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The "Dog" Days of Summer

We had a chance to hit the Little Cute One's favorite spring, near La Grande, OR.  It makes a great bike ride, at over 5500 feet.


 


She is such a thirsty little dog.  Why wasn't I willing to drink the water?

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While working on my refrigerator problems, I removed a plastic panel to see what was going on.  About a third of the condenser fins were clogged with dog hair.  I was able to blow the hair out of the fins using a can of the pressurized gas -- sometimes called an electronic duster can.  I had no idea there was so much dog hair there.

Of course the culprit was my second dog, Coffee Girl.  In some ways I didn't mind finding this problem, because it was a reminder of a beautiful and loving girl.


It is also a reminder of how convenient it is to have a dog like a poodle, who doesn't shed!

After cleaning the fins, the air being exhausted by the fan became 15 F cooler.  But I am still looking into adding refrigerant to the 7-year-0ld ARB fridge/freezer.

Comments

Wildsider said…
Symptoms of low refrigerant are - the compressor runs longer and more often than normal, e.g. when the fridge was cooling to spec.
If the problem is electrical, the cooling cycle would be shorter/ running less often than normal, e.g. failing circuit board, thermistor etc....
Have you checked the wiring connections and/or tried running it with the 120v transformer w/inverter?
Wildsider, I managed to score a Bullet Piercing Valve BPV31 from an appliance store. Now I am working on the pressure gauge/hose. You Tube videos sure help.
Ken said…
I'd be willing to bet that getting that condensor cleaned up will cure your fridge problems. I have an Engel (same compressor as the ARB I believe) that is still going strong after 20 + years. It has never needed any service other than cleaning.
Ken, that is quite an endorsement you just gave for Engel. They are the most expensive DC fridges, but that is not so bad if you really DO get what you pay for.