Thetford fridge

[kay4]

Hello forum users
We are looking at purchasing a 2nd hand 07/08 caravan preferably an ACE Aware Firestar or Abbey Vogue 495. We went to look at a 2008 model yesterday (private sale) the vendor advised that there is a common fault with the Thetford fridge but said Thetford wont admit the fault! Is this true? If true what is this fault and if 'out of warranty' how much would it cost to fix?
Thanks in advance
K

 

[MichaelE]

The common faults that i have heard of is faulty electronic pcb's behind front panel and some take a while to cool down, gas fill issue i think.
To be honest if the fridge isnt working it could be anything, so would be inclined to walk away ,cost to replace up to £800 repair obviously cheaper ,nice of him to hide behind the "its a common fault" problem.
Not that common if you havent heard of it?

 

[DavidKlyne]

Hello forum users
We are looking at purchasing a 2nd hand 07/08 caravan preferably an ACE Aware Firestar or Abbey Vogue 495. We went to look at a 2008 model yesterday (private sale) the vendor advised that there is a common fault with the Thetford fridge but said Thetford wont admit the fault! Is this true? If true what is this fault and if 'out of warranty' how much would it cost to fix?
Thanks in advance
K

Kay
Did he give an indication what the 'common fault' was? There has been some discussing on the Swift Forum about Thetford fridges but can't say its anything particularly terrible. Most of the things that can go wrong with a fridge can be replaced. One of the annoying things is leaning against the control buttons and changing setting without knowing it. Thetford are aware of this but it can really only be changed as they redesign the models. Perhaps if the vendor is putting this forward as a common fault you need to get a better price from him to cover any repairs, that way you don't loose out and may even be in pocket!

David

 

[Damian]

The common "fault" with them is the flue is terminated inside the body of the van, and the occupiers are totally reliant on the sealing around the fridge to keep flue gases out of the van.
It is exacerbated by the fact that on the earlier models including up to 2010, the burner was/is made of chromed mild steel and rusts, causing incorrect burn characteristics and unacceptable Carbon Monoxide output.
There was a batch of fridges which were filled with the wrong cooling fluid, but I think they have all been identified now.
Board failure is a possibility, but not as much now.

If you buy it I would get the burner checked out and replaced with a stainless steel one and ensure it is properly room sealed.

To quote the last reply "about Thetford fridges but can't say its anything particularly terrible"
How terrible does it need to get to have CO getting inside the van? Having been at a van this year along with Paramedics who were already on site when I arrived treating th elady occupier for CO poisoning, I would say it is more than terrible.

 

[DavidKlyne]

To quote the last reply "about Thetford fridges but can't say its anything particularly terrible"
How terrible does it need to get to have CO getting inside the van? Having been at a van this year along with Paramedics who were already on site when I arrived treating th elady occupier for CO poisoning, I would say it is more than terrible.

Damian
I think you are misrepresenting what I said a bit, I said that I had not seen anything particularly terrible on the Swift forum. Of course I would agree that the CO2 issue is indeed very serious but I had not heard about that and of course the OP has not yet told us what was being alluded to by the vendor.
David

 

[HenryB1]

We had a Thetford fridge in our last van a 2005 Abbey. Using it on gas during the first summer we noticed a strong smell of gas exhaust when the wind was blowing on the side of the van containing the fridge. Upon investigating by taking off the top vent I was surprised to find that the exhaust did not vent separately from the hot air and the combination of heat from the fridge and the hot weather had caused the foam used to seal the body of the fridge from the inside of the van to soften and sag allowing a gap to open allowing fumes to be blown into the van. On that outing I decided to turn the fridge off at night as I was worried about the fumes coming into the van. I wrote to Swift advising them of the problem but they told me they had not encountered it before and asked me to get my dealer to reseal the fridge. The dealer put new foam in to seal the fridge but we always seemed to have a draught entering the van if the wind happened to blow on the fridge side of the van. Last winter when caravanning in late November a very cold breeze came from around the fridge and this made me wonder if the problem had occurred again. One further problem is that I believe that this problem would not be identified at the time of a service.

 

[Dustydog]

Hello forum users
We are looking at purchasing a 2nd hand 07/08 caravan preferably an ACE Aware Firestar or Abbey Vogue 495. We went to look at a 2008 model yesterday (private sale) the vendor advised that there is a common fault with the Thetford fridge but said Thetford wont admit the fault! Is this true? If true what is this fault and if 'out of warranty' how much would it cost to fix?
Thanks in advance
K

K
If the caravan you saw was an 08 model then the warranty should still be in force and the owner can have the fridge professionally checked / fixed by a Swift dealer prior to your purchase.

Has he had it serviced every year?

 

[kay4]

To be fair to vendor has had this problem fixed, i was thinking that if we didnt decide to buy this particular van would we be faced with this problem if we purchased a van out of warranty.