Waeco MDC65 Compessor fridge question

[Vagabond]

Greetings and here's your starter question for 10 from this new member.

I have a newly acquired camper of 2003 vintage fitted with this fridge.
Compressor fridges are new to me so I'm struggling a bit to get to grips with it.
There was no handover so I'm having to work this out as I go along armed with just the user manual.

I turned the fridge onto level 1 at the switch panel inside the fridge. Immediately the LED started flashing with the Error Code 5 (Thermal cut-out of electronic unit). I can read those English words well enough but they don't exactly make much sense to me.

More puzzling was the fact that when I tuned the switch (in the fridge) back to the off position, the LED continued to flash.

I have now disconnected the leisure battery (which I'm sure is destined for disposal after charging & checking) and of course the LED no longer flashes.

I'm wondering if a knackered leisure battery could produce this situation but I'm still puzzled why it flashes when the switch is off - and when the 12v switch on the Zig is also off.

All suggestions gratefully received. Thanks

 

[andy63]

I have a little waeco compressor fridge which would fail to work if the battery voltage fell (below 10.4v ), but you say it is indicating thermal cut out so not sure.
were you on mains hook up at time of checking, again mine has a mains power pack which will supply the fridge by default if im connected only switching to 12v supply if there is no mains.
sorry cant be more help. mine is a waeco CR65 and I have the books, but yours sounds different...
ta andy

 

[scotjimland]

Looks like the electronic unit has over heated

One Flash

Can be caused by:
• Insufficient cable size
• Too many connections
• Poor connections
• Not designating fridge
with own direct circuit from battery

Battery Protection Cut-Out

If the error light on your fridge flashes once every 5 seconds, it is definitely indicating that you have a voltage drop problem.
This means that the wiring in your car may be inadequate to carry the correct amount of volts to the fridge.
To test if this is the problem, plug the fridge into a suitable AC adaptor. If you find that the fridge works, you can eliminate that there is a problem with the fridge and the car wiring configuration or plug connections should be stringently checked.
Recommended supply wiring 6-8 sq mm for up to 4 metres, to avoid excess voltage drops. Above this length, +1mm for every metre.


Two Flashes
Fan over current cut-out
If the fan circuit in the control module has a load in excess of 0.5 Amps, the system will fail.

Three Flashes
Motor Start Error
If your error light is flashing three times every 5 seconds, the rotor may be blocked or the differential pressure in the refrigeration system is too high. Faulty compressor or faulty control module.

Four Flashes
Minimum Motor Speed Error
This failure occurs if the compressor is running slower than 1850 rpm.

Five Flashes
Thermal cut-out of electronic unit
If the error light is flashing five times every 5 seconds, the refrigeration system has been too heavily loaded, or if the surrounding temperature is high, the electronics will run too hot. This is generally caused by not allowing enough ventilation around the vents of your fridge. To overcome this, simply ventilate your fridge more effectively.

 

[Vagabond]

Andy - thanks.
No, I wasn't on hook-up, I just switched on the fridge to see how the switch operated but I suspected the battery would be low as I know the previous owner had it parked up, unused for sometime.
I reconnected the battery this morning and the LED no longer shows (with the fridge off) and that makes sense to me.
I have a nice, nearly new, 100ah battery that I plan to install if I can work out how to squeeze it in ("quart into pint pot" comes to mind).

Jim - thanks.
Yes, I have the the Error Code explanations - I'm just not too sure what they mean (relative to what I was trying).
I don't know if the fridge was "in working condition" when I bought the van and I'm half expecting (hoping) that fitting a new leisure battery will be the answer - it will at least eliminate one of the possibilities.

Thanks guys
John

 

[andy63]

cheers vagabond, don't forget in the light of your code to check your ventilation as jim pointed out in his detailed post.. and my fridge has a fan which runs to keep things cool so check you have one and its working.
ta andy

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