Hi guys I am new to caravanning, bought a delta lunar caravan 2011, I didn’t know what to check for anyway the fridge a thetford N175 is not working on gas not sure about electricity or battery as haven’t plugged it in. Any way I took the burner cover off the fridge and burner not getting gas and igniter not sparking. Anyone know what the problem is? Is it likely to be the black electrical controller with all the wires going into it? Or I read about it possibly being a Thermocouple, which could explain the no gas? But wouldn’t it still try to spark (ignite) I realise the igniter could be faulty too. Not sure how to troubleshoot to find the cause.
Thetford N175 fridge no gas to burner or spark to igniter
- Thread starter The jt
- Start date
Have you turned the gas isolation taps on - there's probably three, one for the fridge, one for the cooker and one for the heater.
You say you're not sure about electricity or battery as you haven't connected them yet - without the 12v battery in place, the fridge won't fire up.
You say you're not sure about electricity or battery as you haven't connected them yet - without the 12v battery in place, the fridge won't fire up.
When last was the caravan serviced as they may have turned off the isolation taps? Also if it has not been serviced in the past year, it ,may be worth having it serviced for the safety of your family and yourself as you do not want any gas leaks into the caravan.
If I remember correctly the isolation taps are in the little cupboard immediately on the right as you enter the caravan. We had a 2011 Delta TI.
Those Thetford fridges are notorious for breaking down due to corrosion on the PC Board. The other issue is that the element goes open circuit. In the 5 years that we owned the Lunar, the element had to be replaced twice and circuit board once, but all under warranty.
If you bought from a dealership with in the past 6 months, the onus is on the dealership to rectify the issue. If bought privately, then unfortunately it is your issue to repair
isolation taps definitely on, don’t think it’s been serviced for ages, I wouldn’t mind better it’s the control board. I agree it needs a service, when u use water the pump doesn’t turn off or takes a very long time as well. It seems to have a few issues, fridge been worst, we have a 12v deep cycle battery so fridge should fire up if everything working
Sounds like the control box in the back of the fridge, had mine go unserviceable a few years ago, it would run on 220 volts, and 12 volt whilst hooked up to the car, but would not run on the gas, £175 at that time. Including labour.
Hopefully you aware that the fridge will not work on 12v if the car is not connected to the caravan with its engine running. Fridge needs to be connected to 240v or gas. If I remember correctly it could be down to the thermocouple, which regulates how much gas is in the fridge's burner at any time. If this component fails, it's time to replace it. If replacing the thermocouple doesn't fix the issue, perhaps your pilot light's gas line has too much air in it.
I strongly recommend that you get the caravan serviced as soon as possible by a qualified AWS technician. See https://www.approvedworkshops.co.uk/find-approved-workshop for a technician in your area.
Presumably your water system is whale pressurised in which case if you visit their site and look for instructions on adjusting the pressure it is likely easy to adjust and correct the overrun issue. I printed and laminated a copy (an A4 page) as the inlet needs adjustment for example between when on hook up and solely on battery and just takes a bit of tweaking .
Added to my earlier post - To save time here is the link either for wall socket or inline adjustment:
WhaleAdjustingyourpressureswitchb.pdf (whalepumps.com)
Added to my earlier post - To save time here is the link either for wall socket or inline adjustment:
WhaleAdjustingyourpressureswitchb.pdf (whalepumps.com)
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Think it would be better for OP to leave it up to whoever services the caravan to sort out various issues. That Whale pressure adjustment can be tricky even for the most experienced caravanner. There also could be dirt in the inlet.
Thanks for reply, when you say control box you mean the black box with all the wires going into it which is accessed from outside caravan when you take cover off?
Thanks for reply, the pump seems to of got better with use, it now turns off when you stop using water, it only seems to over run when tank getting low on water
The control box is where the PC board is located. Condensation gets onto the PC Board and the print corrodes and causes an open circuit.
I am fairly sure that there is a company that refurbishes the board at a fraction of the cost of a new board however you will need to Google for their name.
Assuming you have a whale pressure switch for your water system, then its often necessary to adjust if you are using battery power, because the pumps ability to reach the pressure required to trip the pressure switch diminishes as the battery voltage drops. The pressure switches adjustment is easy enough provided you follow the manufacturers instructions.
When it comes to the fridge, it depends on the exact model you have, but most modern caravan fridges need to have a 12v connection to the caravans 12v system to run the fridges control circuit, and it's electronic igniter. If your not connected to the mains power, and you battery is not well charged it can affect the way the fridge (and the water pump) operates. You need to make sure the caravan battery is well charged.
Most fridges (and convector caravan heaters and cookers) do have a thermocouple and it forms part of the appliances flame failure safety system. The t.couple works in conjunction with a solenoid coil and gas shut of plunger inside the gas valve. And they have a superb fail to safe record.
To start the appliance the gas valve needs to be rotated to the ignition position and depressed. This physically opens the gas shut off plunger in the gas valve allowing gas to the burner. During this time the ignitor should be operated to ignite the gas flow. As the flame establishes it should begin to heat the tip of the t.couple, and cause it to generate a current. After typically about 5 to 15 seconds, the t.couple should be producing enough current to energise the gas vales solenoid coil enough to hold the gas shut off plunger open, at which point you can stop pushing in the gas valve, and the gas should remain burning. If the gas extinguishes for any reason as the t.couple is no longer kept hot, it produces less current and eventually (within 30 seconds) the solenoid should deactivate and the gas shut off plunger should close the gas supply safely.
During operation, if the flame extinguishes because of a gust of wind for example, many modern appliances have electronic ignition systems which also and independently detect the lack of flame, and these will often kick in and re-establish a flame before the the flame failure device in the gas valve closes.
If the valve instantly shuts the gas off, there are a number of possible things:-
You have not given the flame long enough to heat up the t.couple,
Or there could be a fault with the gas supply or burner either restricting the gas flow or changing the flame pattern which prevents the t.couple from heating up correctly.
Gas supply is running out,
The t.couple or it's connection to the gas valve might be failing.
If an appliance has worked correctly, but later starts to misbehave, do not be tempted to reposition the thermocouple. The cause of the problem will be something else.p, and probably best left to a fully trained and competent fitter for safety.
When it comes to the fridge, it depends on the exact model you have, but most modern caravan fridges need to have a 12v connection to the caravans 12v system to run the fridges control circuit, and it's electronic igniter. If your not connected to the mains power, and you battery is not well charged it can affect the way the fridge (and the water pump) operates. You need to make sure the caravan battery is well charged.
Most fridges (and convector caravan heaters and cookers) do have a thermocouple and it forms part of the appliances flame failure safety system. The t.couple works in conjunction with a solenoid coil and gas shut of plunger inside the gas valve. And they have a superb fail to safe record.
To start the appliance the gas valve needs to be rotated to the ignition position and depressed. This physically opens the gas shut off plunger in the gas valve allowing gas to the burner. During this time the ignitor should be operated to ignite the gas flow. As the flame establishes it should begin to heat the tip of the t.couple, and cause it to generate a current. After typically about 5 to 15 seconds, the t.couple should be producing enough current to energise the gas vales solenoid coil enough to hold the gas shut off plunger open, at which point you can stop pushing in the gas valve, and the gas should remain burning. If the gas extinguishes for any reason as the t.couple is no longer kept hot, it produces less current and eventually (within 30 seconds) the solenoid should deactivate and the gas shut off plunger should close the gas supply safely.
During operation, if the flame extinguishes because of a gust of wind for example, many modern appliances have electronic ignition systems which also and independently detect the lack of flame, and these will often kick in and re-establish a flame before the the flame failure device in the gas valve closes.
If the valve instantly shuts the gas off, there are a number of possible things:-
You have not given the flame long enough to heat up the t.couple,
Or there could be a fault with the gas supply or burner either restricting the gas flow or changing the flame pattern which prevents the t.couple from heating up correctly.
Gas supply is running out,
The t.couple or it's connection to the gas valve might be failing.
If an appliance has worked correctly, but later starts to misbehave, do not be tempted to reposition the thermocouple. The cause of the problem will be something else.p, and probably best left to a fully trained and competent fitter for safety.
Thanks for that I couldn't find them on google, tried the fridge on 230v mains power and comes up with error fault 1 ac heater current is measured to be 75%below nominal current
How did you get on? I have the same issue - I see the control box has fuses so hoping its one of these, but seems need to remove fridge to get to the box, Bert NZ
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