Michael Janke

Chasing Fresh Air and Sunshine

Re-insulating the fridge – chasing my tail

After running for a year with my modified refrigerator compartment venting and insulation, the Nova Kool compressor fridge is still barely keeping up on a hot day. I had to pull the fridge again anyway (to replace the insulation that I pulled when fixing the drip) so I figured I’d try to add a bit…

2020-08-19
Portable Solar

Make a note. Compressor refrigerators are nice, but they draw significant amounts of power. Ours is large, poorly vented and poorly insulated, so it sucks (power). We’d like to be able to stay away from electric campgrounds more often, but because the 200W of rooftop solar doesn’t keep up with the refrigerator, our battery capacity…

2020-07-12
COVID Camping – sort of…

We returned from our Spring trip just as the virus was gathering momentum. Toilet paper was already in short supply & hand sanitizer was scarce. We made it home a couple weeks before Minnesota started shutting down. I’d rather not travel in and out of unaffected rural areas during a pandemic, just on the off…

2020-07-11
Battery Monitoring with Thornwave

Last summer I added a 100 amp-hour lithium (LiFePo4) battery to the campervan, and last fall I switched out the OEM flooded lead acid batteries for a pair of absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries. In the current setup: The combination works OK under most conditions. In moderate weather, the AGM’s will run the fridge and…

2020-04-05
Campervan – Lagun Table Installation

The Coachmen Crossfit/Beyond 22C comes with a not-too-useful 12″ by 28″ dining table – not even big enough to hold a couple of plates. Apparently Coachmen thinks that people don’t eat in campervans. Or don’t eat off plates. The dining table doubles as a filler piece to fill in the foot of the bed when…

2020-03-18
Dodging Tumbleweeds

We spent a good part of Saturday dodging airborne tumbleweeds. Our trip from Palo Dura Canyon through the Oklahoma panhandle and southern Kansas put us in an area of strong southerly winds – 30mph with gusts to 40mph. The weather service issued Red Flag warnings for the area. We passed through Beaver, Oklahoma just ahead…

2020-03-09