fridge replacement projects - post here

[Hallvalla]

MadSpaniard,

Have you had a chance to test out your new setup yet? I'm curious to hear how it all is working.

~J~
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85 Westy
Subaru EJ22

[SirIvor70]

Hi all.

Have my fridge on order. Wondering if anyone could tell me what size of space is available under the fridge when its installed. Looking to plan what I have got to work with for storage space.

Many thanks

[Hallvalla]

teerb and others have nice pics of their intall's in this thread.

There is a little room at the bottom (or top). My guess would be five inches or less.
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85 Westy
Subaru EJ22

[dogcoves]

Hey thanks madspaniard! I ordered my made in Italy VF fridge from Truck Fridge.com. Nice guy. I see why most people are buying the TF fridge--2 yr warranty and $50. cheaper than the VF which only has a 1yr warranty. I went with the VF from my experience with made in China products--car parts, my 2 yr olds toys, strollers, etc..--they're priced cheaper but last not long. I'm guessing that in 4 yrs the VF will still be running and the TF will be being recycled. Hope Im wrong but that's my experience with made in china products. My Biased 2 cents...
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Current VW: 1987 Westfalia

My Past Volkswagens:
1958 karmann ghia
1963 Beetle
1963 Westfalia
1966 Westfalia
1970 Beetle
1970 Westfalia

[Sodo]

[dogcoves]

I already have a deep cycle hooked up to the domestic fridge. Can I use my domestic fridge original wiring and fuses to run my new VF?
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Current VW: 1987 Westfalia

My Past Volkswagens:
1958 karmann ghia
1963 Beetle
1963 Westfalia
1966 Westfalia
1970 Beetle
1970 Westfalia

[Sodo]

The original method that Westfalia used for 12v fridge operation is:

----> engine on (ie alternator spinning) = fridge on
----> engine off = fridge off
Because if you have propane,,,, then with engine off, you use propane.

To run the VF with the engine off, on the 2nd battery, you have to make some changes to the Westfalia Dometic circuit.

I have not yet studied this, and I am also interested how others have done it.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[dogcoves]

WIREs:
OK I figured out on my own from the domestic fridge manual that the mating plug brown wire is positive & the blue is negative. My VF is running smooth & cold. But the question now is what is the black wire on the mating plug is for & what is the lone black wire for?
Update: I just capped off the two black wires--I believe they were for the propane automatic shut off, etc..
Wiring info
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/87westy_dometic_fridge.php
SINK WATER ELBOW/HOSE:
I removed the direct faucet water elbow and the VF went in beautiful. Even though I never use my direct faucet water hook up some how water is in that line. Water is going from the tank/pump to the sink and then down the line. Is there a smaller replacement elbow? Or should I block that line off at the sink? If so how and where at?
UPdate: I just capped off the faucet water line underneath the sink. Sink still works great off the tank with no leaks.
Finished Fridge Project

Gowesty Lament cuts better with a exacto knife and a steel yard stick. If you scribe it over and over until you go through you end up with a much cleaner cut then any saw blade will do. Same way you cut plexi glass.
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Current VW: 1987 Westfalia

My Past Volkswagens:
1958 karmann ghia
1963 Beetle
1963 Westfalia
1966 Westfalia
1970 Beetle
1970 Westfalia

[ysquared]

EUREKA ... After months of consternation I got the KITCHEN PANEL LED TO LIGHT by installing a simple circuit. The episode is outlined here ...

www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375490&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

If anyone needs advice on how to do this, let me know.
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1985 Westy - 1.9 - 4 sp. - white/ tan
My Space Shuttle on wheels

[Howesight]

I said a long time ago that I would post pics of my TF 65 install. Many thanks to those who blazed the trail before me and gave helpful tips like the SEM plastic paint products.

Here is the TF65 with the factory flanges installed:

It's 19 1/4" wide with the flange:

[url]


It's 21 1/2" tall with the flange:

Without the top flange, it's 21 1/16" tall:

Without the side flanges, it's 17 5/8' wide:

To achieve this install, I had to diasassemble the cabinet completely and remove 3/8" from each side of the panel on the right side that houses the top drawer and the right side storage space. This effectively moved over the centre divider in the cabinet 3/4" to the right and opened up the space for the fridge by 3/4".

For the fridge front, I used Formica. It is Formica product Number 927-58. The name of the colour is "Folkstone" and it is in the matte finish. You can order it through any Home Despot. I got mine for $80 CAD for a 4' x 8' sheet since I have some other projects in mind for this stuff.

For the plastic fridge trim, I scuff sanded with 400 paper and used the following SEM products:
1. SEM 38353 Plastic/Leather prep;
2. SEM 17123 GM Light Gray plastic "flexible coating paint
3. SEM 13013 Satin Gloss Clear coat

You can see on the latch that I neglected to scuff sand inside the latch area and the paint predictably chipped off. Oh well . . . Another day . . .

Using the satin gloss clear coat instead of the high gloss was a brilliant idea that I got from "ysquared" of our Samba fame - - many thanks.

So without yet having made my drawer under the fridge, here's how it looks installed, together with my $15.00 Wally World indoor/outdoor thermometer (not yet hardwired):

[img]https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/599715.jpg][/img]

I just need a few hours time to get my drawer made and that will be it!

[afmercure]

Howesight,

I'm considering a 65 liter fridge too, especially after seeing you saved some space by removing the flange. But isn't the flange necessary to secure the fridge to the cabinet. How is it fasten in your case?

Thanks!

[Howesight]

Hi Afmercure:

The flanges are totally unnecessary for mounting and are only included to allow you to cover the wasted space from a hole too large for the actual fridge or to allow mounting without any support underneath (not something I recommend). The flanges allow the fridge to be installed in many spaces in various trucks to replace older fridges that were wider or where, in trucks, there is no access at the sides to install screws.

My fridge is supported on the bottom by angled aluminium strips. These bear the weight of the fridge. The left and right sides of the fridge are tight against the sides of the cabinet. On the sides, I just put in screws from the cabinets into the metal sides of the fridge, in much the same way the stock fridge is installed. These screws just keep the fridge from sliding forward. The back of the fridge is right against the horizontal beam in the van exterior. I put a piece of thin foam rubber between the back of the fridge and the horizontal beam to reduce noise from metal on metal contact. When scrapping the flanges, you should also remove the four rubber pads under the fridge since they only waste space too. The compressor is already vibration insulated, so the rubber feet do nothing in this installation.

You have to trim the fiberboard behind the fridge to a size large enough to match the outline of the fridge. I was in a hurry and used tin snips for this so I wouldn't have to remove that whole fibreboard piece from the vehicle. It's all hidden, so no big problem there. If you are removing all your cabinets, you can remove the fibreboard and do a better job than I did.

This was all quite easy. The more time-consuming part was completely disassembling the cabinet to move the divider wall over. If you can work with a table saw, you can easily do this. When reassembling the cabinet, use screws (instead of the crappy nials the factory used) and glue. When you move the cabinet divider over, you also have to cut the top drawer slider pieces to move the drawer over 3/8" to the right.

The TF65 and the TF49 both use the same compressor, but for my money, 33% more beer space is well worth the extra effort of taking the cabinet apart!!

This fridge is amazing in its cooling power. You will be so happy not to have to "pre-cool" the fridge and having the ability to chill your beer ice cold in the freezer in minutes. There's no flame to go out and it's mounted high in my configuration, which is easier on the back and neck.

I still have some of the grey laminate and can send you a piece in the size you need. PM me. If you need brown laminate, I can't help.

[afmercure]

Wow, thanks for all the details, Howesight!

I just realized you live in Vancouver. Where/how did you get your TF65? I sent an email to TruckFridge, but they told me they don't ship to Canada. So I was considering to get a Waeco or NovaKool from a marine retailer, but these fridges are soooo much more expensive here in Canada.

Thanks for the offer for the grey laminate, but I'll decline as I'm building custom cabinets - I have a Weekender that I'm 'upgrading'.

And - just curious - what's your power source setup (battery capacity, solar?)?

Thanks

[Howesight]

Hey Afmercure:

I had Truckfridge ship my fridge to a "Mailboxes Plus" type business just across the border in Blaine, Washington and then picked it up.
I originally used only the starting battery which was always good for a full 24 hours fridge operation with good starting power in the morning, but now I use two 105 amp hour batteries. They are probably overkill, but they enable DVD adn TV use and computer use . . .

I would estimate they can run the fridge for a week, but I've never had to try this since I have never stayed in one spot without driving for any more than two days. If you add an auxillary battery, get a good quality battery separator such as the Yandina or the Surepower 1315. I use the latter and like it. If you use heavy gauge wire, the aux. battery charges quickly.

Good luck!

[ohlott]

Now that summer is soon to be here. Just wondering what people think of there new fridge and the performance that they from it.
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83.5 westy 2.2 subi

[westyventures]

[madspaniard]

great upgrade in my books. Agree it pays off in the summer. Camping with a baby, this fridge was a lifesaver, kept baby food frozen, icecream, beers, food. Bigger volume capacity, interior light, I mean, what else you need.

One thing to note, you will depend more on your batteries so this upgrade goes hand in hand with a better aux battery system and potentially solar panel system to be worry-free
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1991 Westy auto w/ Peloquin TBD

"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad” - Salvador Dali

[rockfish]

2x agree w/ Mad...fridge and battery upgrade required.
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89 Westy
GW 2.5 5-speed trans

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
- John Wooden

[markz2004]

Quick Wiring Question -

I'm installing the Truck Fridge 49. A little bit of drama set me back three weeks as the fridge was damaged (i think during shipping) and didn't work when I bench tested it. Then one of the batteries shipped to me was damaged during shipping (i know as the box looked like a paperbag upon arrival). Both vendors made everything right by me.

When looking at the old wiring from the dometic, there is a "T" shaped connector with two reds and two blacks. There is also a single connector for a black wire. The "T" connection seems to have powered the dometic and then the sink pump.

Is the single black connector for the dometic's thermocoupler?

thanks,
Mark
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87 Westy, 250k GW 2.4 - 2.0 , 16" wheels

[spitsnrovers]

There's a wiring diagram for the older Dometic (is it the A or B?) with the manual ingiter located at
www.griffco.ca/interest

Because there are three black wires that I can see, I wouldn't try to advise you where the one you mention goes.
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'88 VW Westfalia
'75 Triumph Spitfire 1500