Fridge

[Mikey_74]

I'm not sure if this post should be here or equipment and accesories, we've just come back from a wonderful week in Wales were the sun didn't stop shining. Our Domestic fridge in our 2004 caravan was running on electric,,at the beginng of the week when the teperature wasn't qiute so high the ice box had a healthy layer of ice, but towards the end of the week when it got hotter the ice had gone, as though the fridge was struggling, it was still cold but not freezing,I know these fridges are designed to run on gas, but my question is this......

If the 240v element goes in the fridge do they just break and stop working or do they become less efficient?

Sorry fr the long drawn out babble....Mike

 

[Damian]

Whilst you were on site did you have an awning up which enclosed the fridge vents?
When the mains element fails it is usually complete failure.
There should never be a covering of ice on the freezer plates as this inhibits the efectiveness of the unit, nor should the freezer box be packed totally full with items, there must be room for air movement around the items inside the box.

 

[David_L]

If the outside temp. rises and the air flow around the rear of the fridge is restricted the refrigerent in the system "gasses" that is it dose not turn back in to a liquid to be re-heated by the element.
One answer is to turn the fridge setting to a warmer setting so that the system is not working so hard, I know this sounds odd but I used to work with a fridge engineer and in the summer this was a main cause of defrosting.
Also make sure the is an air flow through the vents.

 

[Mikey_74]

Thanks to you both for your replies, I did think that the element usually fails completely and this morning I couldn't sleep and was thinking about the fridge (how sad is that, my excuse is I love our van) and I remember reading somewhere on here that people who take their vans abroad fit computer fans behind the fridge vents to aide air flow, we were in a sheltered spot thinking about it and it was very still. I'll keep my eye on it, once again thanks for your help.

 

[Gareth111278]

Just a thought, Like lots of caravanners I always used my fridge on 240V until a couple of years ago we took the caravan to a site with no hook up for the British Grand Prix. I thought that the fridge would be rubbish on gas so we froze everything first thinking it would slowly thaw & give the fridge some help.
We went on the friday morning & on the Monday morning we were still prizing rashers of bacon off a frozen lump!!
The fridge is better on gas than mains.
I know we pay for our gas, but its worth it for cold beer if the 240V isn't up to snuff!.
Gareth

 

[Damian]

All the triple fuel items in a van were originally designed to run on Gas, and do so much better than electric.
Electric was added as a consumer request with the use of hook ups.

What most people do not realise is that by always using electric and neglecting the gas side of things, when it comes to the time you NEED gas, it may not work.
I always recommend that all gas appliances are run for about 20 to 30 minutes each time you use the van to keep the gas valves and burner in good condition.

I am always hearing "well we paid for electric,so we ARE going to use it ".......fair enough, but do use the gas as suggested, then switch over to electric.
It could save you a very expensive repair bill.

 

[Willi-Wonti]

When in Spain I had to remove the fridge vents to aid cooling. A neighbour showed me how he had run a computer fan to extract the hot air.
I now have a fan fitted but included a thermostat so that the fan only works when necessary

 

[waffler]

Almost surely the mains heater gone. I know of no problem with external heat- these fridges run in Spain in the summer OK. In winter they can not work if the outside air is too cold- hence the winter covers.

 

[Damian]

Quote " I know of no problem with external heat- these fridges run in Spain "

The Dometic fridges have an optimum operating temperature up to 30 degrees C, after that they struggle.
In very still air there is not enough air flow over the cooling matrix to allow them to work as they should, which is where fans come in handy.

 

[BigTim]

Last year in Croatia in August (32C+ temperatures) our ' van fridge was struggling to stay cool. I improved the situation temporarily by standing a mains operated fan on a table so that it blew air into the bottom vent - the fridge DID cool better.
Ready for this summer's Continental hols I purchased a "Vento" twin fridge fan and had the service engineer wire it in during our annual service last week. The fan unit is screwed onto the back of the top fridge vent and wired into the supply to the fused 12v socket in the batttery box. It runs on 12v and is controlled by an adjustable thermostat. The thermostat can be overidden by a small switch mounted inside the 'van. The fans deliver a good flow of air through the top vent and run very quietly. I've yet to test them in a high temperature enviroment but I am optimistic.
Tim

 

[TonyG]

When in Spain I had to remove the fridge vents to aid cooling. A neighbour showed me how he had run a computer fan to extract the hot air.
I now have a fan fitted but included a thermostat so that the fan only works when necessary

hi Willi,
interested to know how you fiited the fan's