Fridge not working

[Digger12]

gday guys, I know this topic has been discussed to death and back.......but.
Left home this mornings and fridge was working fine plugged in to 240v at home. We arrived at camp today in a caravan park and fridge isn't working on ac or gas. Van is sitting dead level at the moment and still not working. I removed the outside panel to check out the fridge internals but couldn't see anything out of place, although some of the parts were hot to touch even though the fridge isn't working.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
Cheers

 

[dagree]

For the 240V side of things first thing to check would be make sure the plug hasn't vibrated or pulled out during travels..... But that shouldn't affect the gas side of things.

Do other gas appliances (stove, water heater) fire up?

 

[bigcol]

I know the first time I try the fridge on Gas, its a mongrel

takes ages for the gas to flow through to the fridge

now, before I light the fridge, I put the hot plates on, get the gas moving so to speak, then light the fridge

 

[Drover]

If the pipes are hot as in nearly burn your fingers then it's working, it will take an hour or so to show any change in temp if you had the door open for a bit when you arrived.......gas knob on 4, hold button in for a minute or so then start pushing the igniter after making sure gas tap under the van is on.

 

[Digger12]

If the pipes are hot as in nearly burn your fingers then it's working, it will take an hour or so to show any change in temp if you had the door open for a bit when you arrived.......gas knob on 4, hold button in for a minute or so then start pushing the igniter after making sure gas tap under the van is on.

Fridge this morning still not working. Annoying.
Fridge is plugged in and even checked the power point with another device to rule out if it was the power point.
Where is the fuse for the fridge. All fuses under the seat where the battery is are all ok. ????

 

[Digger12]

Fridge still not working and freezer only feels very slightly cool.
..... It's been on for 6 hours
Where is the fridge fuse?

 

[Pace]

We load up our fridge with water bottles and an ice tray, both out of the tap, just to give it something to work with,shows signs of working within hours. As for fuses,don't know from top of my head .Pace.

 

[boots33]

what model fridge do you have

 

[dagree]

Not sure where the fuse is (Or if it does actually have one)..... Might have to have a look in the manual and will depend on what fridge you have!

 

[Drover]

If it's a Dometic I don't think there is a fuse for the 240. Are the pipes at the back still hot ???? If they are and you have the thermostat knob up high 7 etc then the thermostat is probably cactus. If it's an auto job dometic/thetford then your switch gear has more than likely died, mates just stopped the other day and he had to replace the switch before it would work on anything...........4 days fishing the Murray waiting for parts.

 

[Digger12]

Yeah mate it's been running for 3-4 hours now again on 240. I called a tech guy from jayco but he was stumped. Yes the chimney outlet thingy and pipes at rear are hot but fridge and freezer aren't. What does that mean??? Should it still work on gas or if the thermostat is cactus is nothing gonna work?

 

[Drover]

I take it then it's just the standard Dometic 3 way fridge .......Now if the pipesat the back are hot, not just the flu, then the power or gas is working as both heat up the units heat exchanger if inside the fridge isn't getting cold then you could possibly have a bubble in the system which basically stops the ammonia from circulating or it isn't level. Make sure it's level then shut it down for a few hours and then boot it back up, need time for all the ammonia to go back to a liquid then see what happens.........It has been said that they may need to be removed and shaken around a bit to get air lock unblocked.
Whats the temp where you are ????
Is the cupboard/bench/panelling around your fridge warm ??
What position have you got the knob at ??

 

[Digger12]

I take it then it's just the standard Dometic 3 way fridge .......Now if the pipesat the back are hot, not just the flu, then the power or gas is working as both heat up the units heat exchanger if inside the fridge isn't getting cold then you could possibly have a bubble in the system which basically stops the ammonia from circulating or it isn't level. Make sure it's level then shut it down for a few hours and then boot it back up, need time for all the ammonia to go back to a liquid then see what happens.........It has been said that they may need to be removed and shaken around a bit to get air lock unblocked.
Whats the temp where you are ????
Is the cupboard/bench/panelling around your fridge warm ??
What position have you got the knob at ??

Yeah it's a standard 3 way domestic about 2 1/2 years old.
The van is near on dead level as could be.
Temp today has been about 28, not extreme at all.
Have had the temp knob on 7 and max all the time.
Cupboards around fridge are not hot. The flu vent out side the van is still pumping out hot air.
The fridge is still running now on ac but not doing a thing. Almost ready to turn it off and admit defeat on this one.

 

[Drover]

Thinking !!!! thinking !!!!!!.........while it hasn't happened to me it sure sounds like an air bubble or whatever it's called anyway a bubble actually stops the ammonia from circulating, shut down overnight and fire up again in morning things might come good then.
If you have to get it checked or fixed go to a Dometic service agent not a Jayco dealer.


Found it....this is a very informative site......http://www.rvrefrigerator.net/Troubleshooting.htm

 

[Dobbie]

Agree with the Dometic advice. I'd go to them rather than Jayco as they'll follow it up and offer suggestions.

At least they did with us....and offered to send a guy to check it out.

 

[Smirke]

We found, in our old swan, occasionally our fridge would not work on the max temp with the gauge. It only seemed to work on around 3 or 4 (occasionally 5). Also, I was suspicious of the knob that changes it from 240v, 12v, battery and off. A couple of times I had to turn it to other settings and just fiddle. Then all,of a sudden, it was good! Was probably some loose wire somewhere.

 

[Drover]

Good point @Smirke , it's only a reostat dial and crappy contacts would stuff things up......................

 

[caax]

We found, in our old swan, occasionally our fridge would not work on the max temp with the gauge. It only seemed to work on around 3 or 4 (occasionally 5). Also, I was suspicious of the knob that changes it from 240v, 12v, battery and off. A couple of times I had to turn it to other settings and just fiddle. Then all,of a sudden, it was good! Was probably some loose wire somewhere.

Im having the same problem with our fridge Dometic 3 way, it will not run on 240v but did in the past. The last few trips ive just ran it on gas works fine. Age is about the same 2.5 years

Some good tips by @Smirke ill have to go out and have a play now before i start going shopping for parts.

I have been told that it could be the element or it could be the knobs.
So to find out more we need to take the fridge apart.........YA!!

 

[Dez]

Hi all. new to caravaning and forums for that matter.
We just picked up our van the other day. Fridge works on gas, and the previous owner says it work on 12v. (yet to test that out). But I would like it to run on 240v. I pulled the element out and tested it to find that it gets nice and hot. which leads me to think... were to now????

 

[chartrock]

Welcome to the forum @Dez. One of the main problems with the 240v operation of the fridge is the power plug. It is usually plugged into a double adapter under a seat or similar and they tend to partially fall out causing the fridge to stop.