Early(?) fridge converter woes

[ol'westy]

Hi all,
I have a 74 westy with a dometic fridge and an early AC converter.

The last time I used it, I noticed a smell like burning plastic coming from the back of the fridge.
When I pulled it out, I could see a couple wire splices had melted and the wires near them were black.

I pulled out my trusty volt meter and found that when set to DC, I get 12-13v at those burned contacts. When set to 110AC, I get 123V!

As I understand it, the fridge really runs on 12v DC, and the converter should take in AC and only put out DC.

Can anyone confirm that?

Anyone out there still have one of these converters? Can they be repaired?

[busdaddy]

Apparently some butcher has been in there, Westfalia didn't use Scotchloc connectors, they used nice terminal blocks that screwed down on the wires. Maybe they messed with the switch wiring as well?

Here's a bunch of reading for you: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=399295&highlight=fridge
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[ol'westy]

So I've done some more research on this.

I have a single heating element with 4 wires; 2 for 12v DC, and 2 for 120 VAC. The wires to the VAC side are cut and those wires are spliced via Scotchlocs to the 2 12V wires.

Instead of direct 120 VAC from shore power, I have an AC convertor that takes in 120 vac and outputs 12V 15A. Which means my fridge only runs on 12V DC.

I've started a search for a source of replacement elements, then I realized I don't know what model this is! T believe it is a stock 74 fridge. On the inside wall of the the box where the food goes are two labels. One says Dometic, and the other is in German (or maybe Norwegian according to Google!) and says Kreft sarl Vianden with a model of 45 CEW.

Here is a picture.

That is not a blurred photo. It looks like the VAC info was rubbed out when the lines were cut and the fridge converted to DC only.

Anyway, does anyone know what model of Dometic this is? Better yet, does anyone know of a source for replacement parts?

Thanks for your help.

[SGKent]

Personally I would get rid of any voltage converter that is 50 years old, especially one that is rusty unless you plan to make this bus a museum piece. Not only are the electronic components old and tired, prone to failure but the efficiency of modern circuits is substantially greater than those from the time period the buses were made.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[busdaddy]

I doubt you'll get far searching the model number, but maybe ask someone like this: https://www.thedometicguy.com/parts-by-dometic-model/ if they have a similar element within the size and wattage range. I wonder if that's .50 amps, or 50 amps?........, check the output of the converter to see if it can even make 50 amps.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

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[wagohn]

Are you looking to repair to "stock" or just wanting a fridge repair? If the latter, I'd switch to modern tech and use the old fridge for canned storage, etc.
We have a BougeRV 23QT that runs indefinitely from our 100w solar. Gets so cold it puts ice crystals in the bottled water. $200 with a 3 year warranty.

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1976 VW Transporter, 2.0 FI Engine

[mikedjames]

Wow ! Scotchlock instead of wire nuts !! one level beyond.

50 watts power is about 4 or 5 amps. Provided you put it somewhere with good airflow, a generic 12 volt switchmode "brick" can be purchased - the units that power 3D printers are easily available. Buy one with a fan.
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