colin weston Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 I am sure that this will have been reported sometime in the past but nevertheless it may save someone an expensive bill. While we were away this weekend in our van my wife noticed that the gas light indicator on our fridge was flashing. The van is now some 4 years old and I must confess to not having the fridge serviced as we seldom run on gas. Looking at the manual it suggested that we might have run out of gas, but we hadnt. My wife said that the internal light wasnt working so I decided to check the fuses. There are 2 for the fridge, a 15 amp and a 3 amp. I pulled out both fuses and they were both OK. Replacing them, I then switched the fridge from off to gas and lo and behold all was OK. I am sure that our friend Clive will have a good technical explanation for this. I believe that even though the fuse contacts are plated, over time a small amount of surface corrosion or film builds up which is sufficient to prevent small current flows. I also find that the strip light in my front locker occasionally wont work but a few repeated switchings on and off restores the switch function. Maybe pulling out the fuses and replacing them should be part of the habibtation check? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 If the fridge is set to auto and the gas supply is turned off (e,g. when on a ferry), when the gas is turned back on. the fridge won't start and the gas light will flash. Just a quick off/on and it's sorted. I now try to remember to turn the fridge off, before cutting the gas supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Colin I'm a mite wary of your diagnosis that your flashing indicator-light problem was purely fuse-related. I'm aware that you own a 2007 Autocruise Starburst and it appears from on-line photos of this model that it had a Dometc 7-Series 'Powerfridge'. The gas indicator LED flashing yellow indicates that the gas-burner has failed to light/relight. Unlike earlier designs, Powerfridges don't have a gas pilot-light and a Powerfridge's gas-burner goes on or off according to the temperature within the appliance. It's likely that the 15A fuse protects the fridge's 12V heating-element circuit and the 3A the fridge's electronics. The apparent failure of the internal light to come on is odd, but it has to be asked how the LED would be able to flash if the 3A fuse wasn't passing current. My Hobby's 7-Series fridge/freezer's gas indicator LED began to flash like yours and, although the problem could be resolved by following Dometic's advice to switch the main switch off and then reselect the gas position to restart the ignition process, the problem recurred every now and again. I never found out what caused the problem, though it seemed to go away after I'd addressed a loose connection of a wire that plugged into the fridge's ignition-unit. This was a couple of years ago and, since then, the light has come on just once and resetting the main switch cleared the fault. So, although it clearly makes sense to check the fuses and, in doing so, this may fix the problem, don't be too surprised if the fault happens again. (Did you actually try to get the gas-burner to relight (as Dometic advises) before checking the fuses?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Derek Uzzell - 2011-11-13 7:05 PM My Hobby's 7-Series fridge/freezer's gas indicator LED began to flash like yours and, although the problem could be resolved by following Dometic's advice to switch the main switch off and then reselect the gas position to restart the ignition process, the problem recurred every now and again. I never found out what caused the problem, though it seemed to go away after I'd addressed a loose connection of a wire that plugged into the fridge's ignition-unit. This was a couple of years ago and, since then, the light has come on just once and resetting the main switch cleared the fault. So, although it clearly makes sense to check the fuses and, in doing so, this may fix the problem, don't be too surprised if the fault happens again. (Did you actually try to get the gas-burner to relight (as Dometic advises) before checking the fuses?) I had a similar problem, after giving the fuses in the Elecktroblok charger unit a good push to make sure they were correctly seated it worked and has not failed since that was 2 years ago. I put it down to vibration from driving on good old Belgium roads. The LED flashing indicates the ignition circuit is working, you should also be able to here the spark generator if so the gas valve may not be opening. Hopefully like us is is a poor connection or fuse but it could be a faulty gas valve. You could check with a meter to see if you have power on the gas valve when the ignition is firing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin weston Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Thanks for your comments. I dont have an Auto position on my fridge, just Off, Gas, Mains electric and 12 volts. I did follow the recommendation of switching the unit off and then back to gas several times with no effect. Also the igniter that clicks on startup was silent when the unit was switched back on. Following that was when I investigated the fuses. Time will tell whether I have 'cured' the problem or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Clean all connections and replace with a good quality fuse's,Regards,Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPeachey Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 My fridge has suddenly stopped working on the 230v setting. Gas is OK. Where is the 3a fuse located? I have found the 15a which is F5 in the main fuse box but there is no 3a We are off to France in the morning so urgent reply would be appreciated! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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