kelso102 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Hi wondering if anyone can help with fridge problem in my 2005 Hymer 544 when I switch to mains power it trips electric in house. Also will not start up with battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Hello Kelso. How long have you had the motorhome and how much motorhoming experience do you have? Tell us and somebody might be able to give you the advice you need without teaching you to suck eggs. When you say, 'when I switch to mains poor it trips in house', do you mean it trips the electric in the van or just the fridge? And what house? Have you connected the van to your house using a cable to an external electric socket? What will not start with the battery? The fridge? Does the fridge work OK on gas? Do you have the Hymer manual and the instruction book for the fridge? Have you followed the instructions? Sorry for asking questions in response to a question but more information from you will help someone suggest a solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Hi. I presume you mean the electric supply in the house trips with the hook connected and mains selected on the fridge. This sounds like it could be an earth leakage in the fridge heater unit. Remember the fridge only works on 12 volts with the engine running. If it is not working on 12 volts with the engine running , this could also be caused through a faulty heater. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harshdodhiaa Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Hi.. kelso, I was also suffering from same problem. Then I shared about my issue with my friend. She suggested me to take advice from http://crfwa.com.au/. I called them and told my problem. They made me clear each and everything. I am happy with their services. Big thanks to http://crfwa.com.au/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelso102 Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Thanks for your reply, yes ive only had the motorhome for a few months, Motorhome is parked at side of house, I wanted more fridge space as I have a few people arriving for Chirstmas dinner. When I switch on fridge in motorhome the fuse box in house trips. I have also tried using leisure battery with fridge turned down low as instructions but still no luck. Have not tried with gas. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelso102 Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 thanks for your reply, I needed more fridge as I have a few people staying over for Chirstmas. Yes the house supply trips. Thanks for your help i'll get it checked out. Only bought motorhome a few months ago and still on learning curve ........... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelso102 Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Thanks for your help i'll check them out. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Hi again. You mention leisure battery, the fridge should be working on 12 volts from the engine / starter battery through a relay, but only when the engine is running . The problem that you have should not effect the operation on gas though. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Somewhere between the socket you have the van EHU plugged into, and the fridge itself, there is an earth leakage. I'm a but surprised that there isn't a similar trip in the van, have you checked to see? If there is, have you tried turning it off manually, re-setting the house trip, and then reinstating power to the van. If the house supply again trips, the fault will be in the plug at either end of the EHU, possibly in the EHU cable itself, or in the wiring of the EHU socket on the van. Don't forget to unplug the EHU cable before checking any of these possibilities. If there is no trip in the van, just switch off the mains switch in the van, and proceed as above. If the house trip doesn't trigger during either of the above tests you know the fault is between the EHU socket on the van, and the fridge. You'll need to check the van wiring from the socket, through the mains "fuseboard", and right up to the junction box at the rear of the fridge where the van wiring terminates onto the fridge wiring. Just make sure the EHU is unplugged first, and then work down the wiring opening up and inspecting every connection box, including the mains unit, and looking for a loose or detached + wire (probably brown or red) that is touching an earth wire. If you find one, reattach securely back into the correct terminal, reconnect the mains and switch it on. If the house doesn't trip you found the fault. If it does, carry on as before until you get to the back of the fridge. If all is sound and the house still trips, my guess would be that the mains heater element on the fridge has failed and shorted to earth. If you have a multimeter, you could try first testing resistance between the fridge + wire and earth in the junction box at the back of the fridge, but with the mains supply temporarily disconnected from the box, should tell you if the element has failed. (Again, don't forget to disconnect the EHU first!) The resistance between + and earth wires on the fridge circuit should be near infinity. If it is near 0, the odds are that the element has failed. If you're unsure about the above, get an electrician to test for you. It shouldn't take long to isolate where the fault lies, especially if you find the wiring and the junction boxes yourself, so you are paying him to just test and not to play "hunt the thimble" around your van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Forgot to say above, if there is a trip in the van, and you find the fault was between the van's mains switch and the fridge, it seems it wasn't working. So, once you have sorted the fault, re-connect the van to mains, and try the test button on the van's mains switch. If it doesn't trigger, you should definitely get a new mains switch. If it does trigger it may just have lower sensitivity than the one in your house, or it may have become unreliable. So, even if it does work when tested it didn't when needed, so a replacement still seems the best course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 Just another thought. Some fridges have a printed circuit board between the selector switches and the heaters, a fault on here or the switch itself could cause your problem. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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