Ammonia smell (1 Viewer)

[DavidG58]

Thanks Dave

Seems like the gas must rise, smell is strongest close to roof vents, so at least Lola will be unaffected, just us on the high level bed who may suffer

Should I post my coordinates in case we are not heard from tomorrow

Bev has made me turn the fridge off, I reckon a leak is a leak whether on or off, but I am not arguing

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Thanks Dave

Seems like the gas must rise, smell is strongest close to roof vents, so at least Lola will be unaffected, just us on the high level bed who may suffer

Should I post my coordinates in case we are not heard from tomorrow

Bev has made me turn the fridge off, I reckon a leak is a leak whether on or off, but I am not arguing

That is right.... ammonia is lighter than air. We used to have to purge the tanks during cargo changeovers and it always pushed the air in at the bottom and ammonia vented out of the top. Not fun on a 38,000 tonne ship!

 

[DavidG58]

Interestingly it would seem that Bev was right to have me turn the fridge off last night

No smell this morning, turned fridge on got smell back within minutes

We are on gas right now not sure if that will have any bearing, but I did think a leak would be a leak whether turned on or off

Another school day in the making

 

[Lenny HB]

If its leaking it is probably venting off as gas when in gets hot, leak is probably on a high point of the pipework so ok when cold.


For sale Hymer every possible part that could go wrong has been replaced.

 

[Armytwowheels]

Oh David, I do feel for you both. How can such a lovely van give so much trouble.

Don't let this spoil your trip though, you will just have to eat out. See every cloud etc, etc.

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[DBK]

That’s my worry Tony, is that a new fridge or are they fixable?

Edit just seen Lenny’s reply

You can buy the working bits (aka "the gubbins") separately for some models though possibly not all. A big job to replace them and certainly not cheap.

 

[chaser]

@DavidG58 you will end up buying your daughters off her

 

[JackieP]

This happened to me with my last van and, as you seem to have worked out, it was the beginning of the end for my old fridge. It had done thirty years so it didn’t seem so bad. The ammonia smell got worse and and the fridge stopped cooling. The engineer who I called out said there was no chance of repair by then so I had to buy a new fridge. I hope yours is young enough to be able to be repaired. Good luck.

Edited to add... there’s loads of stuff on google about camper fridges smelling of ammonia and what to do about it.

 

[sallylillian]

I had the cooling unit on my 8555 replaced 6 days before the 2 year warranty ran out. Although it is cheaper to replace the cooling unit probably only a few hundred pounds, unless you find a breakers or other source. I was involved with the removal of mine and concluded that whilst it is a relatively simple task if ever the cooling unit failed again it would be better just to change the whole fridge. Mainly for the instant 2 year warranty and all new other parts. Take the shelves out of the old one as they short change you on new fridges.

 

[DavidG58]

Will be doing some research on new fridges, ours is the tec tower and I fear it might also have to include the oven as the controls for the oven are on the fridge control panel

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[Figaro]

I fear it might also have to include the oven as the controls for the oven are on the fridge control panel

Progress eh ?

 

[JockandRita]

Will be doing some research on new fridges, ours is the tec tower and I fear it might also have to include the oven as the controls for the oven are on the fridge control panel

David, that's really unlucky for you and Bev. I do feel for you.

I'm touching wood (my brow ) as I type, knowing that our 20 year old Electrolux AES is probably going to suffer the same fate at some stage. They are obsolete now, so not looking forward to that day.

Good luck finding a replacement at a reasonable cost.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Robert Clark]

David
If you've got an inverter onboard (and solar) it might be worth considering upgrading to a compressor fridge.

 

[Lenny HB]

Will be doing some research on new fridges, ours is the tec tower and I fear it might also have to include the oven as the controls for the oven are on the fridge control panel

You might find this useful Dometic replacement chart.

 

[Lenny HB]

Good luck finding a replacement at a reasonable cost.

No chance of that with a Dometic product, the fridge feezer is around £1400 and it's extra for the oven.
If you get someone in to do the job probably won't see a lot of change from 2 grand.

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[DavidG58]

No chance of that with a Dometic product, the fridge feezer is around £1400 and it's extra for the oven.
If you get someone in to do the job probalywon't see a lot of change from 2 grand.

I did find that was about right 4 years ago when we broke the door off actually 99% down to crap design and build

I bought what I thought was a replacement for £1300 that is how I know I need a special 8555 complete with oven or I guess it could possibly be disconnected by someone who knows what they are doing

Will seek more help when home

Just seen we have a 7855 not 8555

 

[JockandRita]

No chance of that with a Dometic product, the fridge feezer is around £1400 and it's extra for the oven.
If you get someone in to do the job probably won't see a lot of change from 2 grand.

With you being good at all things electrickery Lenny, what's the chances of buying a fridge/freezer from the likes of Currys, and running that off an inverter? Would it consume too much power for the batteries to cope with, even with greater solar power available in the summer?

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[DavidG58]

You might find this useful Dometic replacement chart.

Interesting that my model fitted in a 08 spec Hymer although built in 2007 was obsolete in 2005

And I might have guessed no replacement available

I will hang on to a last hope that the L suffix means it is slightly different

 

[peterc10]

I did find that was about right 4 years ago when we broke the door off actually 99% down to crap design and build

I bought what I thought was a replacement for £1300 that is how I know I need a special 8555 complete with oven or I guess it could possibly be disconnected by someone who knows what they are doing

Will seek more help when home

View attachment 253497

Just seen we have a 7855 not 8555

Oh dear. According to Dometic chart there is no direct replacement available. I suspect David that this is going to one of those threads .....................

Edit. You beat me to it David.

 

[Lenny HB]

With you being good at all things electrickery Lenny, what's the chances of buying a fridge/freezer from the likes of Currys, and running that off an inverter? Would it consume too much power for the batteries to cope with, even with greater solar power available in the summer?

Cheers,

Jock.

A couple of funsters have done it on self builds, if you have a decent size battery banks and loads of solar it works. I think David only has one battery so would probably need to add another 3, boost solar up to 400 watts at the least.

@Wissel I think has fitted one.

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[tonyidle]

Will be doing some research on new fridges, ours is the tec tower and I fear it might also have to include the oven as the controls for the oven are on the fridge control panel

My Tech Tower has failed (different fault) and needs a new refrigeration unit. The new unit is a special order from Dometic and will cost £800 installed. A new Tech Tower costs £1800. Well worth having it repaired. Mine is, very fortunately, under warranty.

 

[chaser]

We have a compressor fridge in the self build, excellent

 

[sallylillian]

My Tech Tower has failed (different fault) and needs a new refrigeration unit. The new unit is a special order from Dometic and will cost £800 installed. A new Tech Tower costs £1800. Well worth having it repaired. Mine is, very fortunately, under warranty.

What's the fault Tony, mine like yours failed in warranty with erratic cooling diagnosed as contaminated or low gas in cooling unit which was replaced and so far, 14 months on seems OK. Problem is you get no warranty on the replacement save the balance of the original fridge!

 

[Lenny HB]

Worth emailing Hymer and ask them about suitable replacement.

Just had another look at the list I think there are quite a few that will fit, just been out and measured my RMDT 8505.
It is 2mm narrower at 523mm but not a problem as there is a sealing strip of about 4mm around the front edge, it is 30 mm higher at 1545 mm, I assume there is a trim panel above your oven that could be cut down.

 

[Geo]

Level pitching is the great fridge saver
They are not full to the brim with the magic fluid and if you pich leaning to the wrong side i believe hot spots are caused near the flame and that causes excesive expanding and contraction resulting in a hairline crack or pourous metal at that point
See what the experts think?

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[DavidG58]

We have this grill mesh on top of oven that looks to be bent to size

That gap is 55mm so we have scope

I am though increasingly concerned by the draught through that mesh and below the oven, this is where the ammonia smell is coming in and the daylight you can see in the mesh photo is from the upper external vent

I wonder if our tec tower has been removed and refitted badly or never sealed from new

 

[DavidG58]

Level pitching is the great fridge saver
They are not full to the brim with the magic fluid and if you pich leaning to the wrong side i believe hot spots are caused near the flame and that causes excesive expanding and contraction resulting in a hairline crack or pourous metal at that point
See what the experts think?

We have E&P and deploy it at most stops, so hopefully not the cause of our fridge demise

Interestingly though the fridge light typically only works if we are parked well off level

 

[Lenny HB]

With that chunk out of the wookwork to the side looks like it's been removed by a ham fisted clown (apology if it was you). Our first Hymer (2008) had a 7000 series Tec tower sometimes got quite a draght between the freezer and oven only happend in gale force winds, last two vans nothing at all.

 

[2657]

When the large fridge freezer on our Hymer caravan packed in with the same fault a few years ago we replaced it with a domestic mains only fridge freezer of roughly the same size, the internal volume was much more.

However we used the caravan more or less exclusively on sites, the biggest difficulty was getting the old unit out as it would not fit through the door in one piece and I had to remove the cooling unit in order to do this, I assume the van was built round the fridge!

 

[DavidG58]

Hadn’t spotted that ‘blemish’ it really isn’t much but looks bad in close up

Just given it the dark tan shoe polish repair

No idea how it could have happened apart from an earlier removal

Is this any better, don’t zoom in on the tea towel I just used it to wipe the oven front of finger marks

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