Fridge is confused

[EdwardFT]

My Electrolux 3-way fridge is behaving strangely, don't they always? Because it can be hard to light on gas, I often leave it on gas rather than switch to 12v on the move and then have to stand for ages later holding in the button until it stays on. Ok I know, it needs a service, that is not strange.
But recently it has been useless at staying cold. With temperatures inside the van at say 22 and outside at say 24 afternoon, 8 at night, the fridge would only ever get down to some 12 degrees. Only 12 degrees colder than ambient, so it's a pantry rather than a fridge. The freezer compartment would make ice but would not keep ice cream solid, it was about -3 degrees.

Now the strange bit: as a test I switched it to 12v on a day of driving, mainly to see whether it would work properly on 12v and it was just gas that was the problem. It did not work better, it was just the same on 12v as on gas. But then when I switched back to gas, it worked perfectly. It is currently -16 freezer and +1.5 fridge - perfect.

So it had a bout of poor cooling on gas and on 12v but now it is back to working (for now?). Can anyone explain that?

 

[pappajohn]

Sounds like the thermal transfer paste behind the internal fins has dried out and failed.
Others will be along to explain how to get at it and reapply new paste

 

[EdwardFT]

Sounds like the thermal transfer paste behind the internal fins has dried out and failed.
Others will be along to explain how to get at it and reapply new paste

I thought of that but would that not leave the freezer working, while the fridge didn't get cooled? I am assuming that the freezer is the working part and the fins transfer thermal energy between the fridge and the freezer.

But thanks for the suggestion, I will look at that when I am back.

But how come it actually started working again? (Maybe a bump in the road moved things slightly and restored a good thermal contact??)

 

[Diabalo]

Could be a dodgy thermostat

 

[jobla]

I thought fridges were'nt supposed to function on gas when on the move.

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[Figaro]

I thought fridges were'nt supposed to function on gas when on the move.

Mine does

 

[jobla]

My Dometic AES fridge automatically cuts gas and goes to 12v when engine is started.

 

[jobla]

Being a German van I suppose legislation in Germany may require this feature.

 

[Spriddler]

Deleted. Just found answer on Google.

 

[Off da Grid]

A 3 way fridge will work on what ever you tell it to unless it’s on auto

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[Richard n Ann]

But how come it actually started working again? (Maybe a bump in the road moved things slightly and restored a good thermal contact??)

The heat sources are probably working OK then, it's maybe the absorption unit not circulating properly and there isn't a lot you can do about that, I know the u tube can get blocked with rust anyway the run out has done it good, mixed things up a bit the same as turning it upside down

 

[EdwardFT]

The heat sources are probably working OK then, it's maybe the absorption unit not circulating properly and there isn't a lot you can do about that, I know the u tube can get blocked with rust anyway the run out has done it good, mixed things up a bit the same as turning it upside down

I am afraid that it was not a case of an isolated run out, I am fulltiming and I drive a lot. Since mid-September I have driven from southern Germany to Calais and Dover, then back to France and south to the Med and then into Spain and to the north west, and I am now back near France. 2300 miles!

But yes, when it wasn't working right it was still working a bit, and the flue was hot, so the heat sources were ok. So maybe the absorption unit, maybe the thermostat, maybe the heat-conductive paste?

I would ironically suggest looking for rough roads from time to time to shake it up, but conspicuously the return to full working coincided with the return to gas after a day of 12v. Does the 12v run on a thermostat, the same thermostat as gas? Surely not? In which case it might suggest that the gas thermostat stuck and stayed stuck until it was switched out of use?

 

[Richard n Ann]

The thermostat is something I don't know much about, I've read older fridges weren't thermostatically controlled on 12v but new ones are. We had the paste problem and it's not intermittent, it's just that the fridge evap wasn't frosting but freezer was normal.

 

[EdwardFT]

The thermostat is something I don't know much about, I've read older fridges weren't thermostatically controlled on 12v but new ones are. We had the paste problem and it's not intermittent, it's just that the fridge evap wasn't frosting but freezer was normal.

I have just realised (advantage of talking it out with others) that I have hoist myself in my last post. If the problem was a gas-only thermostat, then it should have worked when it was on 12v all day, but it didn't, which disproves that idea.