Our first frost... (1 Viewer)

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
Last night we were near Avranches in France and experienced our first sub zero temperatures in the new van, -3c. Screen was nice and clear this morning thanks to new silverscreens, no water frozen, we were nice and toasty in the van, but, the freezer decided it was going to defrost everything inside it!
Fridge wasn't too cold either...
B****r!
We have a Thetford Fridge freezer with fridge vent covers but they didn't seem to do anything. The fridge was running on gas on the coldest setting.
Is this something to expect or should it work in the cold?
Allan
 

tonka

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 2, 2008
10,796
21,441
Cannock, Staffs
Funster No
3,141
MH
A class Burstner 800
Exp
Since 2000
Turn it off coldest setting.... Try about half way..
Our freezer is total rubbish, all my ice cream melts.. :(
 
OP
OP
Allanm

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
Luckily, we ate all the ice cream yesterday afternoon! I'll try it mid setting tonight and see what happens.
Mind you, it's warming up a bit now
Allan

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
Allanm

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
Turned it down halfway last night, temp outside was about -4 again. Put some ( bought) ice in last night, this morning.....it was water.
So, I turned it full again today and it was a bit warmer outside at lunch time, around 10C and the freezer has actually managed to make ice cubes!
Don't know whats going on here, looks like it doesn't like the cold. I'll have to contact Thetford and ask what I need to do to get it to work properly, unless its faulty.
Allan
 

jonandshell

Free Member
Dec 12, 2010
5,476
8,299
Norfolk
Funster No
14,648
MH
Not got one!
Exp
Since 2006
Our Thetford N140 runs at -27 with no problems.
Are your vent covers the correct ones?

Someone once tried to fob is off saying we should fit two sets of small size covers to our large vents.
They were wrong of course and a quick google search found us the correct ones.

Incorrect vents might not give enough air flow.
 
OP
OP
Allanm

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
I made these vents from a pattern using similar thickness material. I will check again to see if i got the right pattern, i might even buy another set just to make sure that are the right ones.
Allan

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
Allanm

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
If it's so cold, turn the fridge off and put the food outside :roflmto:

That's ok till someone walks by and nicks all my beer......

So, I have been looking at vents and found lots of conflicting info, one vent, two vents, 2 different designs, people not fitting them / always fitting them, etc...
So, if anyone has them fitted to a Thetford N3150, I would be interested to have a look at the design and size.
Home now and its 11˚C outside and the fridge is on gas and seems nice and cold.
Allan
 
Mar 17, 2013
386
387
Devon
Funster No
25,130
MH
Carado T339
Exp
Since 2007
Were you parked reasonably level? - our fridge will not work unless the van is level - it just defrosts! fine otherwise.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
Allanm

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
It was pretty level, perhaps down at the front a tad, but not much.
Actually, we had the same problem in the summer when the fridge didn't seem very cold on gas, temp then was 35+ and we were parked with little shade ( it where my my Avatar photo was taken) but we put it down to the fact that we had just stocked the fridge and freezer up at the supermarket and Mrs A seems to keep the fridge door open a lot while she is packing it. It was on 12v while travelling then on gas, and it was a very warm day...
I have the fridge running on gas now, outside temp is 4.5˚c. I put a thermometer in it. Fridge shows 10 ˚c which isn't as cold as outside!
I tried the thermometer in the freezer but the thermometer doesn't go down below -10 and it was sitting at -10 when I took it out, water in the ice cube tray is starting to freeze.
I think a trip to the dealer is in order.
I'll try a few more experiments then put it back on mains and check the temps again. I am sure it works fine on 230v, but we generally don't have an EHU so we need it to properly work on gas.
Allan
 
Mar 17, 2013
386
387
Devon
Funster No
25,130
MH
Carado T339
Exp
Since 2007
It would really be worth checking that your van is level. We had an ongoing problem for six months - whilst in France and the UK. Abs baffling - sometimes the fridge would work and then for no reason we would stay on a site and the whole thing would defrost! then it would come on again when on a long journey. Eventually read a thread on this site from a guy whose fridge would not work on his sloping drive (at his home) but would perfectally well at other times. We bought a small spirit level to keep in the van and have never had a problem since.
 
OP
OP
Allanm

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
Its at home on the drive now, which is perfectly level. Fridge is showing 9˚c, thats never going to keep my Fosters cool enough.
Allan

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
Allanm

Allanm

Free Member
Jun 30, 2013
5,431
9,191
Cotes d'armor, France
Funster No
26,730
MH
Burstner Harmony TI 736 G
Exp
Since 1987
So, fridge was running on gas again last night, coldest setting with the top ( exhaust) vent cover removed, lower one in place. We had a frost overnight, down to about 2˚c or so and the fridge this morning was almost like a freezer.
Reduced the setting one notch and after an hour or so, the fridge was showing about -2˚ so I have set it midway, hopefully, that should be the right setting.
I just wish Thetford would explain all this in the handbook. The only reference it makes to winter covers is a small paragraph that states "when you are going to use the refrigerator with an outside temperature below 10˚c install a suitable winter cover"! and shows 2 line drawings of different covers.

I think I prefer Chinglish instructions

I emailed Thetford to see what they recommend, but I would say just the intake vent needs the cover, not the exhaust vent and the thermostat setting needs to be halfway.

Allan
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Funsters who are viewing this thread

Back
Top