Fridge issues! (1 Viewer)

[Jackie.Kearley]

Hi we have a Dometic fridge which we are generally happy with but we can't figure out why when we set it to automatic it keeps wanting to switch to gas when we have electric hook up? Also when we are on the road it does the same when it should be switching to the leisure battery....any ideas what we might be doing wrong? Thanks, Jackie

 

[BwB]

If the fridge works OK when manually selecting the energy source (and therefore then12v and 240v supply are known ro be good) then your fridge controller board may have gone faulty. One of my previous vans had this problem so it can happen. The boards are not cheap though

 

[HymerB544]

Ours has done that when on hook up but only on sites where the power supplied has been low or subject to heavy drain with lots of vans on site (happened a lot in Morocco). Never had it happen in the Uk though. And I assume when you say it tries to switch to gas when you are on the road, you mean it tries but can't switch (because you wouldn't be driving with the gas supply connected).

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[Jackie.Kearley]

Thanks for your advice.

Ahhh it could be that as it was working fine in the UK and o this site until last night but there are a lot of people on this site. Yes when on the road it did go to battery but is not consistent?

Hope it's not a fault on the fridge controller board as we've only been using it a week it's brand new

 

[BwB]

They can be sensitive to voltage (low) but ours had an orange warning light show if that happened. Probably not your board if a new one. Maybe a loose connector?

 

[CWH]

it's brand new

Then get it to your dealer or any authorised repairer when you can, it'll get fixed under warranty. I expect a new control board is needed. We've just had one done after a couple of similar problems.

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[icantremember]

We occasionally had the same mystery changing fridge settings until .....

.... I spotted someone reaching for the cupboard above the fridge and inadvertantly pressing the selection button with slightly extended body parts .... I'm not saying you have ebp's but could this be a reason?

PS Just noticed dogs in your avatar .... could it be they have inquisitive noses?

 

[mitzimad]

a three way fridge should never run of the leisure batteries it takes 12v only when the engine is running

 

[Lenny HB]

Hi we have a Dometic fridge which we are generally happy with but we can't figure out why when we set it to automatic it keeps wanting to switch to gas when we have electric hook up? Also when we are on the road it does the same when it should be switching to the leisure battery....any ideas what we might be doing wrong? Thanks, Jackie

It should not run on gas with the engine running, should be running off the engine battery, could be a big bang if you pull into a filling station. Need to get it sorted ASAP, as it's a new van get it to a Dometic agent quick, you can take it to anyone in Europe.

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[denisejoe]

When you switch your engine off the fridge will not change to gas for 15 mins in case you happen to stop at a petrol station.

Joe

 

[WillH]

We have a Thetford auto fridge and had problems from new. I got the dealer to change out the auto card for a manual card, no problems now, I select the fuel.

 

[Jackie.Kearley]

Thanks everyone for your tips and advice. We think that it's something to do with the hook up here ie last night it was very cold and I suspect everyone was overloading the supply! When I turned my fan heater onto eco the fridge was happy to run off hook up. I'm here today whilst everyone else is out skiing and I have as much electricity as I want. We need to test the switch over now when we drive as we won't have gas running whilst on the move. Thanks again. I have an issue with hot water now but will try and fathom it out before I pester everyone again. Jackie

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[Lenny HB]

I have an issue with hot water now but will try and fathom it out before I pester everyone again.

If it is a Truma Combi, pester us please, lastest Combi's do your head in on hot water if you don't understand fully how they work.

 

[Jackie.Kearley]

Oh well if the offer is there then I don't feel so stupid! Although we will be taking full advantage of the lovely warm showering facilities we will use the hot water every now and then. It was so cold the other night and as it was my birthday I decided to test out the motorhome shower. Alas half way through whilst all lathered up it ran out of hot water...not great! I was being careful ie was turning water off in between dampening myself and lathering so didn't have it running for long? Surely you must be able to run it for longer before running out of hot water? Thanks, Jackie

 

[Lenny HB]

You probably had it set 40 deg, when set to 40 once up to temperature the thermostat does not turn back on until the water temperature drops to 27 deg, so if it had been up to temp half an hour before you had you shower the water will have already cooled down to probably 35 deg, and when you turn on the shower you are replacing the hot water with cold in the tank, doesn't take long for the water to go cold.
Basically the new Combi's are unusable on the 40 setting. Another problem with them when using them on heating it takes about 2 hours to heat the water, also if you have them on heat & hot water it still takes at least 1½ hours to heat the water. To get the water up to temp quickly when using the heater you need to select boost on the hot water setting this has the knock on effect of turning the heat off until the water is up to temp.

On our old C6002 in the last van we always ran the hot water at 40 worked at treat, not possible with a C6 have to run at 60, find we waste water getting the mix right in the shower also wastes gas.

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[HymerB544]

In addition to the above advice, I think from memory the hot water boiler only holds about 11 or 12 litres, which is about 2 and a 1/2 gallons. So even if you think you are being miserly with the on/off tap, maybe not a miserly a you thought! Gary