Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: minifreek on 11 February 2017, 18:08:26
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Went into our caravan yesterday, to switch on the heater to keep damp etc.. at bay (I do this once a week when its cold and damp weather)
We're going away in it for the weekend in a couple of weeks so thought Id make sure everything is working etc... so switched everything on..
Pump OK working... water gets hot and is running...
Toilet flushes, needs refilling with the blue stuff...
Shower works, gets hot as it should...
Switched on fridge, cant test that straight away coz it needs time to work, went out to it today to see if its getting cold.... nope - nowt happening...
Light comes on inside, so 12V side is working, fired up the gas part, that works, electric side seems to be working (cant really test it without stripping the thing out) so removed the inspection vents for the flu... rear of fridge is getting warm, so can only presume it is working but the refridgerant has either evaporated or the fridge is FUBAR..
Been looking online, and gone through the oparts of the horror stories saying itll cost £1000+ to replace, then looked at a caravan DIY repair saite... a lot of people on there saying to remove the fridge from where it is sited and unplug it from all sources (gas and electrics) and turn it upside down for 1/2 hr then turn correct way up again, then repeat a couple more times, thus allowing the gases and chemicals to mix again.... a lot of people seem to have had success with this... so will be giving it a go tomorrow (got nowt to lose on it)..
Anyone had any similar experience with caravan fridges...?
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Electrolux one?
Ripped mine out and replaced with a slim line AAA rated Bosch larder fridge driven by an inverter. Battery would last a week without charge. Three times the capacity and no gas fumes to worry about...
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They work via evaporation and each power option just heats up the water/ammonia mix so if it's working on gas then the process should be fine. Worth checking the electrical heating element resistances
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Daz (Hercules) is the go-to on here for vans. He doesn't get on here very often nowadays but, if you drop him a PM, I'm sure he'd try to help.
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=8247
PS, he's a big, ugly git....but he doesn't bite. ;D
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The fridge in our Folding Camper is very fussy about being dead level or it wont work......
Being as you are at home and not set up on site, is the van level?
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Are you sure its not working? ...
Seeing as the last couple of days the outside temp has been about fridge temp anyway.....maybe the fridge being in a caravan is down to temp anyway :-\
Plus I seem to recall that some fridges or freezers wont work if the ambient temp is too cold... :-\
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Plus I seem to recall that some fridges or freezers wont work if the ambient temp is too cold... :-\
I've got a camping gas heater like that, wont work in the cold. I mean, WTF!!!
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Maybe it'll catch fire and solve all your caravaning problems! :y ;D ;D ;D
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Are you using butane, Rumpel? It remains liquid in its container if it is too cold, hence no gas to your heater; you need propane (red cylinder) to work in the really cold - or warm the cylinder with a kettle of boiling water!
Ron.
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Are you using butane, Rumpel? It remains liquid in its container if it is too cold, hence no gas to your heater; you need propane (red cylinder) to work in the really cold - or warm the cylinder with a kettle of boiling water!
Ron.
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Exactly! On the poxy cannisters this PoS uses is really only available in Butane. So its a breakkkin stupid thing.
Some people have realised, and made a butane/propane mix, but as the propane burns off faster in the cold, you can only use about a third of each canister. Halfords used to sell mixed butane/propane ones for it, but have changed supplier, and are butane only now.
So I use electric heaters instead.
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Had a similar problem last year with mine.
Yes, your spot on with the pulling it out and tipping it upside down trick :y
Did the same with mine last year ;)
While you have it out, stick a meter across both the 12 volt element and 240 volt element.
You should have a resistance on both. If any are open circuit, replace the element which is a piece of piss once its out of its hole.
Tbh, its the removing / refitting that's the real problem here because the thing will be sat on a small plinth of mdf / chipboard which has a tendency of falling apart when you drag it out :-X :-X >:(
Then you end up with a gap at the top were the friggin cold gets in ::) >:(
Parts are a pretty cheap on ebay too :y :y
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....
Tbh, its the removing / refitting that's the real problem here because the
I'd not like the thought of removing my caravan fridge ..... it's HUGE! ;D
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....
Tbh, its the removing / refitting that's the real problem here because the
I'd not like the thought of removing my caravan fridge ..... it's HUGE! ;D
Scrapped my little 25 year old Swift last spring so didn't care how much damage I caused removing it but that weighed enough ;)
The replacement Swifts fridge pact up within 24 hours of driving off with the thing >:(
Again, its a Electrolux and its a heavy fooker :(
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......
So I use electric heaters instead.
Probably for the best given your history. :P
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Iv finally got the thing out its housing, took a ruddy age to work out how it comes out....
Removed 4 screws and the flew from the rear as suggested on a caravan repair site, brute force won in the end LOL
Its a Thetford fridge (caravan is 2007 Swift Charisma 540 6 berth)...
Iv turned the fridge upside down, will be refitting it in about 20 mins...
All three connections have been tested, 240V is OK - 12V is OK and also the gas is OK (propane :()
Will see what happens tomorrow, or maybe even later on tonight... it usually gets cold inside enough for the veins inside the fridge to get wet....
It is as said above an evaporator type, no motor = no noise at night time so I get some sleep.... LOL
Hopefully the turning upside down trick will sort it, if not then I'll get the coolbox running and start saving up me pennies....
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Leave it as long as you can bud :y
What is the resistance across the elements ?
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Well its gone back in, quite easily.....?
Dunno what the restistance was across the elements, I tested the power supply and didn't think of testing the elements, never thought of that coz of the rear getting warm on all three inputs....
Only thing I can do now is hope, I guess.. otherwise I'll have to save me pennies....
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Well its been on now for 2 1/2 hrs and there is ice cubes in the freezer compartment.... so think its fixed itself :)
Thank opps for that..... I'll sleep tonight now LOL
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Well its been on now for 2 1/2 hrs and there is ice cubes in the freezer compartment.... so think its fixed itself :)
Thank opps for that..... I'll sleep tonight now LOL
A result then ..... & at no cost :y
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Yeah thankfully...
I reckon if the freezer compartments working, the fridge part is working too...
So... good result... :y
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That's great a cheap fix 😉
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Just an update.... freezer compartment works wucking brilliantly, however the fridge part just doesn't seem to be getting cold....?
opps....
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Daz (Hercules) is the go-to on here for vans. He doesn't get on here very often nowadays but, if you drop him a PM, I'm sure he'd try to help.
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=8247
PS, he's a big, ugly git....but he doesn't bite. ;D
love you too baby :-* :-* ;D
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chances are the outside temp was cold and the fridge was absorbing that coolness to turn its gas back to liquid therefore not cooling the compartment,i have never had to turn a fridge upside down
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I understand what your saying about outside temps, but it isnt that cold... It worked fine last February when we was away in the tintent and there was snow on the ground...
Id have thought that if the freezer is working, the fridge part would work too, didnt think they are seperate systems...
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"Id have thought that if the freezer is working, the fridge part would work too, didnt think they are seperate systems.." - exactly what I thought, too, but I didn't like to say! :-[
Ron.
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"Id have thought that if the freezer is working, the fridge part would work too, didnt think they are seperate systems.." - exactly what I thought, too, but I didn't like to say! :-[
Ron.
They are one system .. freezer compartment cools down a lot, cold air from that drops down to cool the rest of the fridge..... no separate controls or cooling elements.
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Thanks Nige, that's exactly as I had it, but refrained from comment initially in case there was a newer system that I didn't know about and I embarrassed myself! :-[ :-[
Ron.
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Thought about this too late to edit my previous post ...
If the Freezer is getting really, really, cold and the rest of the fridge is not, check things like door seals / door closure as if the door is not closing properly the cold air from the freezer bit will escape and not cool the fridge .. a thermometer on the floor below the fridge door may give some indication of this ?? (cold air drops) ....
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Thanks for the replies, I'll check the door seal... theres only 1.
I haven't got a thermometer though :(
Was going to buy 1 of those fridge thermometers that stick to the inside - they look a bit like the ones you get on a fishtank/aquarium.....