Melted Ice Creams - where did I go wrong?

[Maluisarot]

After out last trip away, I plugged the van in on the drive and thought I would leave the ice creams in the freezer until our next outing.

A few weeks have since passed and I began getting ready to take her out again when I noticed the light on the fridge wasn't coming on and opened the freezer to find a fairly unpleasant mess.

I also noticed the battery charger wasn't on then realised the control board was off for the main power.

Assuming is made an awful mistake and turned it off as I left the van, I turned it back on and left the ice creams to deal with at another time once harder.

A couple of days have since passed and the controller was off again with the contents of the freezer now showing even more signs of life.

Is there something wrong with my setup or does the CBE controller time out after a while and I'll have to stop using the MH as a second freezer for the overflow from the house?

 

[Phill D]

i would be inclined to try it on gas for a few days then you will at least know if its the fridge or a 240 supply issue.

alternatively try monitoring it more closely i.e. check it every 30 minutes for a couple of hours to ensure it stays on directly after you have set it on. then maybe check every few hours to see if it is randomly turning off.

 

[Clarky]

Not sure why the control panel should have cut out but we have had a similar problem with the fridge in the past.
Like you we left the fridge on with the van plugged into an outside socket on our garage.
Checked the temperature in the morning to find it had risen alarmingly. At first I thought it might be that the van was parked on a bit of a slope but it happened a couple of times, just as the fridge and freezer had been packed prior to getting away early.
After some thought I remembered that Dometic fridges don’t like low voltage and our outside socket was connected to an extension lead, connecting to another lead then our hook-up cable, then the van wiring.
Too many connections were causing a voltage drop which the fridge didn’t like.
Now I plug the hook-up cable directly into a socket in the garage and no further problems.

Richard.

 

[John H.]

Too many connections were causing a voltage drop which the fridge didn’t like.

The fridge in our otherwise excellent Hymer is somewhat picky about the EHU voltage.

We often use an Aire in Honfleur, France which is very popular (hundreds of 'vans on the end of a long cable) and if the weather goes a bit cold and everyone uses heating or goes a bit hot and everyone uses air conditioning then our automatic fridge plays up..

No choice but to change to manual gas.

Note that this an Aire we used to use. We have not been out of the county here for approaching two years now..

 

[gus-lopez]

If the battery charger & panel is also off surely it must be a panel problem?

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[Maluisarot]

If the battery charger & panel is also off surely it must be a panel problem?

This is what my throught process was. If it was just the fridge, I'd start there but it seems that the whole 12v system shuts itself down after a week or so and I'm not sure why.

Our fridge is a Thetford N3145 but it doesn't have the "standalone" option fitted so requires a 12v feed for the components, even if it's set to 240v mode.

Is it normal for a CBE system (PC150L4 panel, DS300 control, CB516 charger) to "time out" the 12v system if it isn't being used for long periods?

Can't imagine it does as the panel has to be on for the battery charger to operate too and I imagine a lot of people might want electric to stay on in the van for dehumidifiers, little heaters or keep their ice creams frozen.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

The fridge in our otherwise excellent Hymer is somewhat picky about the EHU voltage.

We often use an Aire in Honfleur, France which is very popular (hundreds of 'vans on the end of a long cable) and if the weather goes a bit cold and everyone uses heating or goes a bit hot and everyone uses air conditioning then our automatic fridge plays up..

No choice but to change to manual gas.

Note that this an Aire we used to use. We have not been out of the county here for approaching two years now..

Yes, Avonbank meadow is notorious for low voltage upsetting fridges- had it a couple of times there. Switch to gas, which sort of defeats the object of EHU

 

[MITHRANDIR]

This is what my throught process was. If it was just the fridge, I'd start there but it seems that the whole 12v system shuts itself down after a week or so and I'm not sure why.

Our fridge is a Thetford N3145 but it doesn't have the "standalone" option fitted so requires a 12v feed for the components, even if it's set to 240v mode.

Is it normal for a CBE system (PC150L4 panel, DS300 control, CB516 charger) to "time out" the 12v system if it isn't being used for long periods?

Can't imagine it does as the panel has to be on for the battery charger to operate too and I imagine a lot of people might want electric to stay on in the van for dehumidifiers, little heaters or keep their ice creams frozen.

My panel will switch off if the voltage drops below a certain level, maybe yours does the same??

 

[Grummyb]

After out last trip away, I plugged the van in on the drive and thought I would leave the ice creams in the freezer until our next outing.

A few weeks have since passed and I began getting ready to take her out again when I noticed the light on the fridge wasn't coming on and opened the freezer to find a fairly unpleasant mess.

I also noticed the battery charger wasn't on then realised the control board was off for the main power.

Assuming is made an awful mistake and turned it off as I left the van, I turned it back on and left the ice creams to deal with at another time once harder.

A couple of days have since passed and the controller was off again with the contents of the freezer now showing even more signs of life.

Is there something wrong with my setup or does the CBE controller time out after a while and I'll have to stop using the MH as a second freezer for the overflow from the house?

I have absolutely no idea about control panels and the like but if your struggling to store ice cream I will happily look after it for you but I cant guarantee you will get it back

 

[Maluisarot]

My panel will switch off if the voltage drops below a certain level, maybe yours does the same??

I don't think that is a possibility. Got a 100ah LiFePo4 battery and solar panel. Checked the battery just now and it's 100%

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[MITHRANDIR]

Me too, but i have learned that if the mrs uses her hair dryer on high, the power cuts out on the panel and needs to be turned on again
just a thought.

 

[Grummyb]

Mithrandir why would your Mrs be using her hairdryer in maluisarot,s van?

 

[MITHRANDIR]

Well, she is a bit of a FLT, but i didn't say that

 

[Maluisarot]

Found the culprit! It's the MCB.

Unbeknown to me the MCB had partially failed and the internal contacts have been arcing. Confirmed with a stephoscope to hear it. As you can see it's got pretty warm in there -hot enough to discolor the terminal screw actually:

The 516 charger obviously didn't like this intermittent power and shut itself off so the AES link in the DS300 also opened so wasn't letting 12v through to the fridge (or eberspacher I also found).

When the panel was turned on, it provided the necessary 12v for the fridge to operate in 240 (albeit with dirty power thanks to the dodgy MCB) but this does time out after 48hours of inactivity (presumably to stop draining the battery when the van is not "in use) and as the charger had shut itself down, the fridge stopped getting the 12v it needed.


Might have had a few melted Ice creams but at least it led me to discover this before the whole van went up in flames!

 

[dunnah01]

This was what my brother found in his Wildax Constellation the other day so it's not a one off problem you've had - I've checked mine and I'd suggest everybody else might have a look at theirs!

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[Maluisarot]

This was what my brother found in his Wildax Constellation the other day so it's not a one off problem you've had - I've checked mine and I'd suggest everybody else might have a look at theirs!

Absolutely worth checking, not just in your MH but also on consumer unit in home - this kind of thing is the exact reason why new boards have to be in a metal enclosure. And if you're not sure what you're checking for, it's worth having an electrician take a look at both from time to time.

I've also just discovered that my MH must have left the factory with the 3 pin sockets all wired in reverse polarity