TheSamba.com :: View topic - You got one of these? '74 Westfalia DC powersupply & fri

Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:27 pm

This came out of a '74 Westfalia.

Its the deluxe model with the fridge and propane stove. When the power converter is hooked up to land power it puts out 13VDC (rated at 13.5VDC). Did all deluxe campmobiles come with DC power converters? There is no mention of the DC power converter in my VW Campmobile pamplet.

I've traced the dc power output from the converter to the 110V input side of the fridge. This tells me the fridge does not directly operate on AC voltage and that no AC reaches the switch for the fridge.

The option to choose 110V on the fridge means the fridge will receive 12VDC from the power converter when the camper is hooked up to land power (110VAC). Am I correct on this assumption?

I am also assuming that the DC power supply also recharged the battery system ( main & Aux batteries)? Does anyone have a schematic diagram of how thats wired?

Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:35 am

The fridge has two heating elements. You should have two supplies to the fridge. One is 12vdc which is fed from the connection between the sink unit and the front seat partition, then from your power converter/battery. The other supply is 110vac which is fed from the breaker box behind the fold out table. This 110vac supply only is run through the thermostat.

Before a trip I connect shore power and switch to VAC and thermostat high. Load up the fridge and let it cool down. Just before taking off I switch to VDC and leave it there until I get hooked to the camp ground shore supply.

The fridge works OK on 12vdc but much better on 110vac. Here in New Zealand we have 230vac so I have a 230/110 transformer screwed in behind the fridge cabinet.

Real cool, especially for 34 years old.

Craig

ps. above is taken from a Canadian '74 Westy

Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:33 am

I pretty sure that there is only one heating element in the fridges system.
The switch on the side from 110AC/12v just keeps you from backfeeding 110v into the 12v system.
The converter converts to 12v because there is only one element and it is 12v.
I have the same set-up but a different converter. My fridge works and I use it at my shop. It opted for an Engle as it uses 1/2 the power of an original VW fridge and will freze my beer if I'm not careful. It makes a big difference when remote camping. I have the fridge, stereo and sink permanently wired to my auxilliary batteries and keep them up with a 55W solar panel. Here's some pics.
First, my original fridge converter for comparison with yours.

the Engle 43 quart fridge

Unisoalr 55W panel and charge controller

Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:45 am

:shock: I hope you realize that you're batteries are releasing explosive gases while they are charging! I can't imagine a worse place for them than inside the passenger compartment. Do you have a forced ventilation system installed somehow?

Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:28 am

dreadnotmusic wrote: :shock: I hope you realize that you're batteries are releasing explosive gases while they are charging! I can't imagine a worse place for them than inside the passenger compartment. Do you have a forced ventilation system installed somehow?

Those look like sealed batteries. Do they release gas as well? I was thinking of one day putting in one deep cycle battery, not underseat, but maybe in the cabinet where the spare tyre well is. I always thought that the newer gell-type batteries don't release gas...or do they? :?

I can't put extra batteries anywhere else in my bus..

Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:37 am

Craig - I'm amazed. How did you know my Westy came from Canada?

The previous owners of the Westy did alot of modifications to the camper (as most do). They got rid of the old circuit breaker panel and installed a junction box and an electrical outlet.

So the way my Westy is wired is when its connected to shore power, AC feed the outlet inside the camper and AC feeds the DC power converter under the bench seat, that’s it. AC voltage never reaches the switch at the fridge. I have 12VDC at the wires for both heating elements.

So what I’m trying to find out is : Is my Westy wired correctly? Or is there an 110vac line from the circuit breaker panel to the fridge switch?

P.S. Great photos ! itlives! Alternative energy is the way to go for sure. But I’m not sure how well it would work for me being up here in the Northwest. I camp in the woods a lot, under large tall trees.

Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:48 am

plus it rains here alot, there's a reason we don't really use solar power in the state maybe a little wind turbine on the roof to charge while driving and those windy fall nights coming up soon, haha. i thought of doing the solar thing but like stated above it's not really viable for the pnw, cool but man, you should check out the wetwesties camp out coming up on october 3-5 @ Leavenworth, don't know if it's wired correctly i'd just say, does it work? is your bus on fire right now? yes,no.....your good haha,

Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:50 am

It should get 110v too, the answer is on that blue sticker behind your hand in your last pic.

Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:56 am

The heating element does work. With 12VDC on both sides it gets real hot fast! So I'm guessing its working right. The previous owners cut 12V side of the fridge and spliced it into the 110V line. Probably to avoid draining the main battery. I'm just trying to put things back the way it was.

I must check out the WetWesty group. :shock: I'm sure they have a website or something.

Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:08 am

Busdaddy the previous owners wired the 110v side of the fridge directly to the DC output of the converter. Making the fridge run only using 12v. They also removed the circuit breaker panel. So I'm not positive on how it was originally wired.

I saw the schematic diagram and it says to me that there should be 110v at pins 1 and 2 but when I measured the voltage with my meter I was getting 12vdc where the AC should have been.

I will connect 110vac to pins 1 and 2 and hopefully the heating element will get hot and not blow the fridge up.

Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:11 am

http://wetwesties.type2.com/

also i have the complete wiring diagram for a 1971, would this stuff be included in the diagram or not, i'm guessing not as camper stuff was added later by various companies, anyone have any thoughts on this, or have a diagram for this guy?

Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:12 pm

Definately two heating elements and two supplies, 12vdc and 110vac. My AC cable ran from the breaker box, behind the side panel and came out from behind the side panel, bottom right behind the sink unit. It then ran across the bus floor in front of the sub floor to behind the fridge. This cable is protected by plastic sleeving and is held down with metal "P" clips as it passes the floor air outlet near the walk through.

An AC cable also went from the breaker box behind the side panel back to the under seat area. This would have been for the DC power converter which I no longer have. Interestingly there is a pale green paint remaining on the plywood under the seat. Same as the colour or your unit!!??

As I said, all works real good. Just don't leave it switched to 12vdc if you don't have an auxiliary battery.

Craig

Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:06 pm

Perhaps the PO couldn't get a replacement 110v element and used a 12V one as a redundant backup. Think twice about connecting it to 110V unless you can find some marking on it that says that's the voltage, no need to screw up a perfectly good element.

Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:57 pm

Ok, I did some testing and here is what I found out.

Good news is the fridge works!! 34years old and its still kicking and it's probably been sitting not being used for just as long.

So after reading the responses to this post, I went ahead and connected 110VAC directly to the fridge switch via pins 1 & 2. Within about 20 minutes the unit started to get cooler.

After about 3 hours the cooler temp was below freezing!! Amazing!

Thanks for everyone's responses :lol: