Wirralian Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I have a C class Hymer on a 57 plate Ford Transit. It has a Thetford fridge which is not working when the engine is running. Someone had a similar problem some weeks ago but I can't find that thread. The advice was to check the fuse for the fridge and that in the relay located in the engine compartment . But I think that referred to a Fiat. If there is a similarly located relay in the Transit, I can't identify it. Where could it likely be (and what does it look like!)? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 We had a similar problem on our Chausson Flash 04's fridge when we had it which was based on a Ford, see my second to last posting on this thread: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Charging-problems-engine-battery/22204/ In our case we only found out because the engine battery hadn't been getting charged and went flat which then let us to investigate further. The 'fun' we had was finding where the offending 5A fuse was located but the dealers soon told us what to look for once we'd contact them! It turned out to be behind a white plastic 'box' located under the side facing seat, it looked a bit like a blanked off surface mounted domestic electric socket box and once we'd taken out the 2 screws we could see the fuse housing behind it - you might want to see if you have something similar in your Hymer somewhere, not necessarily in the engine compartment - look in all the nooks and crannies! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Hymer fit Elektroblock chargers the relay for the fridge is inside the Elektroblock and the fuse will be on the front panel of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wirralian Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thank you both for your response. I have checked all the fuses in the Elekblock and they all seem to be ok, especially the all the 20 amps, one of which. Is appropriate for the fridge John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Wirralian - 2013-03-26 9:14 PM Thank you both for your response. I have checked all the fuses in the Elekblock and they all seem to be ok, especially the all the 20 amps, one of which. Is appropriate for the fridge John John, I'm talking about a separate 'enclosure' too, not the Elekblock itself, something like the below although the ones in our Chausson were a more square, but you get the idea - see if there's something like this hidden somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Mel, with Hymer's it's normally all inside the Elektroblock. John, have you checked your are getting volts at the fridge element ( with the engine running), if so it's probably the element with the power off check the resistance of the element with a multimeter should be low resistance 1-2 ohms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wirralian Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 This is directed to Lenny and Mel B who both tried to help me sort out my fridge problem at the end of March. I have had it sorted and it turned out to be the power board which I have just had replaced. I have only just had it done as I was on site it Spain when the trouble started and I left it until I got home three weeks ago. We managed without needing the fridge on whilst driving as the weather in Spain and France was not warm enough to need it on. We managed to find aires with electricity each night. This Thetford fridge is turning out to be a bit troublesome. Just before we set off for Spain we discovered that it would not fire up on gas. It needed a new ignition lead. As this was over the Xmas and New Year holiday period it was only fixed the day before we left home! Am I unlucky or is there something about Thetford fridges. Whilst on site in Spain, a Brit on the next pitch also had trouble with his Thetford fridge (a replacement to the original in the van). A Spanish caravan workshop could not sort it out and told him to take it back to the UK to get it repaired! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wirralian Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 This is directed to Lenny and Mel B who both tried to help me sort out my fridge problem at the end of March. I have had it sorted and it turned out to be the power board which I have just had replaced. I have only just had it done as I was on site it Spain when the trouble started and I left it until I got home three weeks ago. We managed without needing the fridge on whilst driving as the weather in Spain and France was not warm enough to need it on. We managed to find aires with electricity each night. This Thetford fridge is turning out to be a bit troublesome. Just before we set off for Spain we discovered that it would not fire up on gas. It needed a new ignition lead. As this was over the Xmas and New Year holiday period it was only fixed the day before we left home! Am I unlucky or is there something about Thetford fridges. Whilst on site in Spain, a Brit on the next pitch also had trouble with his Thetford fridge (a replacement to the original in the van). A Spanish caravan workshop could not sort it out and told him to take it back to the UK to get it repaired! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 When I was at our Hymer dealer in Belgium last year there was a another English couple just brought their van in because the Thetford fridge had stopped working again, it had already be replaced twice, so you are not alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Wirralian - 2013-05-09 5:31 PM ...Am I unlucky or is there something about Thetford fridges?... John If you GOOGLE-search on "Thetford fridge problems" you'll get plenty of 'hits', but that will be equally true if you GOOGLE-search on "Dometic fridge problems". The only time you'll normally hear about problems with fridges is when there's a major recall (as happened some years ago with Dometic 7-Series fridge-freezers) or when individuals complain on on-line forums or in magazines. To know whether Thetford fridges have a worse reliability record than Dometic fridges (or vice versa), it would be necessary to know how many of each make have been sold, how many of these have had problems and (to some extent) what those problems were. Such information is commercially sensitive and, as far as I'm aware, isn't available. The last section of this webpage http://www.a-tconsulting.co.uk/caravan_tech/fridges.html includes the statement "In 2007/8 some Thetford fridges with an LCD panel and a button each side suffered problems with their electonics. In the worst cases the fridge would not work at all. The problem was traced to a faulty component and many electronics boards were changed under warranty." I don't know if your motorhome is fitted with the type of Thetford fridge described, but 2007/8 matches your 57-plate Hymer time-wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 I agree with the comment that there is no real difference between Dometic and Thetford when it comes to reliability, people only complain when it fails. The 12 volt bit not working has been a source of trouble for many people as it takes a fair whack of current to get the fridge to run properly and this is only supplied when the engine is running at a certain level to stop you flatening the normal battery. Also do accept that the elements have a shelf life and if used year after year will eventually decide enough is enough. My personal opinion having had both Dometic and Thetford units is that the Thetford seems more efficient but then again it all depends on how well any fridge has been installed and UK manufacturers have a track record of not always getting this right. Certainly my motorhome (UK) never worked well frige wise and I could clearly see daylight round the edges, so it had never been installed correctly. My current EU caravan has a Thetford with a massive cowling sealing it all and works very well, but this year (number 9) the 230 volt element packed up and I suspect the 12 volt one is either doing the same, or about to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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