Help! My VW Trident has a built in Electrolux 3 way fridge, and I have just returned from camping on a site in Devon. Unfortunately when I plugged in the EHU which I have had no trouble with before, it didn't power anything, so not sure if its the van's electrics at fault or the extension lead. But to top it all, the fridge wouldn't work on gas! The hob worked fine, and I could see the little pilot light through the window inside the fridge at the bottom, lit with the electronic ignition, but the fridge wouldn't cool down. It cooled when put onto the electric charger when driving home. Any ideas anyone before I have to go cap in hand to a garage that might be clueless and expensive!!??
If you had no mains power at all your first check is ehu lead plug & socket, not unusual for wire to become disconnected as leads tend get tripped over & pulled etc. If fridge won't cool on gas if lit but cools in other modes then first job is to clean out burner. You might access burner without removing fridge by removing bottom exterior vent from outside of van, ideal is to blow out with airline but cleaning with meths & small brush can work.
Worth pointing out though that fridge needs to be level to cool down on either gas or mains. If van was parked on slope then this could have stopped it cooling so first try fridge again with van level.
Thanks for the advice, and I'll try cleaning the burner today.the site was level but will bear that in mind for the future, I didn't know that being a rookie campervanner!
Did you check with the site that their hook up had not tripped.I went on a site earlier this year and the previous occupant of the pitch had tripped it and left.
Also, it takes a lot longer than you think to cool a fridge from ambient temp, especially when empty.
I can only tell mine is cooling by feeling for heat coming out of the outside vent. After approx half an hour, the little bar at the top of mine starts to feel colder and after about an hour its really cold. That's whether it's on gas or EHU.
It cools down a lot quicker if the fridge is full of food, so perhaps put a few shoe boxes or something in there to take up the space.
Someone kept tripping the switch at the last site I was on.. and I had to turn the whole lot off, then on again to reset the power supply to the caravan before the fridge would work.
Our 20+ year old electrolux fridge won't work on gas any more, the parts are corroded or burnt out and our Habitation Service man suggested it would cost a lot to sort as he'd have to take out the whole fridge to get to the part at the back of it. So we rely on cooling the fridge on EHU (green light on fridge) plugged into the house for a day or two before we go (which also makes sure the leisure battery is topped up too), then the travelling on 12V between sites keeps it cool (red light comes on). We can manage one day wild camping if we dive in and out of the fridge quickly.
Alas even left overnight the fridge hadn't cooled down but thanks for the tip about filling the fridge, I didn't have much in it. Thanks everyone for help. I'll keep you posted when I've had a fiddle with it all, hopefully over the weekend if the rain holds off!