Fridge issues

Kacey and Angie · Member

Fridge issues

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I have problems with my new vans fridge too K&A.

1. When on gas and wind coming from fridge side it blows the flame out, bugga

2. Gas ignitor doesn't work and have to light manually, double bugga

3. 240v element buggered, triple bugga

I have asked for a new fridge but not holding my breath. Can't do anything yet as Thetford and their agent are on Xmas break, bugga again.

With yours, maybe put some shade down the side of the fridge and fit a fan to the top vent sucking the hot air out. The back of the fridge needs air flowing from bottom to top and out to work efficiently.

That's the technical explanation so hope you understand biggrin

Kacey and Angie · Member

Mm ours is a thetford as well we also had issue with wind blowing out the gas al the time on our way back from Perth,

Cupie · Guru

Hi K & A ...

The operation of 3 way fridges in the tropics is an issue that plagues many caravanners & is the subject of many discussions on this forum(& even disagreements, would you believe).

If you use the search facility you will find many of these discussions.

I have included a link in the attachment to this post that addresses some of the major issues.

As well as doing all of the common modifications, I find that shading the fridge side of your van has a very good effect. I now have a shade screen that goes right down the fridge side of the van.

In my opinion a major factor is poor installation practices by the van manufacturers ... especially in older vans.

SnowT · Guru

It also comes down the rating of the fridge...

There was a discusion on rating a while back..

if you have a " T " rated fridge it designed for tropical region's ie 45c
if you have a " ST" rated fridge it is only designed for SUB tropical regions ie About 30-35c

Why we have ST rated fridges in Oz I don't know.. as they are only good for winter and even then they could come into trouble up north..

Juergen

hako · Guru

SnowT wrote:

It also comes down the rating of the fridge...

SNIP

Why we have ST rated fridges in Oz I don't know.. as they are only good for winter and even then they could come into trouble up north..

Juergen

G'Day Juergen, We have a ST rated fridge in our Avan Cruiser that operates quite well in the tropics from our experience plus there are tens of thousands fitted to most smaller vans and campers that also work quite well so I figure the reason they have ST rated fridges in Oz is because they are fit for purpose. I know some people complain about them but I'd suggest there are 2 sides to the coin. smile

Regards

oldtrack123 · Guru

hako wrote:
SnowT wrote:

It also comes down the rating of the fridge...

SNIP

Why we have ST rated fridges in Oz I don't know.. as they are only good for winter and even then they could come into trouble up north..

Juergen

G'Day Juergen, We have a ST rated fridge in our Avan Cruiser that operates quite well in the tropics from our experience plus there are tens of thousands fitted to most smaller vans and campers that also work quite well so I figure the reason they have ST rated fridges in Oz is because they are fit for purpose. I know some people complain about them but I'd suggest there are 2 sides to the coin.
Regards

HI

Ditto smile biggrin

PeterQ

deverall11 · Guru

Kacey and Angie wrote:
We have a new van and the fridge is not cooling enough, running on gas the fridge temp is at about 18 to 20 running with geny its the same won't cool enough we ran the geny last light and at 5.30 this morning it was down to 6.5.
we live in the Pilbara and the temps this week have been high 30's touching

Any ideas please

Is your fridge a Dometic RM 855x series with the bowed doors. If so there is a genuine problem with those. Look up page 13 or there abouts on the Caravaner forum. All the Jayco Silverline are fitted with those and most people are having cooling issues. Ours is causing same problems and we will be in contact with the relevant people when everyone goes back to work after New Year.

Larry

oldtrack123 · Guru

Kacey and Angie wrote:
We have a new van and the fridge is not cooling enough, running on gas the fridge temp is at about 18 to 20 running with geny its the same won't cool enough we ran the geny last light and at 5.30 this morning it was down to 6.5.
we live in the Pilbara and the temps this week have been high 30's touching

Any ideas please

HI Kacey

It always helps in getting relevent advise if you quote fridge brand & model number

Like oils ALL FRIDGES ARE NOT THE SAME smile

PeterQ

PeterD · Guru

deverall11 wrote:
Kacey and Angie wrote:
We have a new van and the fridge is not cooling enough, running on gas the fridge temp is at about 18 to 20 running with geny its the same won't cool enough we ran the geny last light and at 5.30 this morning it was down to 6.5.
Is your fridge a Dometic RM 855x series with the bowed doors.

Two messages after the one you quoted he stated "Mm ours is a thetford as well." My understanding is he has a Thetford fridge (it probably would have helped if he used his shift key and capitalised the brand name.)

Cruising Cruze · Guru

Why they don't put a 2way 12/240 volt fridge in the new caravans right away

it only takes one solar panel more and one house battery of 120 amp extra

If you are are on the road 365 days a year imagine how much you safe on gas refills

in my case an 9KG bottle every fortnight

When my fridge in the future spits the dummy I can get one for less than $600 from bit deals

that is just my thoughts, maybe I'm wrong who knows?

Cheers John

deverall11 · Guru

PeterD wrote:

Two messages after the one you quoted he stated "Mm ours is a thetford as well." My understanding is he has a Thetford fridge (it probably would have helped if he used his shift key and capitalised the brand name.)

Thanks Peter. Guess my eye sight is getting worse.

Larry

elliemike · Guru

Cruising Cruze wrote:
Why they don't put a 2way 12/240 volt fridge in the new caravans right away
it only takes one solar panel more and one house battery of 120 amp extra
If you are are on the road 365 days a year imagine how much you safe on gas refills
in my case an 9KG bottle every fortnight
When my fridge in the future spits the dummy I can get one for less than $600 from bit deals
that is just my thoughts, maybe I'm wrong who knows?

I had a Hi Ace Campervan that had a Dometic 12v/240 fridge. It worked well. However 12v while motoring was fine. 240 when plugged in was fine. But I doubt if 2 batteries would have kept it working on 12v for long. If I forgot to switch it off (before I had a fridge switch fitted) when parked the battery was flat within a couple of hours.
We have an 3 way ST Dometic in our Avan that has been up around and down the country a few time. I works quite well even up in the Top End. I have had to do a few tweaks to it's installation to improve its efficiency but that is to manufacturers specs.
Avan must read another set of specs when they install them.

Cruising Cruze · Guru

Hi Mike

are you sure that it was an 12/240 volt fridge only
in normal circumstances that fridge should only use around 60wat or 5 amp at 12 volt a hr
and from that it is standing still half the time so say 2.5 an hr
that is also what my evakool is using and got that one now on 160ah battery
charged by an 120 watt solar panel
no trouble so far

Cheers John

elliemike · Guru

Cruising Cruze wrote:

Hi Mike

are you sure that it was an 12/240 volt fridge only
in normal circumstances that fridge should only use around 60wat or 5 amp at 12 volt a hr
and from that it is standing still half the time so say 2.5 an hr
that is also what my evakool is using and got that one now on 160ah battery
charged by an 120 watt solar panel
no trouble so far

Cheers John

Most certainly was 12v/ 240 This was a House battery as well, not the Cranking battery in the Hiace Camper.

I have experienced (had to jump start) a few vehicles over the last five years who stopped and had left their fridge on 12v. and died. Couple of them brand new vans where the Tug battery was flattened after stopping for a couple of hours.

Kacey and Angie · Member

Our fridge is a thetford

PeterD · Guru

elliemike wrote:
I had a Hi Ace Campervan that had a Dometic 12v/240 fridge. It worked well. However 12v while motoring was fine. 240 when plugged in was fine. But I doubt if 2 batteries would have kept it working on 12v for long. If I forgot to switch it off (before I had a fridge switch fitted) when parked the battery was flat within a couple of hours.

What was the model number of that Dometic fridge? I have not seen any compressor fridges branded Dometic. I have however seen a camper van converted in Brisbane that did not have gas supplied to the fridge. The bloke that built the conversion told the customer that he could run the Dometic absorption fridge off the house battery The customer (who later became my next door neighbour) believed him. By the time we met he had destroyed several house batteries trying to power the fridge off the battery. I ended up having a gas installation put in the van and connected to the fridge. He was a happy camper after that and no more destroyed batteries (even had lights all night.)

You may have had a similar conversion.

-- Edited by PeterD on Wednesday 31st of December 2014 12:08:25 AM

elliemike · Guru

PeterD wrote:
elliemike wrote:
I had a Hi Ace Campervan that had a Dometic 12v/240 fridge. It worked well. However 12v while motoring was fine. 240 when plugged in was fine. But I doubt if 2 batteries would have kept it working on 12v for long. If I forgot to switch it off (before I had a fridge switch fitted) when parked the battery was flat within a couple of hours.
What was the model number of that Dometic fridge? I have not seen any compressor fridges branded Dometic. I have however seen a camper van converted in Brisbane that did not have gas supplied to the fridge. The bloke that built the conversion told the customer that he could run the Dometic absorption fridge off the house battery The customer (who later became my next door neighbour) believed him. By the time we met he had destroyed several house batteries trying to power the fridge off the battery. I ended up having a gas installation put in the van and connected to the fridge. He was a happy camper after that and no more destroyed batteries (even had lights all night.)
You may have had a similar conversion.

-- Edited by PeterD on Wednesday 31st of December 2014 12:08:25 AM

It wasn't on gas.

I haven't had the Hiace for years now, also couldn't be sure now if it was a Dometic. But it seemed to be from memory similar to the present one I have in the Avan.

Our van was converted by Dove in Perth for a fellow we bought it off. All the Electrics were installed by the owner of the van. He was an Electrician and the wiring Job in the van, was the best looking wiring job I have ever seen in a Caravan or Camper. He supplied a Wiring Diagram (Colour Coded) as well of the van electrics. all the fridge 12v power switching controls were wired into the drivers side dashboard.

You could choose Alternator or House battery or Off. Forgetting to switch it off when stopped for say 2 or three hours was annoying.

But it was certainly only 12v and 240v Absorption.

-- Edited by elliemike on Wednesday 31st of December 2014 11:51:32 AM

-- Edited by elliemike on Wednesday 31st of December 2014 12:04:14 PM

tempestv8 · Veteran Member

I found that after turning on the fridge for 24 hours, the evaporator fins were quite cold but somehow the rest of the fridge compartment was not receiving this cold properly, especially when filled with stuff.

According to lots of folks, this is remedied by creating airflow inside the fridge, so I purchased a couple of kits off eBay and duly installed them today as follows:

I figured two pairs of fans would be more effective than a single pair at the expense of greater power consumption. But since these fans are so tiny, the power usage would still be miniscule in the scheme of things. I just want to be able to store fresh milk in the fridge and know that it is going to be safe for consumption after a few days.

I also wanted my beers to be as cold as possible! biggrin

-- Edited by tempestv8 on Saturday 30th of January 2016 06:54:50 PM