Sully Sur Loire festival this weekend but fridge issue on gas

[suavecarve]

We have a fridge freezer issue on a 6 month old roller team 685 with a Thetford (I think it's the 400 series) large fridge freezer.
Popped into Limoges Thetford authorised service place and they said it was a problem of some description between the bottom vent and top vent.
We have, in their words. A beautiful flame, but no fridge or freezer working.
4 hours of 12 volt saw some ice cubes freeze.
Talking to Thetford service guy in UK to get it sorted upon return.
Any ideas what it might be. Curious atm as no faults etc loads of gas, can see flame etc no windows been opened, been parking level etc etc etc.
We bought a thermometer and fridge still at 15 degrees and freezer minus 1 after the travelling.
Currently burning gas just to see if it self mends.
In the meantime huge massive festival at sully so should be able to blag some beer space in someone's fridge !!!

Guesses most welcome

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Try turning the dial down to two this sometimes seems to work.

 

[suavecarve]

Try turning the dial down to two this sometimes seems to work.

Ta will do

 

[The Wino]

I've seen some reports that even a spiders web can disrupt the airflow. Maybe get the vents off and see if there are any visible obstructions to the flue. If its anything like ours the jet should roar a bit when lit.

 

[The Wino]

I've seen some reports that even a spiders web can disrupt the airflow. Maybe get the vents off and see if there are any visible obstructions to the flue. If its anything like ours the jet should roar a bit when lit

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[Swifter]

Only information I could find online was to disconnect the main control loom behind the vents and then reconnect and see if this clears the fault .

 

[The Wino]

Only information I could find online was to disconnect the main control loom behind the vents and then reconnect and see if this clears the fault .

We had to do that to ours a few times but that was a different fault. If there's a proper flame and clear flue I can't see why it wouldn't work if it works on ehu.

 

[Swifter]

We had to do that to ours a few times but that was a different fault. If there's a proper flame and clear flue I can't see why it wouldn't work if it works on ehu.

Just trying to find anything to help .
I agree it’s unlikely .

 

[suavecarve]

I've seen some reports that even a spiders web can disrupt the airflow. Maybe get the vents off and see if there are any visible obstructions to the flue. If its anything like ours the jet should roar a bit when lit.

Cheers.
Again will do but you're only getting one "you're a star" for your double post.
I saw whilst searching you had an issue previously.
Cheers big fella

 

[suavecarve]

Only information I could find online was to disconnect the main control loom behind the vents and then reconnect and see if this clears the fault .

Trying this after the other 2. Cheers

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[Spriddler]

Has it been working o.k. before now or is this the first time you've used it?

 

[suavecarve]

We had to do that to ours a few times but that was a different fault. If there's a proper flame and clear flue I can't see why it wouldn't work if it works on ehu.

Unsure if it works on 240 and priorities dictate a festival at Sully.
I m sure you understand !!!

 

[suavecarve]

Has it been working o.k. before now or is this the first time you've used it?

Working fine previously.
We then hit very hot weather and put the fridge freezer up to 4 then 5 to try to compensate.
So going to try the dropping it to 2 to start with as well as looking for spider habitation before disconnect reconnect

 

[Swifter]

What’s the pitch like at the festival ? Close to the main area ?

 

[suavecarve]

What’s the pitch like at the festival ? Close to the main area ?

Very.
If you know the Aire the route after the chateau is closed off so you have to go onto flood plain.
Festival is in area from usual Aire to the chateau.
We are parked away from the drop down road and reckon 300 m from festival.
All free and cold pelforth available at pmu for 2.95.
Warm grimbergen currently available at our van !
Possibility of cold grimbergen available if any of these tricks work!

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[Spriddler]

So going to try the dropping it to 2 to start with as well as looking for spider habitation before disconnect reconnect

Curiously that did help with mine in very hot weather.

Popped into Limoges Thetford authorised service place and they said it was a problem of some description between the bottom vent and top vent.

Errr, that's the fridge-freezer, innit?

A bit like a mechanic saying the reason for the motorhome not starting is a problem of some description between the front and back wheels.


(Sorry. Have a great festival).

 

[suavecarve]

What’s the pitch like at the festival ? Close to the main area ?

 

[suavecarve]

What’s the pitch like at the festival ? Close to the main area ?

Saturday May 21​

10:30 a.m. Opening of the Hours of History and costume parade in town.

11:30 a.m. Official inauguration of the camps.

12:30 p.m. "Animation and Quadrille Second Empire". A fire hose demonstration will take place at the Sange. In parallel, the dances of the second Empire will be to be discovered on the floor.

1:30 p.m. Sentencing of the executioner.

14 hours. Show "In the times of the great empires" in the arena.

15 hours. "Dancing with History". Medieval dances, from the Second Empire and swing on the floor.

16 hours. Sentence of the executioner.

4:30 p.m. "Make the powder talk". Demonstrations of firing weapons and cannons from all eras in the arena.

5:30 p.m. "Swing Melody" in the arena.

18 hours. Sentence of the executioner.

19 hours. Grand historical parade in costumes, from Antiquity to the 1960s.

9:15 p.m. "Bagpipes" musical entertainment, in swing mode, led by a military brass band.

10:15 p.m. Pyrotechnic show.

Sunday May 22​

10 hours. Inter-epoch jousting in the arena.

11:00. Open-air mass in the castle grounds.

12:30 p.m. Sentence of the executioner.

13 hours. "Animation and Quadrille Second Empire". A fire hose demonstration will take place at the Sange. In parallel, the dances of the second Empire will be to be discovered on the floor.

14 hours. Show "In the times of the great empires" in the arena.

2:30 p.m. Sentencing of the executioner.

15 hours. "Dancing with History". Medieval dances and swing on the floor.

16 hours. "Make the powder speak". Demonstrations of firing weapons and cannons from all eras in the arena.

4:45 p.m. Sentencing of the executioner.

17 hours. Final historical parade in costumes, with salute to the public.

 

[Reallyretired]

Working fine previously.
We then hit very hot weather and put the fridge freezer up to 4 then 5 to try to compensate.
So going to try the dropping it to 2 to start with as well as looking for spider habitation before disconnect reconnect

Thats a clue. Turning these fridges up above about 4 will stop the cooling altogether. Not logical Captain but thats what they do.
In hot weather turn them down, use a fan on the top vent if you have one, otherwise taking the top vent off altogether may help a bit.

 

[suavecarve]

Thats a clue. Turning these fridges up above about 4 will stop the cooling altogether. Not logical Captain but thats what they do.
In hot weather turn them down, use a fan on the top vent if you have one, otherwise taking the top vent off altogether may help a bit.

We have now tried the turn it down to 2 but that failed, so have got for the classic "Turn the whole thing off for an hour and just turned it back on (on 2)" which isnt making any noticeable difference (after 20 minutes)

Removed top vent to see what happens

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[Landy Andy]

If parked up I’d suggest removing both outside grills. Let it breath.

 

[Wabs]

Working fine previously.
We then hit very hot weather and put the fridge freezer up to 4 then 5 to try to compensate.
So going to try the dropping it to 2 to start with as well as looking for spider habitation before disconnect reconnect

Maybe turn it down to 2 or three,,ours works best at that

 

[Reallyretired]

Have you got a fan on the top vent I have two with a thermostatic controller. This works wonders in hot weather, to cool the back of the fridge, which turning the gas up makes hotter.
All bits on ebay, my fans were £5.99 each, the controller £7.99.
The simplest way to fit the fans is with thin cable ties to the grill of the top vent. The ties become brittle and break after a year or two so I now fit them with stainless steel wire secured with a crimp.

 

[cmcardle75]

Do you know the climate class for the fridge? Absorption fridges aren't known for the efficiency, either in energy usage or in suitability for hot weather. However, there are differences between them in how they can handle ambient heat. For hot weather, you can't beat a compressor fridge. The problem being they don't run on gas (but are very frugal on electricity) and cost a lot more.

It's not just the fridge itself, but its installation that is critical. You need a lot of airflow in hot weather to get an absorption fridge to work. This could be blocked or inadequete vents, or a requirement for fan assistance. If it sits in its own fug, it will turn into an oven, not a fridge. After all, it's burning a lot of gas and has to work well if it is to actually cool anything instead of heat it!

 

[suavecarve]

Update.
Vents came off for 20 mins last night. No joy.
Just taken them off again this morning and fired up so will give it a couple of hours. Still got flame. Fired it up on 2.

Note the technicians wrote out for me
Fridge is the Thetford n4000 series model c1 or c2 and it maybe E4 for climate class (can't see any other indicators) cmcardle75

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[MichaelT]

We have now tried the turn it down to 2 but that failed, so have got for the classic "Turn the whole thing off for an hour and just turned it back on (on 2)" which isnt making any noticeable difference (after 20 minutes)

Removed top vent to see what happens

We never have ours above 3 all year round, turning up just creates more heat which makes fridge try harder etc.

 

[maison]

In their note the engineers seem to recommend cleaning the burner chimney/flue.

Some years ago we had a similar problem. Soot in the flue stopped the cooling process. Removing the flue, giving it a shake and poking a rag into it made the soot come out. All fine after cleaning.

 

[Two on Tour]

Leave the vent covers off as the fly mesh causes a restriction to the airflow that's required up the back of the f/f between the top and bottom vents. I totally removed the mesh from my vent covers as I saw no real advantage of it being on there, only found it to be a cause of some of the issues we were having.
If you have a wind-out awning, then wind it out to shade the f/f area from the sun and experiment with the f/f settings as we find the midpoint to offer the best results in the high temperatures we had last week in the Dordogne.

 

[suavecarve]

In their note the engineers seem to recommend cleaning the burner chimney/flue.

Some years ago we had a similar problem. Soot in the flue stopped the cooling process. Removing the flue, giving it a shake and poking a rag into it made the soot come out. All fine after cleaning.

We think there is some form of obstruction up there but wife won't let me take flue off as everything under warranty but will be suggesting this to our man in UK.

 

[Riverbankannie]

We think there is some form of obstruction up there but wife won't let me take flue off as everything under warranty but will be suggesting this to our man in UK.

Surely just doing that could not affect warranty especially as you have a written note from a Thetford service engineer.
In the festival programme, that poor executioner! How many times does he have to be tried? …..and if found guilty, which I bet he is, who does the deed!

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