thetford fridge not cold enough

[mike_374313686]

We have a 2001 abbey fitted with a thetford fridge, we've just returned from 16 days in france and the fridge has'nt been getting cold enough. we had the setting on 7 the freezer kept things frozen but the rest of the fridge did'nt get very cold, the aluminuim plates inside the back of the fridge were cold to the touch on the right halve but did'nt feel cold the further to the left you tried, I tried running on gas instead but this made no difference, does both the gas and electric use the same thermostate? I read some years ago that the fluids seperate and by removing the fridge and rotating several times this re mixes the fluids and improves performance, the weather in france was mixed even on the rainy days things did'nt improve, is it possible to replace the fluids? if so how much? any help would be most grateful

thanks mike

 

[David_from_Ashby]

Hi Mike

We had a similar problem in the Dordogne recently, but the temp there was up into the low 30's during the day. the fridge vents were on the awning side, so were not getting a good supply of cooling air. It was our freezer box that warmed up first though with the iceblocks melting that gave it away, the fridge was never too bad.

I will try adding an extract fan to the upper vent to ensure god air circulation. Others on this forum have confirmed that this has worked for them.

Out of curiosity, was the van level enough? Are the vents starting to get blocked (insects, muck etc) causing restricted airflow to the fridge?

Cheers

David

 

[mike_374313686]

Hi Mike

We had a similar problem in the Dordogne recently, but the temp there was up into the low 30's during the day. the fridge vents were on the awning side, so were not getting a good supply of cooling air. It was our freezer box that warmed up first though with the iceblocks melting that gave it away, the fridge was never too bad.

I will try adding an extract fan to the upper vent to ensure god air circulation. Others on this forum have confirmed that this has worked for them.

Out of curiosity, was the van level enough? Are the vents starting to get blocked (insects, muck etc) causing restricted airflow to the fridge?

Cheers

David

yes the van was level and have checked the vents today and are clear, the fan you talk of do you fit it to the top vent? and can you buy a kit or are you making one up? if so have you any details? i've removed the fridge today and turned it upside down to try and remix the coolant

thanks mike

 

[metz]

Hi Mike, Turning the fridge won't make any differance to the performance as it's all ready working, the performance of both Dometic and Thetford fridges will fall away if the ambient tempreture is below 5 degrees or above 28 degrees, as you have stated the fridge vents are on the awning side of the van, if the ambient tempreture is 30 degrees then the tempreture in the awning is going to be way above that so the fridge could struggle, a fan fitted to the top vent will help improve the airflow and thereby help the performance of the fridge, also try and keep the area around the fins inside the fridge as clear as you can to improve the air flow inside the cabinet, which will also help.

 

[mike_374313686]

thanks for the info metz, have you used an external extractor fan? if so what type? we've been to france with this van for the last 5 years and the fridge has worked well until this year, the weather wasn't hotter in fact its been the worst we've ever had, 3 days continuous rain, cloudy and several hot days, mid to high 20's