Fridge problem. Advice please?

[Ralph]

As usual I put the fridge freezer on electric the day before going away. Next day we packed the van and then took out the food to the fridge. It hadn't frozen up! I put it on gas and it seemed to be freezing up OK so off we went.

 

Spent a week in the New Forest on a non electric pitch so using gas was OK anyway. When we got back I plugged into the mains at home and switched the fridge to 230V. It's now working fine.

 

So now I have a working fridge again but, of course, I'm worried that there is a problem. Anyone have any advice?

 

PS the last time it had been used was in January so it hadn't been idle for very long.

 

 

[Terrytraveller]

Hi Ralph,

 

Often things will cure themselves after a run shaking things up, you've heard and seen people kicking things or giving them a good slap to make them work!

 

On a more serious note, I would be checking all connections around about the fridge controls and rear of fridge. Taking off spade connectors and refitting them, if they appear loose, tighten them carefully before refitting. Check any crimped wires by holding the spade and pulling with reasonable force to check the security of the conductors in the spades.

 

Working the on/off switches a number of times, some switches are self cleaning and require use to keep the internal contacts in good condition.

 

Regards Terry

[Brian Kirby]

I know it's a silly question, but are you quite sure you had the mains power to the fridge "on" at your on board consumer unit?

I don't believe in things that fix themselves, and especially electrical things.  If the mains was all on, and you are sure of that, there is almost certanly a wiring fault, most probably a loose connection somewhere, that was shaken into good enough contact for it to work again during your journey.  Problem with that is it may have been passing corrent, but may also have been arcing a bit at the same time.  Eventually, that arcing will burn off the connector, making replacement of the offending part the only (possibly expensive!) way to fix the connection properly.  It will also generate heat, which may cause other problems!

The only solution is to start at one end or the other, and work your way logically up/down the fridge mains feed between mains consumer unit and fridge heater element.  Do remember to disconnect the mains feed before doing this!!

There should be two connections at the consumer unit (negative and positive terminals), then an unbroken cable from that to (probably) a terminal block somewhere behind the fridge, maybe accessible through one of the fridge vents, and the final connection onto the fridge terminal block (often on the top of the fridge behind the controls).  All these are likely to be screw clamp type connections and all should be checked to ensure the wire is a) properly stripped of insulation, b) has sufficient bare wire to properly make a connection inside terminal and c) that the terminal clamp is tight.  

From this terminal block there will be various wires with spade connections to the switch and the thermostat (on top of the fridge), and the 230V and 12V electric heater elements themselves (at the back of the fridge, somewhere above the gas burner: they look like two short, black painted, hockey sticks, brazed to the refrigerant pipework, with two wires to each).  Check all these to confirm tightness and proper engagement on the spades.  The spades are probably the favourite as culprits, but you may have to partially withdraw the fridge to get at the ones on top, for which you may also need to break and remake the gas connection at the rear of the fridge.

When you have worked your way around and tightened everything, slide the fridge back in place.  Then, if you have disturbed the gas pipe, turn on the gas and check the joint for leaks.

Then, turn on the mains power, select 230V power to the fridge, wait around 20 minutes, and very carefully slide your fingers up to where the two electric heater elments are.  If all is working properly, one will be detectably hot - but if you've waited too long it will burn a couple of layers of skin off your fingertips, which is why you need to do this very carefully!

Good luck.

[Wingpete]

Some years ago, gas powered domestic fridges were quite a common alternative to leccy.

I had one that sometimes ceased to chill down enough, and the then recoomended method of remedying that was to turn the whole fridge upside down and give it a good shake, so moving the liquid refrigerant back to the generator/converter ( of hot to cold).

(^)

Making sure that it was empty first of course. B-)

Therefore, I suspect the method of removal and turning over the Dometic unit will have similar, desired effect.

[twooks]

easy peasy. get a compressor fridge instead :-> >:-) :-> *-)

 

B-)

[Clive]

Sorry Twooks, totally disagree.

We have just returned from a month in Australia and a tour in an Australian Winebago around WA. The Wini had an Engel compressor fridge.

Plenty of Fridge space, efficient operation OK but the 200 ampere hour battery meant that we were limited to just one night of camping without hookup. We were warned before hand about this limitation. So we were effectively forced to go from camp site to camp site.

A compressor fridge would be no good whatsever to those who attend the MH shows and stay from Thursday through to Monday without hookup.

Unless you want to spend thousands on a Fuel Cell or run a pesky generator.

???

 

Has anyone had any experience of the new Thetford range of absorbtion fridges? How they compare with Dometic??

 

C.

 

[Ralph]

Thanks for all the help.

 

Brian,

Yes it was definitely on. Well I say definitely as the van had 230v connected (sockets working) and the 230v light on the fridge was on. However I assume that this is a 12v indicator so it doesn't actually prove anything. I did check that the trips were on and know that this was OK. Looks like I will have to go through the rest of your advice at the weekend and try not to burn my hands.

 

Wingpete,

I don't think I fancy the idea of taking a fridge freezer out to invert it. A bit large... However I have heard of this idea and wondered if the use of gas, with it's hotter flame, might have performed a similar function in kicking it into life?

 

 

Twooks/Clive,

I like to camp away from electricity so gas suits me fine. But I usually freeze it down at home before leaving and, of course, i use electricity where they force me to pay for it.

 

 

 

[twooks]

hi Clive, thought you might bite :->

 

but - seriously Ralph, I wouldn't change it now - altho if you end up having to replace it may be worth a thought. Depends on your lifestyle, we usually either move on every couple of days - or use hook-up; and it beats having to remember to switch it over. and despite Clive's view - it's always seemed to be very efficient - even manages to freeze food.

 

 

B-)

[Terrytraveller]

I think Clive has proved - turning a fridge upside down just doesn't work - re his comments -

 

The Wini had an Engel compressor fridge. Plenty of Fridge space, efficient operation OK but the 200 ampere hour battery meant that we were limited........

 

Terry

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

Re turning the fridge upside down and shaking it, I was told by a Dometic service engineer that this is largely urban (campsite?) myth.  The best that can be achieved, he said - apart from a hernia, is a temporary benefit but it wont shift the underlying cause and the problem will reinstate itself soon after.

If all else fails, contact Dometic's technical department, and get them to suggest who near you may be able to fix the problem.

[Globetrotter]

Silly question, but was the van parked on a slope when the fridge didn't work? They arent very tilt-tolerant.

[Ralph]

No, this one is pretty good for being slope tolerant. I think maybe that it was a problem with older models.