chrisrogers731 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Firstly, I am a complete newbie having just bought a Vauxhall Vivaro camper conversion last week. I am having difficulty getting the fitted 12v compressor fridge to work and was hoping you may be able to advise. It worked when I first got it last week. But I went away in it at the weekend and when I opened it up after the first night, it had stopped working. I didn't have a mains hook-up so I'm guessing my 75ah leisure battery just isn't capable of powering it? Everything else (lights, water pump etc) continued to work all weekend. Now I'm home, I've connected it to a mains hook-up and the in-van battery charger is on and charging (it's been on for a couple of hours now). However still no sign of life from the fridge. No chill, and no light coming on when you open the door. I tried it with engine running too. Still nothing. So I guess my question is: Does the leisure battery need to reach a certain amount of charge - even when connected to the mains - for the fridge to start working again? So if I leave it connected and charging for a day or two, should the fridge come back to life when the battery is more charged? Or should a 12v compressor fridge work as soon as you have a mains hook-up, even if the leisure battery is low? Any advice you can offer would be greatly received. It is a new professional conversion, so I'm hoping there's nothing wrong with the fridge or wiring. As I said, it was definitely chilling and the light coming on when I hooked it up to the mains before the weekend. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Hi Chris, You say "it worked when I first got it" Does that mean: the interior light came on: it reached your selected temperature: you heard the thermostat operating, and compressor working. It does sound as though you have a battery issue, do you have any battery voltage monitor that would have given you advance warning of your need to attach to hook-up? We have two 110Amp batteries and are careful how much we camp without hook-up Good luck Regards Alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrogers731 Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 Thanks for the reply Alan. Yes when I opened it at home, the interior light came on and it felt chilled. It sounded like the compressor was running fine. On the van's control panel there is an LED indicator, which is always mid-low when running on 12v battery and always mid-high when on mains hook-up. I know the 75ah leisure battery is one of the smallest, but to be honest I don't think any bigger battery would fit in the compartment its sat in. I'm happy to run off mains hook-up for purposes of using the fridge. But my main worry is it's now hooked up to the mains but still no sign of life from the fridge. I assumed it could run off the mains immediately even without enough battery charge, but as I said, I'm a complete novice who's never had one before. Maybe once the battery has had 12-24 hours charging on mains hook-up, the fridge will start to operate again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 No, you have a fault on the fridge or wiring somewhere. If it was a flat battery (which I doubt, as other things continued working normally) it would certainly be working again on hook up by now, the compressor will only take about 2 to 3 amps so the charger/ transformer would run it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billmars Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 There will probably be a fuse protecting the 'fridge somewhere. Has this blown? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Charles - 2016-09-05 10:43 PM No, you have a fault on the fridge or wiring somewhere. If it was a flat battery (which I doubt, as other things continued working normally) it would certainly be working again on hook up by now, the compressor will only take about 2 to 3 amps so the charger/ transformer would run it anyway. It does sound as though there is some sort of fault because not only have you put the battery on charge, but you also tried running the engine - which should chuck out lots of power for the battery and any appliances running from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 chrisrogers731 - 2016-09-05 9:36 PM Firstly, I am a complete newbie having just bought a Vauxhall Vivaro camper conversion last week. I am having difficulty getting the fitted 12v compressor fridge to work and was hoping you may be able to advise Thanks Charles; if you just bought it then I would say take it back and get the person or company that you bought it from to sort it out, should be some warranty I would expect Regards Alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Cole Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 Hi Charles, I also have a Vauxhall Vivaro; mine is fitted with a Waeco CR50 Fridge, I have fitted a second 110APH battery dedicated to running the fridge so that the leisure battery just runs the habitation equipment. The current consumption on these fridges is quite high and a 70APH battery running both the fridge and the habitation equipment will have limited capacity. The fridge draws 5.7amps when running. It will stop working when the battery voltage goes below 10.4v this is to protect the fridge and the battery, this is indicated by the green diode inside the fridge flashing red. The cut in voltage is 11.7v. A fully charged battery should read about 12.7v the voltage will drop to around 12.2v when the fridge is running due to the current that the fridge is drawing To save running the fridge too hard when on battery I set my thermostat around setting 2; this keeps the fridge cold enough. The problem you have is that running your fridge for say 10 -12hrs at a 40%-60% ratio depending on the surrounding ambient temperature, your battery will be down to around half its capacity not taking into account other equipment that you are running at the same time. If you are going to use hook up then I would recommend that you fit a MPS35 mains adapter made for running fridges; this unit automatically switches the fridge to mains when hooked up and to battery when not. Cost is around £60 but well worth it for this type of fridge. It is very easy to fit. This means that on hook up, your on board charger is putting all its power output into the battery and not running the fridge as well. You said that the fridge was working then stopped and the light inside was also not working. I doubt that there is a fault with the fridge it sounds more likely to be a fuse or cicuit breaker that has popped. The fuse rating should be around 15A if unsure, as the camper is new get your dealer to check it out. The only problem I have with mine is that in very hot weather (France not UK) with temperatures 30+ it does use a lot of battery capacity as it is running for long periods. So I need hook up every couple of days or so. I also found the venilation at the rear of the fridge was inadequate and have increased the vent sizes and doubled the number of them from 2 to 4. I have also fitted a spare computer fan motor to the side of my cabinet to prevent overheating, and to make the fridge more efficient in hot weather. I have had my camper for about 3 years and have been well pleased with it covering around 35,000miles I hope this helps with your problem Geoff C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 Hi Geoff, Chris Rogers is the op not me, anyway I sent you a PM I've got my own refrigeration problem you may be able to shed some light on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.