Dometic fridge tapping

[wisewords]

we have a Bolero 684 and are currently. The Dometic fridge has started tapping whilst on mains electric, but stops when switched to gas. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

 

[Southdowners]

Yes - we had this once when hooked up. Is it a very quick tapping which comes and goes? Is it coming from the area below the fridge?

I video'd it and showed it to the dealership when we returned to the UK - they'd never heard of it before and checked the fridge... all was as it should be. It's never happened again.

 

[wisewords]

Yes it taps for so long and then stops. We thought it was food touching the freezer element in the freezer, but when we moved the food it made no difference. Can’t really pinpoint where it’s coming from.

Thanks for your reply

 

[Fletton]

Could it be a relay switch?... playing up!

 

[Southdowners]

Has yours stopped now?

Ours only did it on the one day and hasn't done it since either on EHU or gas. Ours was thoroughly checked and everything was fine so we never did get to the bottom of why it happened. I hope yours sorts itself out too.

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[Hettie's Crew]

Ours does it and it’s a dodgy electric supply. It’s happened two or three times in France and also at a site in Filey that claimed to be 16amp.
If the voltage is low it clicks. It’s not the fridge it’s the cheapo leccy. We just switch to gas because it’s annoying. More annoying that you’re paying for electric that’s not up to the job.

 

[SteveandSue]

Quite possibly low voltage electric supply - we have had this a couple of times on a cc site with low voltage electric and on a cl - same issue - when others on the site used more power the first thing to go was the fridge and it made a clicking noise - no problems afterwards - We just switched from the auto setting to gas only.

 

[wisewords]

Thank you all for your replies. Now it makes sense

 

[Lenny HB]

Sounds like it's the gas burner trying to light. It's all down to the stupid Dometic firmware.

If the voltage is too low iot turns the mains to the element off and the gas ignitor is trying to light the gas but as the fridge knows it has a mains connection so the gas valve is turned off.
Only Dometic can design things to work like that.

If it does it again switch it to gas manually.

 

[Southdowners]

Lenny i don’t think it was the gas ignition on ours. I get what you say about the fridge trying to ignite if the voltage is too low but the gas ignition is very distinct.... this Is a very different tapping noise - very quick and more of a rapid ticking than the clicking you get when the gas lights. It also comes from beneath the fridge - it goes fast at around 2-3 clicks a second and carries on for a few minutes - goes away for a while and recommences.

As I said earlier I video’d it for our dealership so they could investigate. I’m sure if it had anything to do with the gas they’d have said straight away. In fact there was nothing wrong with the fridge.

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[Lenny HB]

Can't see that anything else would make a clicking noise the only relays are miniature PCB mounted ones inside the black module on the back of the fridge, you wouldn't hear them.
When it happened to me, it took a while to work out what was going on as it didn't sound like the normal ignition, maybe because no gas is flowing.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Can't see that anything else would make a clicking noise the only relays are miniature PCB mounted ones inside the black module on the back of the fridge, you wouldn't hear them.
When it happened to me, it took a while to work out what was going on as it didn't sound like the normal ignition, maybe because no gas is flowing.

Is there not some kind of solenoid thing that clicks into place when mains electricity is present, telling the fridge gubbings it need not bother looking for gas or battery. So if the electricity isn’t up to it it never clicks over properly resulting in fridge confusion.

 

[Lenny HB]

Is there not some kind of solenoid thing that clicks into place when mains electricity is present, telling the fridge gubbings it need not bother looking for gas or battery. So if the electricity isn’t up to it it never clicks over properly resulting in fridge confusion.

There is the gas valve but in my experance, it appears to stay closed when mains is present even if the voltage is low as it would be a 12v solenoid anyway. If it was opening & shutting I would expect to hear the gas lighting briefly.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

When ours does it it sounds just like a solenoid on a car when the battery’s too flat, but more rapid.

 

[williat1]

My fridge started making a rapid rattling sound which used to wake us up in the night. The noise seemed to be coming from behind the temperature setting knob. This didn’t happen all the time. I had the circuit board replaced ....it seems to have stopped now.

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[Lenny HB]

When ours does it it sounds just like a solenoid on a car when the battery’s too flat, but more rapid.

Sounds like it is the gas solenoid can't think of anything else it could be.
Possibly the mains voltage drops then because of the stupid firmware the gas ignitor trys to light the non existent gas then if the voltage drops further the gas solenoid starts playing up.

Can't replicate it on my van even if I could find my Variac as I fitted an AVS30 which cuts the power if the voltage gets too low (EBL's don't like low voltage anymore than too higher voltage).

That's my best guess at what's going on, pointless asking a dealer they are a waste of space with technical problems. As for Dometic they can't even design the product to work in the environment its intended for.

 

[icantremember]

Have you checked all the fridge contents?...

.. May be a half frozen chicken trying to escape!