worth the work, add fans later. Even though it's better to do it all at once, and while the fridge was out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 Well so far so good. Like I said, in 45 degree weather, it had no problem getting down to 32. We'll see how it does in the 70s next week! But good enough that I'm considering it "done" for now, and moving on to other things. I will not try to convince anyone that these are perfectly straight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rad wolfe Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 no need to convince anyone, it's obvious you deliberately put a slight curve to the inserts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Actually after I noticed that the first was lower than the next couple, I figured I could just make it look like I meant to do it by having the last one or two slope back down to where the first one was. Didn't work out quite like I meant it to, but more or less... Can only be so accurate on a sloped surface, with a 2" hole cut-out drill bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Option maybe the lower vent inside under the fridge and the other up higher outside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Can't exactly figure out what you mean. Do you mean putting the door up where the black vent is, and the black vent where the door is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Actually after I noticed that the first was lower than the next couple, I figured I could just make it look like I meant to do it by having the last one or two slope back down to where the first one was. Didn't work out quite like I meant it to, but more or less... Can only be so accurate on a sloped surface, with a 2" hole cut-out drill bit Make a drilling template on paper to transfer the hole locations with. Poke a little hole through the paper with a nail. Tape the paper in position and use Sharpie pen or pencil to mark the spot to drill. Take the paper off and prepare the surface for drilling. Traditionally to keep a drill from wandering off the mark on metal you use a center punch. It creates a small divot for the tip of the drill bit and that keeps it from wandering off the mark. A bit risky on fiberglass to use a center punch as you don't want to crack it but hand rotating a small drill bit a few turns using gentle pressure will work OK for creating the divot. That little starting position divot is the secret of keeping a drill from wandering off the desired location. Once you have your divot in the perfect position begin drilling. Slow at first with light pressure until the drill location is well established which will happen within a few more turns of the bit. If you need to correct the location keep the pressure in place but change the angle a small amount to direct the drill back to dead center. Once you have the position working then increase the pressure and speed to finish the drilling job. You can buy a center punch at any hardware store, you should have one if you are going to do metal work. Works on hardwoods too. You don't need the expensive spring loaded kind unless you are doing metal work all the time. Just get the one you hit with a hammer, they only cost a couple of dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Here is something interesting I just read on the installation notes from Dometic. Look on page 6 at the bottom. If the distance from the exterior wall to the back of the Fridge is more than 1 inch you need to add a baffle above the lower vent for increased performance in warm weather. Of course you don't have a lot of distance between your upper and lower vents but if you still have problems it might be worth experimenting with. They show a fan in there too. Of course the scale of the size of the fridge is also a factor. You just have a little one and not much in the way of ability to create a thermal chimney situation to help draw the heat up and away from your unit. http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/dometicventing.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Well next time I drill holes in my camper I'll know how to do it better... A baffle, eh? Do you think maybe that's what that big bulge is behind my fridge? It kind of serves as one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Well that pic is interesting. I went back and looked at more of your pics. You have a very problematic installation. Your air flow is zip around the needed parts. A fan will be needed no doubt. Adding another vent where the lower door is will help. The refer needs air flow around the lower finned tube and the upper finned tube. The upper one is the most important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Investigate and figure out what that structure is. Then remove it if there is no known purpose for it. It might be what is causing the airflow problem. Maybe you need to do a surgical lumpectomy! If it was meant as a stiffener you could take it out and add a couple of layers fiberglass instead and even a smaller hat section if needed. It will be interesting to find out what its purpose is/was. The baffle in the installation brochure is not a close resemblance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Well, we'll have to see how it does in the next few days in hotter weather, when I'm just sitting in one spot. Been driving back west the last 3 days (snow in Minnesota, then snow in Colorado...), and just parking for the night. So far the problem I'm having is stuff freezing That's mostly on 12V while driving, gas overnight. We'll see what happens when it sits in the sun, at 70, running on gas all day. I'm back out of the position to be pulling the fridge again and cutting chunks of fiberglass out of my camper for a few months, if not the whole summer. So hopefully it works well as-is. If not, my next move will be a couple fans. I can do that without taking the fridge back out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Well its very cool that you are on the road again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 It is so far seeming like running on gas is the "problem". I have a thermometer in there now to see how cold it's getting, but I'm definitely not freezing things anymore now that I'm parked and using the gas. 12V got things plenty cold. It's definitely cold in there with the gas on, but I left it on high overnight, and outside temps were in the 40s. Nothing frozen this morning. If it can't freeze anything turned up to high when it's only in the 40s outside, I think I'm in trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Did you ever do a pressure test to see if your gas flow is adequate per the specifications required in the fridge manual? Maybe you have a bad valve on the tank or an obstruction in the line. Rule #1 when trouble shooting, always check the physical connection first. The gas supply is a physical connection meaning is there an adequate power supply coming into the unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 When your driving there is air flow around the frfer, making it nice and cold. When parked the air flow is stagnet. To check can you run the gas while on the road and see if things freeze? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 I'll have to do some experiments. It's now warmer than it was when I was driving out here, so that will effect it too. But next time I move, I'll use gas when I'm driving. I don't know how to pressure test the system...The furnace and stovetop work fine, but I don't know if that necessarily means the fridge will work fine. It was 38 degrees inside my fridge this morning, before it started to warm up outside. 40s outside. I mean 38 is just about cold enough, but isn't very impressive in 40-50 degree weather. This time last year, in the same area with the same temps, I had to keep the fridge on medium/medium-low to keep things from freezing. This was before I had any of this extra ventilation. Could be there's something causing a restriction in the gas flow. I don't know. Or something internal to the gas part of the fridge...Other than the little white filter thing we went over earlier, which is apparently supposed to be there, everything looks fine at the connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 I'm tempted to see what would happen if I just took that filter out...or maybe tried replacing it. Maybe I got a dirty propane fill at some point and clogged it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Can you see the flame through the match light port? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Yep, and it's nice and blue. The customer service person at Dometic said it could still be blue, even though that filter was "clogging" the way. This was back when they were denying that this filter was a part of their fridge. She said the flame could still be blue, but not strong enough to cool properly. I sent an email to them today asking if a technician could help me, and tell me what would happen if I ran it without the filter, or if maybe I should buy a new one. We'll see...I got no "technical" help last time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 So...now I'm thinking Karin might be on the right track. I thought more about the propane pressure thing. It's been a while since I used my camper, obviously, being winter and all. The more I thought about it, I think my stove top is not at 100%. There's little difference, if any, between medium and high, especially on the larger burner which I seem to remember put out a lot of heat. So. Propane restrictions. Could they be "anywhere", or am I looking at the regulator, possibly? I wouldn't really know how to tell if my furnace isn't getting quite enough pressure, but if I'm pretty sure that two of my three propane appliances might not be getting adequate pressure, is that a good place to start? Sometimes...I just wish I could use this thing and not be trouble-shooting all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 And...I'm back. I unscrewed the attachment to the fridge, and heard a bunch of gurgling. So I unscrewed an attachment at an elbow where the hard lines screw into the regulator. Probably about an ounce or so of nasty blackish liquid drained out. I'm assuming that was my problem. So, I wouldn't mind your thoughts on that. But along with that...I damaged part of that elbow, so I'll be stopping into an RV or propane place. So my question, if you have an idea, is do you think that junk ruined the regulator? None flowed out of the regulator side, only the side that attaches to the regulator and heads to my appliances. But in case whatever place I bring it to insists on replacing the regulator, I'd just like your opinion on whether they're trying to get more money out of me, or just being realistic... So for now I'm without a stove or fridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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