Fault with Thetford N112 only working correctly on Gas

[Colin Hadley]

Hi my Thetford N112 gets cold on gas but had error 1 when on electric and error 10 on battery.
I have replaced the element for mains and now no error 1 but doesn’t get cold on mains.
Error 10 still on battery unless engine is running but can’t tell if it’s getting cold as I know battery takes ages to cool.
I appreciate any ideas.
Thanks
Colin

 

[Buckman]

The battery will only charge the fridge if the car is connected to the caravan and with the car engine running. The battery on itself will not operate the fridge.

 

[otherclive]

I never attempted to cool the fridge when connected to the car. Before each trip I would cool the fridge on home power. Then just before departure fill it with cooled food and a couple of freezer blocks. Even in hot weather the fridge contents would still be cool when arriving on site. Worked well on ferry crossings to France where the car wasn’t operating on board.

 

[Buckman]

I never attempted to cool the fridge when connected to the car. Before each trip I would cool the fridge on home power. Then just before departure fill it with cooled food and a couple of freezer blocks. Even in hot weather the fridge contents would still be cool when arriving on site. Worked well on ferry crossings to France where the car wasn’t operating on board.

One of the reasons why we prefer an overnight stay prior to departing on the ferry. Arrive on site at about 2pm. Fridge on mains to maximum cooling. Disconnect next day and fridge will keep stuff frozen to late in the evening of that day, but then you are able to connect up to mains again.

 

[otherclive]

One of the reasons why we prefer an overnight stay prior to departing on the ferry. Arrive on site at about 2pm. Fridge on mains to maximum cooling. Disconnect next day and fridge will keep stuff frozen to late in the evening of that day, but then you are able to connect up to mains again.

If going from Dover or Tunnel we would always have an overnight stay as driving 180 miles to the port then the crossing would not make for a good drive into France. So a fresh start early the next morning was the better option. Having the fridge plugged in to site EHU was obviously a bonus.

 

[Colin Hadley]

The battery will only charge the fridge if the car is connected to the caravan and with the car engine running. The battery on itself will not operate the fridge.

Thanks for this info, so I just have the fault of not getting cold when on electric

 

[Buckman]

Thanks for this info, so I just have the fault of not getting cold when on electric

We had the under counter Dometic fridge in an earlier caravan and not getting cold was because the element went open circuit, however you have already done this and I am wondering if it was connected up correctly? I am not sure about checking the element with a multi meter and what sort of reading to expect however why not check the current one against the old one?

 

[Colin Hadley]

We had the under counter Dometic fridge in an earlier caravan and not getting cold was because the element went open circuit, however you have already done this and I am wondering if it was connected up correctly? I am not sure about checking the element with a multi meter and what sort of reading to expect however why not check the current one against the old one?

Hi I had error 1 which I Google and checked element, this was open circuit so replaced with a new one.
Error went away but still not getting cold, I also checked all connections

 

[Martin_E]

Are you sure you got the correct element, Thetford have a habit of changing element specs for their fridges, so one N112 from a certain year could/would/would have a different spect to one a few years older?

Also did you make sure the element went into the heater tube, it’s very easy to slide the element in along side the tube (more so on a Dometic fridge as the jacket is easier to remove on a Thetford 🤔

 

[Colin Hadley]

Thanks for this I will check as I still have the old one. I know I slid it down the tube, I hope the wires are the correct way round as I changed like for like but fridge had the fault when I bought motorhome so you never know what previous owner had done .