soulman Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 THE ELECTROLUX RM123E FRIDGE IN MY 1990 MURVI CAMPER HAS STOPPED WORKING (NOT GETTING COLD) BOTH ON THE ELECTRIC HOOK UP AND ON THE GAS. THE PILOT FLAME IGNITES AND STAYS ALIGHT AND THE IGNITION SWITCH WORKS. NOT SURE WHERE THE FUSE IS, IF THIS WOULD STOP IT WORKING IF BLOWN?. IT APPEARED TO GET QUITE HOT AT THE BACK WHEN ON THE GAS. ANY IDEAS, HINTS ANYTHING PLEASE. THANKS GUYS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 There's an RM123E manual here http://www.thomson-caravans.co.uk/advice/maintenance/pdf/rm122f_rm123e.pdf Is your fridge the one originally fitted to your motorhome? Does your fridge cool on 12V when your motorhome is being driven? If your fridge is the one originally fitted to your 1990 motorhome and does not cool on 12V when your motorhome is being driven, then there's a strong likelihood that the basic cooling system is the culprit and that the fridge will need replacing. Fridges are not immortal and 22 years is a good innings. When elderly 3-way fridges stop working it's sometimes suggested that turning them upside-down may revive them. See http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9607&posts=11 Your best bet would be to get the fridge looked at by a Dometic technician http://www.dometicapproved.co.uk/service.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Hi Derek thanks for your reply. Yes it is the original fridge. had a look at your attachments. The one you answered in that earliwer thread the guy with the shed. He says he just had an mot prep, That is what I have just had too! dont kno=w what fuse he is on about tho and the frige was working when it went in. I will try the fridge with the 12volt as I am away this weekend (wifes 50th) so it picked its time to pop its clogs ha ha. If I do need a new fridge can you recomend one the same size etc. Once again thanks for that swift reply. PS can a fridge of that age be re gassed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 soulman - 2012-08-09 1:14 PM...............PS can a fridge of that age be re gassed? Yes, assuming there is not a hole somewhere that the refrigerant has escaped through! However, bearing in mind the external cooling circuits are of steel tube, I would imagine that after 22 years corrosion has taken its toll, and the reason it is not working is loss of refrigerant. If so, I doubt repair would be practical or economical. There are three quite separate heaters at the rear of the fridge, one gas and two electric - one each for 12V and 230V. It is possible that both the mains electric heater and the gas burner have failed coincidentally, but not highly likely, as they share no components and are not co-located. The 12V element is normally just above the 230V element. The RM123 is apparently still available from O'Brien's, see link: http://tinyurl.com/cf5s9xc Has a handy picture and dimensioned diagram which should help identification. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Brian Kirby - 2012-08-09 3:17 PM soulman - 2012-08-09 1:14 PM...............PS can a fridge of that age be re gassed? Yes, assuming there is not a hole somewhere that the refrigerant has escaped through! However, bearing in mind the external cooling circuits are of steel tube, I would imagine that after 22 years corrosion has taken its toll, and the reason it is not working is loss of refrigerant. If so, I doubt repair would be practical or economical. There are three quite separate heaters at the rear of the fridge, one gas and two electric - one each for 12V and 230V. It is possible that both the mains electric heater and the gas burner have failed coincidentally, but not highly likely, as they share no components and are not co-located. The 12V element is normally just above the 230V element. The RM123 is apparently still available from O'Brien's, see link: http://tinyurl.com/cf5s9xc Has a handy picture and dimensioned diagram which should help identification. Good luck. Brian has answered your questions. I note from the RM123 manual that the cooling temperature during gas operation is regulated via a gas-control knob. The manual says: "The gas control knob (4, fig. 14) has four positions, marked 'Off', and 3, 2 and 1, representing three sizes of flame- Maximum, Medium and Minimum. The amount of cooling produced in the refrigerator will depend on the size of flame used." You said in your original posting that the gas-burner would light and remain alight as normal, but can you confirm that the flame size alters according to the position of the gas-control knob? If you move the gas control knob from Position '1' through Position '3', does the gas-flame increase in size? This is clutching at straws really, for the symptoms you describe are strong indicators that it's the basic cooling system that's to blame. Even if the gas flame were not changing its size according to the control knob setting, the fridge should still cool on the minimum 'pilot flame' setting and that's not happening. As Brian says, it would be a huge coincidence for the gas and 230V operating systems to fail at the same time but separately. I suspect that replacement will be the eventual solution, but it would be worth checking with a Dometic agency whether (assuming it's the refrigerant system that's become faulty) repair is practicable or would make financial sense. As the RM123 is still available and not too expensive, it's likely that the answer to the latter question will be No. GOOGLE-ing produces plenty of instances advising inverting a 3-way fridge to encourage it back to life. For example, this 2005 Australian one: http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic/28186/3_Way_Caravan_Fridge_-_Cactus.aspx May be worth trying before committing to replacement. Though - even if the fridge did work after being inverted - there's no guarantee it would continue to do so long-term Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hi Derek & Brian, many thanks for your posts. Sorry I did not get back sooner been away for the weekend.....cool box city! I tried the fridge on the 12 volt no joy so am now going to replace the fridge, not myself but by a qualified engineer. once again guys tanks for your expertise and taking the time to reply. kim aka soulman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hi again, just been looking at O'brians webpage. I notice now that the flue has been moved to the other side of the fridge on later models. It also says you need 2 lage vents fitted.Worried that the van outter will look a mess. Also the price listed for a replacement fridge is between £300 and £400. would repair work be still viable at this cost, I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Based on OBrien's website information, it seems that your present RM123's gas-flue is on the left (when looking at the rear of the fridge), whereas the gas-flue of the current RM123 model is on the right. Earlier Dometic 3-way fridges used to have smallish ventilation grilles with a separate vent for the gas-flue and I assume that's the set-up for your fridge. Normally, installation of the current model RM123 fridge would employ Dometic L100 and L200 ventilation grilles as shown here http://www.johnscross.co.uk/products/Dometic-Fridge-Vent-Kit-White-.html with the designed-for-the-purpose right part of the L100 upper grille connecting to the gas-flue. However, I've seen alternative ways of installing this type of fridge including, in one instance on a Possl panel-van conversion, a roof-mounted gas-flue exhaust (and very odd it looked too!) I suspect that, as long as your present vents are reasonably sized, you would not be compelled to fit larger ones to enable a current model RM123 fridge to work OK (though it would be better to fit the larger vents if possible). However, leading the on-the-right gas-flue of the current model RM123 to join your present on-the-left exhaust outlet may well prove to be a non-starter, as it looks like the cooling system on the rear of the fridge will prevent this. I'm doubtful that a major repair to a 22 years old fridge will be a practicable proposition, but a Dometic agent should be able to say if that's the case. If your present frdge can't be repaired, then the simplest option may be to replace it with a current model RM123 that at least has the same dimensions. It looks like this will mean fitting different ventilation grilles, but there does not appear to be an obvious alternative. There are other makes of 'built-in' absorption 3-way fridge (Thetford, Vitrifrigo, Carvin, etc), but it's questionable whether any of these would be preferable to the current model RM123. You might also choose to fit a compression fridge (which would side-step the ventilation grille issue), but this would be no cheaper and you'd almost certainly need to bump up your leisure-battery capacity considerably. I think you first need to ask a Dometic agent (or ask several Dometic agents) about the possibility/cost of repairing your fridge assuming that it's the cooling system that's failed. If it turns out that repair is impossible, then at least you'll know. If it is possible, but expensive, then you'll then know that too. You might also want to have a word with Murvi, or seek advice from the Murvi Club http://murvilovers.yolasite.com/ as it's quite possible other Murvi owners have found themselves in the same boat as you. In fact http://www.motorhomefacts.com/forum-printtopic-1-104871-0-0-asc-viewresult-1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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