The fridge, vent your spleen

[Techno]

Isn't it just the heart of your van?

 

[Mr Ed]

Well I guess most of us would be bu@@erd without one.

 

[DBK]

You can never have one too big.
I've just bought a Dometic compressor cool box for extra chilling space.

 

[Popeye]

Do I take it you're all fixed up now then Andy?

 

[Techno]

Very nearly !
Currently running on a 7 series control board which pretty much proves that it is the electronics that are stuffed.
Dometic have agreed to replace everything and hopefully before our German trip.
Fridge is on day five on gas now and brilliant

 

[Tootles]

You can never have one too big.

 

[DBK]

See image in the OP... I've never considered beer bottles phallic before now...

 

[Tootles]

See image in the OP... I've never considered beer bottles phallic before now...

They are the 'object of choice' in some sectors, DB.

 

[DBK]

They are the 'object of choice' in some sectors, DB.

And that one looks like it may have bits of cucumber in it...

 

[Tootles]

And that one looks like it may have bits of cucumber in it...

A man of the world, I observe.......

 

[Techno]

Hats off to John Harvey at Dometic for his efforts to sort my fridge.
Further repairs have now been carried out so there isn't much that has not been replaced.
Top job by Jonathan at JMR Caravan Care
Soon I will be testing it for two weeks solid on Gas and 12 volts only, fingers crossed.

 

[Nirvanauk]

@Techno100 can I ask how you got it sorted as my Dometic doesnt work with a damn. It has a big ice block in the bottom and has now achieved a whopping 7 degrees of coldness (warmth ness)

 

[Techno]

I emailed sales@dometic.
What model is yours?
Is it in warranty?
Does it perform the same regardless of energy source?
Failure on gas as with mine is not necessarily a gas issue, mine was due to the front control panel and or the rear one in unison which would stop calling for the gas and start defrosting.
I have to say that this seems to be due to the condensation that forms below the freezer door affecting the control panel. I now have a later model PCB that presumably is more resistant to condensation.
I also in July had a complete new cooling unit as mine always had to be on maximum and never reached the desired level of "cold"

 

[Techno]

I had mine on test for 24hrs Tue/Wed and all seems ok and the frame heater is working constantly unless I switch it off deliberately. So Sunday begins a whole holiday test "fingers crossed"

 

[Techno]

Despite all the crap I've been through the fridge is again failing during/after day six on gas
It has had everything replaced yet still rubbish and unreliable
I suspect this is normal but generally undetected as there can't be many users who want to go continuously on gas only so this problem doesn't manifest itself
It did work great with the bodge and wifey feels I ought to buy a 7 series AES Pcb and bodge it permanently

Edit and the frame heater now has a mind of its own and will only come on at random
It should on the revised circuit board come on when you switch it on and stay on until you turn it off.
For the benefit of Google this is an RMD 8505

Unfortunately my options are limited and a waeco compressor fridge is still putting money dometics way aside from the size issues

 

[Bacchus]

See image in the OP... I've never considered beer bottles phallic before now...

 

[Techno]

Coke bottles yes

 

[CandC]

I couldn't really like your last post, @Techno100 , but I can (hopefully) give you a useful reply.

With all your solar, battery banks etc, I'm surprised that you haven't gone down the compressor fridge route already. Since fitting my Waeco cr50, I have been absolutely delighted with it.

I can totally understand your reluctance to throw more money dometic's way. Perhaps you could look at Vitrifrigo fridges here as an alternative? That page links to Jackson's Leisure Vitrifrigo page: the same people I bought my Waeco from. I found both their price and service to be excellent.

If you do go down this route, then you could even look at getting your dometic fixed under warranty and whack it on eBay!

Whatever you choose, I hope you get your fridge issues sorted quickly

 

[CandC]

And by last post, I meant the writing one not the picture one

 

[Anthony496]

Im making do with a cheap alternitive tonight

 

[Techno]

If you do go down this route, then you could even look at getting your dometic fixed under warranty and whack it on eBay!

It has been, it is working to design

The issue of changing to a compressor fridge has always been one of dimensions and lack of capacity
The RMD 8505 is 160 litres
The nearest waeco is too deep to fit and the next down is 108 litres

 

[Techno]

I've looked at your link and there are two suitable alternatives
Thanks


Edit this is best combination of size to price and would leave room to add a microwave
http://www.vitrifrigofridges.co.uk/c130lfridge.htm

 

[Minxy]

Stop it ... I'm drooling over the size of the freezer boxes as we've only got a tiddler now!

 

[CandC]

I've looked at your link and there are two suitable alternatives
Thanks


Edit this is best combination of size to price and would leave room to add a microwave
http://www.vitrifrigofridges.co.uk/c130lfridge.htm

Sounds like a win win to me I remembered looking at the Vitrifrigo fridges when I was researching for my own upgrade so I'm glad it was of help to you

 

[Techno]

The fridge fully recovered on mains supply and has been fine in transit on 12 volts. As it stands we will live with it for now with the experienced knowledge of its predictable failure on gas (5th day onwards resulting in meltdown by day 7) due to time limits I can't ascertain whether it will run reliably on gas after a stint on mains and not likely to be in that position until retirement

 

[GWAYGWAY]

My gas/12v /mains fridge worries me now. Parked up at a rally I smelt a peculiar burning dust smell , being paranoid I got up and checked the heater, no not that, checked all over and could only find the smell at the oven slots, but we do not use that often so I checked the co alarm and moved it over to the area where the smell was, nothing happened there. I investigated out side and it smelled outside same but stronger. in the morning investigated with panels off and found it was our fridge not burning properly, it was very rich mixture and the exhaust pipe was actually inside the enclosure below the grill, The plywood box the fridge sat in was only screwed together and NO sealant at all so the smell went into the oven area and straight in to the living area. The jet block was cleaned out and now runs cleanly but the oven bit was worrying. As a temporary fix I taped up and sealed all the vents until I got home and sealed the whole lot with fireproof silicone sealer.. Poor design and a dangerous occurrence, but who designed a van with straight through draughty vent passed the oven and grill, Chausson of course.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

My gas 12v /mains fridge worries me now. Parked up at a rally I smelt a peculiar burning dust smell , being paranoid I got up and checked the heater, no not that, checked all over and could only find the smell at the oven slots, but we do not use that often so I checked the co alarm and moved it over to the area where the smell was, nothing happened there. I investigated out side and it smelled outside same but stronger. in the morning investigated with panels off and found it was our fridge not burning properly, it was very rich mixture and the exhaust pipe was actually inside the enclosure below the grill, The plywood bos the fridge sat in was only screwed together and NO sealant at all so the smell went int the oven area and straight in to the living area. The jet block was cleaned out and now runs cleanly but the oven bit was worrying as a temporary fix I taped up and sealed all the vents until I got home and sealed the whole lot with fireproof silicone sealer.. Poor design and a dangerous occurrence but who designed a van with stra

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Sorry finger trouble.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Sorry Andy I need to test the tempreture of the beer for myself then I can pass judgement

 

[makems]

We've had numerous problems with same model fridge Andy.
Ours are mostly due to excessive soot build up reducing the effectiveness of the cooling system. It's been crawled all over by Dometic engineers who fitted a Dometic twin fan system which does help a little but really only puts off the evil day when I have to pull the entire fridge out of the housing to clean the flue.
Not a trivial task because it's a 160litre fridge freezer and has the oven bolted to the top and it all has to come out as a single unit.
Colin @Armytwowheels showed me how and gave me the confidence to do it. Ours usually runs for the best part of four months on gas non stop when we go to Morocco.