Mrs Sea Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Hi Wonder if anyone can help with my Dads motorhome fridge. It works on gas and 12v but when on mains it heats up instead of freezing. Can't get Electrolux anymore, so has been told he'll need to buy a new Dometic one. Any ideas how/where it could be fixed or where he might get another Electrolux. He lives in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire. Many thanks for any ideas. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Mrs Sea - 2012-08-28 10:03 PM Hi Wonder if anyone can help with my Dads motorhome fridge. It works on gas and 12v but when on mains it heats up instead of freezing. Can't get Electrolux anymore, so has been told he'll need to buy a new Dometic one. Any ideas how/where it could be fixed or where he might get another Electrolux. He lives in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire. Many thanks for any ideas. Regards Most 3-way (gas/12V/230V) fridges fitted to leisure vehicles used to be branded "Electrolux". Then (in the early 2000s) the branding for this type of fridge was revised to "Dometic". Simplistically, the fridges weren't changed, just the brand-name on them. Consequently, if your dad's fridge cannot be repaired, he would no longer be able to replace it with a new Electrolux-branded equivalent model of 3-way fridge as the Electrolux brand-name is no longer used for such fridges. So what your dad has been told is correct - if he wanted an Electrolux fridge to replace his current one the only source would be the secondhand market. Regarding replacement with a Dometic-branded fridge, it would need to be established exactly which model of Electrolux-branded fridge your dad currently has (there's normally a label inside the fridge carrying that information) and whether a like-for-like Dometic-branded replacement is still being marketed. (A Dometic agent should be able to say what the situation is.) Sometimes, even though there is a current-model Dometic fridge that matches an earlier Electrolux fridge dimensionally, replacement using the new-model fridge may prove tricky. For example, see http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=28542&posts=8 There are other makes of 3-way fridge (eg. Thetford), but there's probably more chance that a Dometic-branded replacement fridge would be easiest to install. However, from what you've said, there seems to be a fair likelihood that your dad's fridge should be repairable. As the appliance cools OK on gas and 12V, this suggests that there's nothing wrong with the fridge's basic cooling system. A 3-way fridge's cooling is initiated by 3 separate heaters. There's a gas heater, a 12V heater and a 230V heater, and each heater causes refrigerant to circulate within the fridge's 'pipework'. I confess to not understanding how a 3-way fridge operating on 230V mains power can "overheat". The fridge would certainly not cool if its 230V heater wasn't working, but how could it heat up? Are you sure you don't just mean that your dad's fridge cools on gas and 12V, but does not cool on 230V mains? If that's the case, then replacing the 230V heater (usually not too difficult) might well cure the problem. Conversely, if the fridge genuinely heats up when on 230V mains power, then you've got me beat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Sea Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 Thanks Derek for this information. We have the number of the fridge from inside as you suggested but no-one so far has been able to match it up. Hopefully that won't be necessary. The fridge does indeed 'heat up' like an oven. The drawer above the fridge became very hot which at first my Dad thought he just needed to turn it down. Later when he checked in the fridge it was so hot the new, unopened 2 litre containers of milk had gone off! You are not the only person to be 'beat' by this. The local caravan centre is trying a new thermostat first - we'll see if they are successful. Thanks again for your reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 It sounds as if a part of the flue system may have come adrift and possibly filling the void at the rear of the fridge with hot gases?Alternatively, perhaps the fridge is not properly sealed at the rear. This is important to vent the hot exhaust fumes to the atmosphere and not into the motorhome.If it were my motorhome I'd start by checking that area first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 If part of the flue were adrift, I would expect the overheating also to occur when the fridge was operating on gas or 12V. All I can think of is that it's the position of the 230V heater itself that's causing the heating. Perhaps the heater is no longer within the flue's insulated outer cover? A visual inspection of the rear of the fridge should identify the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Nicky I think it may be a simple thing wrong the mains 240v element is faulty and not working opening the door etc will tend to raise the temerature in the fridge Alf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 My apologies. I didn't read the question properly. I thought that the problem was when running on gas only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Sea Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 Just an update on my Dad's fridge. The local Caravan Centre took his fridge out, shook it up and down rather a lot, turned it upside down for 24hrs (whilst turned on) and then turned it right way up for 24 hrs. It seemed to be working fine so they put it back in his motorhome and so far, so good. No new parts but £100 labour! Theory is that some of the sludge in the coolant had blocked the mains part of the fridge. Shaking it about has dislodged it - for the time being at least. Thought you'd all love to know!! Thanks again for your interest and suggestions. Hope the solution might help someone else in a similar position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The 'fridge inversion' technique is a time-honoured method for attempting to resurrect leisure-vehicle fridges that fail to cool. See mentions in following sample links: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9607&posts=11 http://www.a-tconsulting.co.uk/caravan_tech/fridges.html The peculiar thing regarding your dad's fridge is that it was apparently cooling OK on gas and 12V, but 230V usage caused the fridge to heat up. The run-it-upside-down ploy is normally tried when a fridge won't cool on gas, 12V or 230V and (sometimes!) revives the fridge's cooling capability. The explanation for the ploy succeeding is that the cooling chemicals separate, or there's some sort of 'pooling' in the pipework, and running the fridge inverted kick-starts the flow of the refrigerant. I'm not convinced anyone actually KNOWS why the technique works, just that it's worth trying because sometimes it does work. Anyway, even though the symptoms you described originally suggested that what your Caravan Centre did should not have successfully addressed the 230V problem, the fact is that your dad's fridge has now recovered. Never knock magic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Well you learn summat new every day, thats a new one on me. Wonder what else the inversion technique works on :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 ips - 2012-09-11 4:06 PM Well you learn summat new every day, thats a new one on me. Wonder what else the inversion technique works on :-D ... if you don't know I ain't telling !!! :$ (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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