Dometic fridge freezer 240v not working. (1 Viewer)

[knokinonabit]

@Techno the mystery is solved.

I decided to leave the fridge switched on 230v overnight to see what happened, if anything.
Checked yesterday and the HE1 light was flashing, so it is the heating element.
As I have an extended warranty in place I will be contacting Teesside Caravans to see if they will do it.
I will post the outcome on here.

Thank you for your input and shared knowledge.

 

[Techno]

That's great at least you know now
Looks to me like it only reports a failure after a set period when it notices the temperature is not going down on one particular energy source. So leaving it on was a good move

 

[knokinonabit]

Booked in to Teesside Caravans for Friday the 24th. so they can investigate the fault.
As it is a warranty claim they won't just take my word for it.
Or even the fact that it is showing the fault code on the fridge.
At least it will get sorted.
Eventually.

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[Techno]

How old is the fridge?

 

[knokinonabit]

The MH was built in 2011, so have to assume the fridge is around the same vintage.

 

[laird of Dunstan]

i had a similar problem over the past few days ,i did not have my meter with me as i wanted to test the voltage from the source,the unit would start to flash after a couple of hours ,the manual suggests a voltage problem ,ill check next time im hooked up

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[knokinonabit]

Sorry I haven't replied earlier @laird of Dunstan but I have been away and out of communication.

The update is that it worked perfectly at Teesside Caravans on hook up.
So obviously they could not find a fault to repair.
The suggestion was that the MH was not level and this would cause it not to work.
I pointed out that it worked on gas in exactly the same position, and also worked when on 12v, when it is obviously not levelled up.

I took the MH away as I needed it that night.
It worked for two days and has now failed again on 230v and the HE1 code is flashing again.
I have recorded it for them, and then, without moving the MH, switched to gas.
It is working perfectly and I have recorded that.
In the one hour from switching to gas the temperature difference is very noticeable, even without using a thermometer.

In my opinion the heater element is failing after a couple of days.
It would appear to be breaking down under pressure, as capacitors and coils used to do on old style cars.
After a "rest" it works fine for a while then collapses again.

I am waiting for a reply from them.

 

[laird of Dunstan]

The MH was built in 2011, so have to assume the fridge is around the same vintage.

i wont be able to check mine on 240v for a couple of weeks,it works on gas,ill check it and the supply in a couple of weeks,there is no leccy where i keep the mh

 

[knokinonabit]

As soon as I get some kind of answer I'll post and let everyone know the result

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[knokinonabit]

I have spoken to Gary, the workshop boss, at Teesside Caravans and he has seen the recordings I made.
His opinion is that the heater element either works or it doesn't. There is no in between or delay.
He is leaning towards it being a problem with the PCB and has taken the fridge details and will look into it. The fault, not the fridge, that is
The MH is due for a hab check so if he comes up with an answer they can do them both at the same time.

Updates will follow.

 

[knokinonabit]

Update

The MH went into Teesside Caravans on Tuesday so that the habitation service/check and the fridge repair could be done on Wednesday.
The fridge was being repaired as a warranty job and normal rates for the rest.
The 230v heater element had been ordered and delivered to TCs, hence doing the two jobs together.
I collected the MH today with no problems to speak of with the hab side of things. The only things of note on the service information are:
1. Heating not working. Heating cable in wrong docking bay. (I often wondered why the heating was rubbish on electric. Pity it's taken 4 years to find out why)
2. Battery fuse corroded. Not giving correct charge. (It was rectified)

Unfortunately the fridge is still not fixed.
The wrong part was delivered and this was only discovered when they went to fit it.
A new one is on order, which could take up to a week, and then I will have to book the MH back in to have it fitted.

The saga continues.

 

[knokinonabit]

The new part for the fridge arrived at Teesside Caravans on Monday.
The MH went in on Wednesday afternoon for the repair to be done on Thursday morning.
It was done by mid morning and home in the afternoon.
I left an ice cube tray full of water in the freezer and turned the fridge on to 230v on the third level out of five as a test.
Went back three hours later and woo hoo, ice cubes.

So, everything is now working as it should, but, there's always a but, for how long ?
Time will obviously tell, but for now I am happy.

It really does mean, that after over four years of owning the MH, everything is actually working.
The red wine is going to get severely depleted tonight.

PS It was all done and paid for on the extended warranty.

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[Fatspark]

Hello. I’m having the same problem with the 240v not working. Hello. I’m having the same problem with the 240v not working. The gas performance is ver poor also. There is a permanent 12v on the control board, and 240v present when on EHU. When I select 240v on the 8555 fridge/freezer, the control board outputs 240v to the wires of the heating element. I’ve checked the resistance of the heating element and it shows around 290 Ohms. No errors show on the fridge display, but zero cold. It was all working fine, but nothing now. The control board is exactly the same as the one shown in the photo by the good member Techno. Any help would be very much appreciated. Fridge freezer is a Dometic RMD8556. The gas performance is very poor also. There is a permanent 12v on the control board, and 240v present when on EHU. When I select 240v on the 8555 fridge/freezer, the control board outputs 240v to the wires of the heating element. When I remove the EHU the gas automatically ignites and starts burning blue. I’ve checked the resistance of the heating element and it shows around 290 Ohms. No errors show on the fridge display, but still zero cold. It was all working fine, but nothing now. The control board is exactly the same as the one shown in the photo by the good member Techno. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[Fatspark]

Hello. I’m having the same problem with the 240v not working. Hello. I’m having the same problem with the 240v not working. The gas performance is ver poor also. There is a permanent 12v on the control board, and 240v present when on EHU. When I select 240v on the 8555 fridge/freezer, the control board outputs 240v to the wires of the heating element. I’ve checked the resistance of the heating element and it shows around 290 Ohms. No errors show on the fridge display, but zero cold. It was all working fine, but nothing now. The control board is exactly the same as the one shown in the photo by the good member Techno. Any help would be very much appreciated. Fridge freezer is a Dometic RMD8556. The gas performance is very poor also. There is a permanent 12v on the control board, and 240v present when on EHU. When I select 240v on the 8555 fridge/freezer, the control board outputs 240v to the wires of the heating element. When I remove the EHU the gas automatically ignites and starts burning blue. I’ve checked the resistance of the heating element and it shows around 290 Ohms. No errors show on the fridge display, but still zero cold. It was all working fine, but nothing now. The control board is exactly the same as the one shown in the photo by the good member Techno. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Sorry RMD8555

 

[autorouter]

290 ohms for a 240V heating element is about 200 watts, which is about right. Does the coolant pipe above the heating element/gas burner get hot? Does it appear that there's no cooling on 240V, gas or 12V?

Has there been a strong smell (ammonia) from the back of the fridge? If so, the coolant liquid/gas has escaped, and apparently there's no-one able to refill with the correct quantity/gas/liquid ratio - at least on this side of the Atlantic. That's the worst case.

Can you feel if the pipe going into the fridge is getting cold? If it is, the problem might be bad contact between the pipe and the finned metal plate that cools the fridge inside. That's a relatively easy fix, involving undoing some screws, cleaning and reapplying thermal paste.

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[Fatspark]

Wow, thanks so much for the information. I haven’t checked any of what you said purely down to my lack of knowledge, but I now know where to look. Cheers pal.