# Fridge wiring



## avandriver (Aug 9, 2011)

Just pulled the fridge from under the cupboard in my van and discovered that it is not wired for twelve volts ( Probably why it did not work ) .

My question is which is the live 12v connection in the picture







Fridge is an Electrolux 



On a good point , After I struggled to get it out ( tight fit ) I found this under the floor .









Steve


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## David & Ann (Aug 9, 2011)

No wonder it was not wired up for 12v. That 10 year old whiskey is to blame. I hope someone on here will help you regards the wiring.


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## MOS (Aug 9, 2011)

Cant make out the conections on the photo so i will have to come round and look. i can also ckeck the quality of the hooch whilst ime there too. dont open the bottle till i get there 
(on a seriouse note i think dc heater elements work either way round )
MOS


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## jellybean (Aug 9, 2011)

Hi i have worked on this type of fridge a lot ,remove the plastic cover and wire it in to the feed on the left of the picture ,when the cover is removed you should have a black  a red wire just feed your two core cable to this point the red bieng the live .but as the other guy says i think you can wire them both ways


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## avandriver (Aug 9, 2011)

Thanks guys .

I never thought of removing the cover to have a look .

I will get on with the job after I have finished the whiskey . 




Steve


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## David & Ann (Aug 9, 2011)

Get the job done first Steve, then hit the bottle. Or you will be posting saying you joined both the wires and plugged into live and blew the camper up.


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## cooljules (Aug 9, 2011)

looks like a half full bottle of wee to me


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## avandriver (Aug 9, 2011)

No the bottle was full and sealed 

I had to open it to make sure it was good enough for medicinal purposes .


Steve


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## Deleted member 207 (Aug 10, 2011)

Dometic refrigerators - Download Dometic Manuals and download the repair manual for your fridge with the wiring diagram.


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## Guernsey Donkey (Aug 10, 2011)

jellybean said:


> Hi i have worked on this type of fridge a lot ,remove the plastic cover and wire it in to the feed on the left of the picture ,when the cover is removed you should have a black  a red wire just feed your two core cable to this point the red bieng the live .but as the other guy says i think you can wire them both ways


 
Dont know much about fridges but "should have a black  a red wire" I thought they went out in the late 60s early 70s when Blue and Brown wiring came in. Never mind as long as you get the fridge working that's all that matters. :idea-007:


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## Bigpeetee (Aug 10, 2011)

Black & Red wire is fine on low voltage kit, does differentiate between 240v and low volt, but...........you never know what colour they install.


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## Deleted member 19079 (Aug 10, 2011)

*which wire go where?*

I have same fridge and am having probs.  I have a relay coming from engine battery going to red wire, but what connects to black wire?  I also have it connected to leisure battery with positive to red and black to negative on Liesure battery.    

Also it runs on gas , but the guy who fitted it before we bought it left a kind of untidy job and as such we smell gas when it runs on gas.  can anybody advise what size the copper piping is so that I can get isolation valves.

thanks in advance.


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## MOS (Aug 10, 2011)

Hi the fridge is probbably using a shared return (black wire ) not the best way but quite common ,if in doubt put another wire to negative to be honest i would do away with the domestic feed ,if you forget to switch it off it will flaten the battery in a matter of hours ,the relay is the best option as it only works when the engine is running ,as for the gas it should allready have an isolator in line ,but get the leak sorted first anyway (gas makes a rite mess when it goes bang )
MOS


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## Deleted member 19079 (Aug 10, 2011)

was planning to sort gas and put an inline valve, but is pipe 5/16 " or 8mm or something else?


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## MOS (Aug 10, 2011)

if its been bodged it could be anything check the joints the nuts will be marked around the edge 
mos


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## Deleted member 13543 (Aug 10, 2011)

Can't help with the wiring, but I think I could with the whisky.....!!!


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## avandriver (Aug 17, 2011)

To be honest my preferred tipple is Bushmills whiskey which is of course Irish so I always use the same spelling when writing about Scotch .

Hope that clears up all the spelling errors for the pedantics out there .


Anyway back to the fridge .


There was indeed a black wire and a red wire .

I connected up my split charge relay as per the manufacturers instructions and went for a drive of around thirty miles ( roughly 20 minutes ) , and the fridge did get colder so it does work .
I also reversed the wiring to see if it made a difference and it did not .



However , because I will be using my van for short trips around town ( probably end up my daily driver ) I have decided that to save my battery and alternator all the strain I am only going to use the fridge on hook up or gas . 

Having said that I hate camp sites so I will probably hook up at home for 24 hours before a trip and just use gas . I never had a fridge in my previous vans so it really is not that important for me 

Thanks for all your help guys .




Steve


P.S 

The scotch was not that brilliant .


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## wivvys dad (Aug 18, 2011)

avandriver said:


> Hope that clears up all the spelling errors for the *pedantics* out there .



We are PEDANTS..............godammit




Sorry....................


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## avandriver (Aug 18, 2011)

OOps 

Now I am making Grammar errors ..




Made me laugh that did . 



Steve


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## runnach (Aug 18, 2011)

davidstokes said:


> Also it runs on gas , but the guy who fitted it before we bought it left a kind of untidy job and as such we smell gas when it runs on gas.  can anybody advise what size the copper piping is so that I can get isolation valves.
> 
> thanks in advance.



As MOS has already said there should be an isolation valve. And from the sounds of it the pipe size could be anything.

Furthermore correct pipe sizing is dependent on variable factors I.E

The distance from the regulator to the appliance
The number of t joints elbow bends etc to the appliance.
The KW rating of the appliances.

A mathematical formula is applied and you end up with the correct sizes.

Naturally this will vary from van to van therefore there is no single answer. 

TBH if the previous owner hasnt fitted isolation valves, I would be concerned re the integrity of your system period.

The reason I say this is if you are testing the system on your van for safety, standard practise is to test the soundness of the pipework up to the appliances with the isolation valves closed and then re test with the isolation valves open this identifies a leaking appliance. 

When the isolation valves are open, there is an allowable tolerance of leakage due to the fact the gas control valves leak as a result of wear and tear.

Channa


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