Fridge Update!

Hey everyone! For those of you following our fridge troubles, we have an update for you! For those of you who are new here: a few weeks ago, I punctured our evaporator plate while trying to chip ice out of our fridge with a butter knife and hammer. You can read more about that here.

For the last week or so, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed about the fridge… I knew that it was going to take some soldering and vacuum pumping, and charging up. This all felt like a ton to learn, and I was nervous about getting it all correct. Thank goodness for YouTube though!

Finding the Best Youtube Channel

A few days ago, I was searching on YouTube, and I found a set of amazing videos from a couple who lives on a boat named Emily and Clark. Clark is a retired engineer and builds his own AC and fridge systems (along with a ton of other things, I’m sure!) The couple had posted a set of videos about:

1. How Refrigeration Works (Link)
2. Taking Apart/ Fixing a Refrigerator (Link)
3. Evacuating and Recharging a Refrigerator (Link)

Thank Goodness for Patreon

With these videos, I got a ton of great background, but I felt like I wanted more. This was particularly because the leak that they had in their own refrigerator was different than our own. (I had literally punctured the aluminum evaporator plate, while they had a leak in a fitting in one of their pipes.) Anyhow, I saw that they had a Patreon, which is a membership platform where you can have more personalized interactions. I signed up to speak with them on the phone, and boy oh boy, did that make a world of difference!

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke with Clark, who gave me the complete run down on what the parts of our refrigerator were, where and how to cut and solder/ join them, how to evacuate and recharge the system, and even small science lessons, which you and I both know, I totally loved! At the end of our call, I also found out that Clark’s wife, Emily, is a board game designer! How cool is that?!

Finalizing Materials and List

I am currently finalizing the list of materials I need and making sure that the notes I’ve created from our conversation are all correct before I begin. I’ll be ordering/ buying materials today, and hopefully getting started tomorrow!! Truthfully, I just can’t explain to you how much I appreciate people who are willing to fix a problem, rather than completely scrap an (otherwise) completely good appliance. Not only is it empowering to learn how to fix things, but think of the money you can save and the things you can keep out of landfills!

We’ll make sure to keep you updated as we progress. For now, if you’re excited to learn more about life on the road, make sure to read our Vanlife Journal entries!