We are currently just starting our second week in France. We had no problems the first week with the fridge working on the 240v. But we have moved about 3 hours South and now about an hour outside Lyon and the fridge will not work on the 240v.
It is currently on the gas, but we can't continue to run it on the gas for the rest of our holiday, as we believe it will empty the gas bottle quickly and we will then be unable to cook.
We are under the impression that we are unable to refill our gas bottle out here and a bit stuck at what to do next.
The problem with the fridge is because of the heat. As once it cooled down last night, it worked on the 240v.
Thank you
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It's not uncommon with absorption fridges if the temperature is high. They struggle. I fitted a fan kit to our last one which helped. Ours was only getting to about 10 degrees in a hot day but cooled down properly overnight.That was on mains. We had 10amp supply.
They do seem better on gas but use a lot.
We also bought a 12v compressor fridge which comes with a mains adaptor.
Ours is an Alpicool. It's excellent we used that for stuff which needs to be kept around 5 degrees. You can set the required temperature on them.
Before I fitted the fan kit we had a mains fan in the awning on our camp kitchen blowing into the lower fridge vents!
If it works OK overnight you could try freezing some ice packs in the freezer compartment and putting them in the main bit in the mornings.
Post last edited on 12/08/2024 17:22:09
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Prepare for fridge free living.
Buy fresh food the day you intend to use it.
Have dried/tinned food for non shopping days.
Dispose of any food before it becomes dodgy.
Get an insulated cool bag for food items until you are ready to use them, take it shopping.
Learn to enjoy beer and wine as it comes.
If the gas does run out get a Campingaz lightweight stove as backup that runs on Campingaz CV470 cans. Ths would be the Campingaz Twister Stove.
Find it at Decathlon and bricolage stores.
------------- Enjoy the liveliness of the syntax.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 12/8/2024
It's not uncommon with absorption fridges if the temperature is high. They struggle. I fitted a fan kit to our last one which helped. Ours was only getting to about 10 degrees in a hot day but cooled down properly overnight.That was on mains. We had 10amp supply.
They do seem better on gas but use a lot.
We also bought a 12v compressor fridge which comes with a mains adaptor.
Ours is an Alpicool. It's excellent we used that for stuff which needs to be kept around 5 degrees. You can set the required temperature on them.
Before I fitted the fan kit we had a mains fan in the awning on our camp kitchen blowing into the lower fridge vents!
If it works OK overnight you could try freezing some ice packs in the freezer compartment and putting them in the main bit in the mornings.
Post last edited on 12/08/2024 17:22:09
Thank you. It does seem as though it's due to the temperature. Main worry is the amount of gas we are using.
We have a 12v fridge in the awning that plugs into mains as well and that is struggling.
Quote: Originally posted by Bramston on 12/8/2024
Prepare for fridge free living.
Buy fresh food the day you intend to use it.
Have dried/tinned food for non shopping days.
Dispose of any food before it becomes dodgy.
Get an insulated cool bag for food items until you are ready to use them, take it shopping.
Learn to enjoy beer and wine as it comes.
If the gas does run out get a Campingaz lightweight stove as backup that runs on Campingaz CV470 cans. Ths would be the Campingaz Twister Stove.
Find it at Decathlon and bricolage stores.
All sound lovely and that isn't a problem but I need to keep medication cold for the baby.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
If your 12v fridge is an electric coolbox, it won't cope. Ours is a proper compressor fridge, just a small version of a domestic, one which is very good.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Yep, as already mentioned compressor fridge is what you need for summer in the South of France.
In fact we have two, a Waeco CDF25 for in car use, and a Mobicool CF40 (mains only) for use in the tent, had both for over 15 years now and I am considering the Mobicool MCF40 to replace both units and save space.
The Mobicool CF40 is over at my sons (39) house, as he uses it as a deep freezer, so I will probably never see that again, which is good enough excuse for me to buy the Mobicool MCF40 !
One possibility is to buy a domestic fan. This is what I did first time we had a cooling problem, before I added the computer fan.
I removed the air intake vent on the outside of the caravan, then stood the fan on the table that we arranged below the opening. Then stood the fan on that and used it to blast air over the fridge cooling fins. It did the job. That is why I went ahead and added the internal fan, knowing it would do the job and be a lot easier to use.
Funny, I was not aware the OP was in a caravan, until I noticed the comment about the awning, description of outfit in the header would have helped lol.