Electrical Compressor fridge issue

[Roadhouse]

Hey all.
Almost done on our 4.5 month trip and the companion Xero 60l fridge has packed it in today…

Thought I would pick the brains of you learned lot see what to check.

Fridge is in the car hooked up to second battery in battery box.

Has mostly worked fine as a freezer, set to -16.

Looked at it this morning and it was on 0 deg C. Noticed it was on -5 or so last few days but was on -15 when on 240v three days ago.

The compressor is on but fridge isn’t cooling. Plenty of voltage at the battery (showing on the box) and the fridge (showing same on fridge) and multimeter so doesn’t appear to be a power issue.

We have been on some rough roads lately so was wondering if the corrogations may have damaged the compressor? Certainly has shaken me to bits!

if compressor is on (can hear it and shows as “max” cooling on the app) but not cooling what might be the issue?

 

[mikerezny]

The first thing I would do is go check your receipts and documentation to see if the fridge is still under warranty.
If so, contact them to get it fixed or replaced. and suggest not doing anything to void your warranty.
I did a quick Google and it seems it is sold with a three-year warranty.

If indeed, the compressor motor is running and the cooling fins or surfaces inside the fridge are not getting cold, it would seem probable that the fridge has lost its gas. Is it likely that the evaporator coils have iced up?

This is a link to some information that may help
https://www.readytrekgo.com.au/why-isnt-my-engel-getting-cold-the-ultimate-troubleshooting-guide/

take care
Mike

 

[Boots in Action]

Hey all.
Almost done on our 4.5 month trip and the companion Xero 60l fridge has packed it in today…

Thought I would pick the brains of you learned lot see what to check.

Fridge is in the car hooked up to second battery in battery box.

Has mostly worked fine as a freezer, set to -16.

Looked at it this morning and it was on 0 deg C. Noticed it was on -5 or so last few days but was on -15 when on 240v three days ago.

The compressor is on but fridge isn’t cooling. Plenty of voltage at the battery (showing on the box) and the fridge (showing same on fridge) and multimeter so doesn’t appear to be a power issue.

We have been on some rough roads lately so was wondering if the corrogations may have damaged the compressor? Certainly has shaken me to bits!

if compressor is on (can hear it and shows as “max” cooling on the app) but not cooling what might be the issue?

@Roadhouse, if compressor is running and evaporator not getting cool/cold, then it sounds like it has lost refrigerant like @mikerezny said. The shaking may have broken a weld or split a refrigerant line and allowed all the gas to escape. Same symptoms as a household compressor fridge when gas has escaped somewhere. Not good!!!

 

[Hitting the road]

I had what may be a similar thing happen to my fridge a few weeks ago...was running good sitting at around zero as a drinks fridge. I have been running the set up for years, the fridge hooked up to an aux battery charged by a DCDC charger.

One day I noticed the fridge wasn't staying cold, the temp was climbing through the day and hit 15 degrees. The battery level was good showed the normal 13 odd volts, the lights were on on the fridge and I could hear the compressor running...my thoughts were that the fridge may have sprung a leak or something.

I took it out of the car and put it on the bench to have a look at the compressor and wiring to see if anything had come loose...nope all good.
I hooked the fridge on to 240v and it began to cool down straight away...odd i thought, put it back on 12v, same lights same noise but began to warm up again.

After some head scratching I found that there was a small voltage drop due to the plug having a bit of corrosion inside which was causing the voltage to drop just enough so that the compressor wasn't running at it's peak, it was running but not cooling for what ever reason.
I cleaned the connections and ever since then have had no trouble at all...a cold fridge.

 

[Drover]

Ive had similar experience to @Hitting the road with my old Engel at times and ended up rebuilding the plug connection it doesn't take much when on 12v to fail and I got rid of the Cig socket about 35 years ago for a hard wired connection then they made small Anderson P;ugs so went for one of them ....... Your not using a cig socket connection are you ???
Otherwise it may have dumped its load.. if thats the case best to just get another as repairs never seem to be much good.

 

[Roadhouse]

Thanks guys.

it is connected to the battery box via Anderson plug so appears all good there.

Coils wouldn’t be iced up anymore so isn’t that.

I will give it a go when we get 240v next (Sat night I think) and report back.

At least then we will know if a 12v issue or a gas leakage/loss.

Thanks for the replies as always.

 

[mikerezny]

Thanks guys.

it is connected to the battery box via Anderson plug so appears all good there.

Coils wouldn’t be iced up anymore so isn’t that.

I will give it a go when we get 240v next (Sat night I think) and report back.

At least then we will know if a 12v issue or a gas leakage/loss.

Thanks for the replies as always.

If you have a 12V / 240V inverter in your van, you could use that to help isolate the problem. It might also be a short-term solution if you need to use your fridge off grid.

How many bars are lit up on the battery display of the fridge?

take care
Mike

 

[Roadhouse]

Ok had a side trip to Mildura to see some friends and had the fridge on 240v for over 2 hours and it didn’t cook down.

So am thinking we are gasless.

I know it depends what is wrong with it but not sure if it will be cost effective to fix. Don’t want to spend $300 to fix when I can spend $300 more and get an ok new one.

Wouldn’t know where to start to look at who might fix. Not in warranty.

 

[mikerezny]

Ok had a side trip to Mildura to see some friends and had the fridge on 240v for over 2 hours and it didn’t cook down.

So am thinking we are gasless.

I know it depends what is wrong with it but not sure if it will be cost effective to fix. Don’t want to spend $300 to fix when I can spend $300 more and get an ok new one.

Wouldn’t know where to start to look at who might fix. Not in warranty.

Even if it is out of warranty, it is worth calling them up and discussing it with them. Regardless of a formal warranty a manufacturer has a responsibility to provide a product that is fit for purpose. Dropping gas in less than 10 years could be interpreted as not fit for purpose.
Regardless, even if they fob you off, they might give you a decent discount on a replacement.
Companion should have a list of service agents they deal with.

This model is currently available as a runout model for $499.

Mike

 

[Boots in Action]

Even if it is out of warranty, it is worth calling them up and discussing it with them. Regardless of a formal warranty a manufacturer has a responsibility to provide a product that is fit for purpose. Dropping gas in less than 10 years could be interpreted as not fit for purpose.
Regardless, even if they fob you off, they might give you a decent discount on a replacement.
Companion should have a list of service agents they deal with.

This model is currently available as a runout model for $499.

Mike

@Roadhouse and @mikerezny , either way it is likely to be an expensive proposition. It will all depend where the refrigerant gas leak is and if it can be re-sealed. Aluminum welding of evaporator is really specialized if that is where leak is. If unit and piping not damaged, re-gassing after locating and fixing leak is a fair hassle. Firstly, the system is pressurized so leak can be found, then totally evacuated of remaining gas and lubricant, pressurized again to see if pressure holds for 24 hours, then re-gassed including lubricant and pressure tested again before testing to see if compressor can cool things down in a certain time. Anyway, that is what my fridgie mate did for my home domestic fridge. Time means money plus possible repairs to be investigated and fixed. Usually with a domestic fridge, it is cheaper in the long run to buy another fridge than repair one that has lost refrigerant.

 

[Drover]

Son In Law has a building company and most of his vehicles have a fridge, he reckons when they die like that just dump and get a new one, far cheaper in the long run and he has used a lot of brands, thats my view as well they just aren't worth the effort now in most cases. He has found that taking my advice to ensure good air flow around them they tend to last longer along with the aux battery...
I like to remind him my Engel is now 45 yrs old.......... still running.