Buying it back...

Restoring a B190? Start a thread here so we can follow your progress!
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Kentuckian
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by Kentuckian »

Skater,
Great that you can run experiments on it while its out of the B190. Nice to be able to access the back to work on baffles, fans and such.

I am not sure how much difference fine tuning the baffle placement would make. However, the baffle instructions for my Norcold place the start of the lower portion of the baffle at the mid point of the lower coils. So that would leave the bottom two or three coils of your unit uncovered. Further, the instructions stop the upper baffle at the lower corner of the upper heat exchanger fins. So that would leave only the lower portion of your upper heat exchanger fins behind the baffle. Again, not sure how important that is...

FYI - I have attached an excerpt from my installation manual that details the placement of the vents and baffles. Although the dimensions might vary compared to your unit (Thetford?) the basic concepts should be applicable.
180701 Norcold N305 installation.JPG
180701 Norcold N305 installation.JPG (105.1 KiB) Viewed 10506 times
1993 Airstream B190
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Kentuckian
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by Kentuckian »

Just to pass along a tip...

While I had the fridge out of the B190, I stapled my fiberglass batting to the inside walls and ceiling of the fridge cavity in the cabinetry of the B190. The batting I used had paper on one side and plastic sheeting on the other side. The fridge just slid right in making a snug fit between the batting and the sides/top of the fridge. Make sure that none of the batting at the top hangs over the back side edge where it could interfere with air flow rising through the backside upper heat exchanger.
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Buying it back...

Post by skater »

Thanks! I couldn’t find anything in the Dometic manual for mine about the baffle, but I can’t see why the Norcold would be that different. I can trim it to be shorter and re-rig the upper piece so it hangs lower, no problem.

We got some fiberglass insulation, unfaced, though. I was going to try to sneak it in around the fridge during reinstallation.

For reference, there’s 2” of space on the right side of the fridge (from inside the camper), 1.5” on the left side, and .5” on top. The insulation we got is 2” thick.
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

Same result with the fridge today...almost 60 degrees inside, even with the shade and test baffle. I’m going to get some fans, but I think the fridge part has a blockage. I just think we’ll never trust it. So now we need to figure out what we want to do - compressor fridge for a while, or just wait to buy a new RV fridge.

In better news, we got more work done on the curtains today, and many of them are done except for the slide clips. I also picked up a new high pressure fuel pump today. Looks like that will be a relatively easy install.
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by Kentuckian »

Sorry to hear that it didn't hold temperature. Seems notable that it got down to temperature in a seemingly normal fashion and then couldn't hold it.

When the fridge temp was 60 degrees, what was the temperature of the freezer compartment?
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

Kentuckian wrote:Sorry to hear that it didn't hold temperature. Seems notable that it got down to temperature in a seemingly normal fashion and then couldn't hold it.

When the fridge temp was 60 degrees, what was the temperature of the freezer compartment?
I don't remember exactly, but still below freezing. That's a good sign that something is working correctly!

I had another look at the Norcold manual you posted about the baffles, and I realized that I had completely misinterpreted it. The baffle is actually a horizontal bar just behind the coils. Hard to simulate proper airflow outside the camper, so I might put it back in and play with it in there...
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

New high pressure fuel pump installed. It’s still stalling! I am open to any and all ideas at this point. Gotta be a fuel leak (can’t smell anything or see anything leaking anywhere) or some kind of electrical issue.

Mostly reinstalled the fridge tonight with my upgrades - some insulation, computer fans, and aluminum covers (shortened from the previous picture) between the upper and lower coils. Haven’t tried it yet though.

Looks like I’m taking the trailer to the rally next weekend. The B190 won’t be ready.
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by 190-b-651 »

I've been told in each tank is a lift pump? Selector switch? Maybe? Sorry to hear your luck.

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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

190-b-651 wrote:I've been told in each tank is a lift pump? Selector switch? Maybe? Sorry to hear your luck.
There is a fuel pump in each tank. It’s my impression this is happening with both tanks, but I intend to double check by running it with the front tank only. It’s possible both tank pumps are bad, but that seems unlikely.

Usually, when the diverter fails, it pumps gas into the other tank. Could be a new failure mode though!
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by 190-b-651 »

I remember reading about a recall on the issue of it pumping into the other tank and it overflowing. Probably why they went to a single tank.

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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

Finally got to work on this a bit more. I reinstalled the fridge door, and moved it to a level part of the driveway to test the fridge again, with my mods and new computer fans roughly in place (the fans aren't yet mounted so I can move them around to try different spots). Within two hours the freezer was at 30 degrees, not much movement on the fridge though.

The Fantastic Fan wouldn't turn on at first. I think I had this problem before, and it was the switch that detects whether the lid is closed. It worked after I moved the van.

At ~8:00 pm, freezer was at 17, fridge was in the 50s. I turned off the fans for the night.
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by tdashmike »

skater wrote:Finally got to work on this a bit more. I reinstalled the fridge door, and moved it to a level part of the driveway to test the fridge again, with my mods and new computer fans roughly in place (the fans aren't yet mounted so I can move them around to try different spots). Within two hours the freezer was at 30 degrees, not much movement on the fridge though.

The Fantastic Fan wouldn't turn on at first. I think I had this problem before, and it was the switch that detects whether the lid is closed. It worked after I moved the van.

At ~8:00 pm, freezer was at 17, fridge was in the 50s. I turned off the fans for the night.
Interesting that there is such a big difference between the freezer and fridge.
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

tdashmike wrote:
skater wrote:Finally got to work on this a bit more. I reinstalled the fridge door, and moved it to a level part of the driveway to test the fridge again, with my mods and new computer fans roughly in place (the fans aren't yet mounted so I can move them around to try different spots). Within two hours the freezer was at 30 degrees, not much movement on the fridge though.

The Fantastic Fan wouldn't turn on at first. I think I had this problem before, and it was the switch that detects whether the lid is closed. It worked after I moved the van.

At ~8:00 pm, freezer was at 17, fridge was in the 50s. I turned off the fans for the night.
Interesting that there is such a big difference between the freezer and fridge.
It was still cooling down at that point. In the morning, the temperature was ~32 in the fridge and 17 in the freezer.

Unfortunately it hasn't been hot enough to really test the fridge, so I don't know how it's doing with the fans. There was a lot of frost in the freezer, though, which implies the door gasket isn't sealing correctly.
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tdashmike
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by tdashmike »

skater wrote:
tdashmike wrote:
skater wrote:Finally got to work on this a bit more. I reinstalled the fridge door, and moved it to a level part of the driveway to test the fridge again, with my mods and new computer fans roughly in place (the fans aren't yet mounted so I can move them around to try different spots). Within two hours the freezer was at 30 degrees, not much movement on the fridge though.

The Fantastic Fan wouldn't turn on at first. I think I had this problem before, and it was the switch that detects whether the lid is closed. It worked after I moved the van.

At ~8:00 pm, freezer was at 17, fridge was in the 50s. I turned off the fans for the night.
Interesting that there is such a big difference between the freezer and fridge.
It was still cooling down at that point. In the morning, the temperature was ~32 in the fridge and 17 in the freezer.

Unfortunately it hasn't been hot enough to really test the fridge, so I don't know how it's doing with the fans. There was a lot of frost in the freezer, though, which implies the door gasket isn't sealing correctly.
At least the temps are good. Mine was 38F last night on AC.
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

tdashmike wrote:At least the temps are good. Mine was 38F last night on AC.
Well, they're good until the sun hits the side of the camper...that's when things got ugly.
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