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Subject Topic: Help please - fridge electric problems Post Reply Post New Topic
PersonFenlandgirl
30/3/2013 at 2:13pm
 Location: Cambridgeshire
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Hi, grateful if anyone can help us. We are on a seasonal pitch at the CC Thetford Forest site. Picked our new van (Lunar Lexon 640) up two weeks ago and all working well. Put it on our pitch last weekend and all working well. Got to the van last night to set up for the weekend and the fridge will only work on gas. Have tried levelling the van, switching the fuses around, powering down the van and reconnecting the power cable and the fridge still won't work off of mains (everything else is operating OK and we are well under the 13 amps in terms of usage). Any ideas as to what this may be or what else we may try?

Thanks,

Karla


Persontango55
30/3/2013 at 2:19pm
 Location: Lichfield
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Is the on/off light illuminating or do you have no power at all to the fridge?


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PersonOpensauce
30/3/2013 at 2:25pm
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If you have power going into fridge then it could be 240volt element failed. If by new you mean brand new then its a warranty issue if you mean new to you & some yrs old then it could well be element failure. You can diy if you have practical skills but fridge will have come out & new element is around £40 I think.

If 'van is out of warranty & you cannot diy it might be easier if you are on seasonal pitch to get a small domestic compressor fridge about £70 from Argos etc.


PersonFenlandgirl
30/3/2013 at 3:24pm
 Location: Cambridgeshire
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Thanks for your help. Yes tango55, the light is working so we do seem to have some power going into it, which makes me think Tentz has hit the nail on the head and its the 240 volt element. Van is brand new and therefore still in warranty, so think I will give the dealer a call and see what can be done. Once again, many thanks for your help.


Personmichael
30/3/2013 at 3:38pm
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i think element too.

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Persontango55
30/3/2013 at 4:04pm
 Location: Lichfield
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As there is power coming to the fridge then I agree with the others that it has to be the element not working. If it's a Thetford fridge I think it's a common fault.


Personissym
30/3/2013 at 5:10pm
 Location: Cambridgeshire
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Same here, 24 hours on site and warning starts beeping on fridge. No problems on gas. Checked the manual and it states if mains symbol is lit and all temperature bars are lit and warning triangle then probable element gone BUT if you turn the temperature down and it shows the mains symbol, the number of bars you set it to (less than all bars) and the warning triangle is still beeping then the voltage is too low (our site dropped to 208 volts when the site filled on Friday. We are on a courtesy pitch from our dealers, they will check it out on Monday when we return to them for a snag visit.

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Started with a motorbike and tent.......my gallery, my life.


Personissym
31/3/2013 at 6:20pm
 Location: Cambridgeshire
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Update; our fridge has been working today and now the temperature is dropping and everyone is returning to their vans we have got the warning beep again and have had to go back to gas!17

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Started with a motorbike and tent.......my gallery, my life.


Persongeoff+emmy
31/3/2013 at 7:00pm
 Location: Huddersfield
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Quote: Originally posted by issym on 31/3/2013
Update; our fridge has been working today and now the temperature is dropping and everyone is returning to their vans we have got the warning beep again and have had to go back to gas!17

Voltage drop then....


Personbirder99
31/3/2013 at 7:05pm
 Location: Cambs
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Hmmm, I had 240V prob when on Thetford Forest site last year. I was on a pitch right round the roadway near to the storage area. I wonder if it is a voltage drop as my battery charger/psu stopped working a few times, mind you it did pack up completely in Jan this year. I carry a little power monitor that plugs into a mains socket to check nowadays and it has come in handy a few times.

I wonder if you changed to a different bollard for your ehu if it would make any difference.

Not sure about your fridge but I wonder if the lights on it are from the 12V circuit. If your fridge plugs into a socket you could check to see if there is power to it and also check the fuse in the plug, but if all else fails you are probably looking at a 240v element.

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Personsaxo1
31/3/2013 at 10:47pm
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Volt drop is the most likely cause,the electronics in some equipment will automatically switch off when the voltage drops to a certain level.

Saxo1


PersonFenlandgirl
01/4/2013 at 10:21pm
 Location: Cambridgeshire
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Birder99 and saxo1 - turns out you were right. We changed bollard and bingo, no problem. Then today once the site had cleared a little we changed back to our original bollard and all was well. Have reported the voltage problem to the warden (we too were round by the storage area) but doubt they can do anything. At least we will know for next time.

Thanks to all for your help, really appreciate you all taking the time out of your weekend to respond and help us.


Personissym
02/4/2013 at 3:51pm
 Location: Cambridgeshire
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So pleased all is well, our dealer is checking ours today. I wonder if fridges without the warning system were noticed not to be working!!!! At least we l ow ours works well on gas!

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Started with a motorbike and tent.......my gallery, my life.


Personsaxo1
02/4/2013 at 5:51pm
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The problem with low voltage is that a lot of modern electrical appliances have switch mode power supplies which keep the output voltage constant when the 230V input fluctuates by drawing more amps meaning it is working harder than it was designed to do.

Damage to the DC power supply is a greater danger. Reduced input voltage can cause excessive power supply heat dissipation, resulting in short equipment life. While trying to maintain constant DC output as the line voltage declines, the DC-to-DC converter circuit has to draw from the reservoir capacitor

The amount of charger/power supply units that are regularly reported on these forums as going faulty may be caused by low voltage .

saxo1


Personissym
02/4/2013 at 10:23pm
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saxo1, I'm assuming switching to gas is switching off the electricity even though the symbols remain lit? Presumably by the battery?

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Started with a motorbike and tent.......my gallery, my life.


Personsaxo1
02/4/2013 at 10:36pm
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Yes when you use gas the electricity is turned off.The control panel symbols will still be lit by the mains but the fridge will be operating on the gas.

Saxo1 



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