Am I being a mug

[silverweed]

I posted in an earlier thread that I am having problems with my Dometic fridge. It will not work on 12v but has been fine on gas and hook up. Now here is the rub! I took to to a motorhome workshop to be looked at and he is telling me the elektroblock has gone and it needs a new one but on top of that just coincidentally and suddenly in then 3 hours they have had it the fridge now will not work on gas either ( do not know about hook up). Does that sound feasible to you, do these coincidences happen or am I being suspicious

 

[n brown]

i'd be suspicious too. that seems very unlikely -not impossible of course,but odd !
can;t remember if i replied on your original thread, but if a fridge works on any one of its 3 elements , then the fridge itself is working. so if it has a problem with 12v , then its an electrical problem or the element needs replacing - no big deal. for the gas side to not work the day you take it in for a look is very bad luck ! maybe they'd like to flog you a new fridge ?

 

[delicagirl]

is the gas on ?

 

[colinm]

Putting aside the gas problems, if the 12v/electrobloc needs replacing here's the place to go.
Motorhome/Caravan Servicing, repairs for most Battery Chargers

 

[winks]

I would insist that they put the fridge back to where it was before they removed it, i.e. working on 240v and gas. It should be possible then to sort the 12v operation out. On our Hymer I could hear the 12v supply relay click in as soon as the engine started as its quite a chunky relay (about 30A from memory).

Cheers

H

 

[silverweed]

I haven’t collected it yet. I am outside there workshop now. They are telling me over the phone that the fudge is fine as far as they can see. The problem stems from the electro block failing so they can not put it back as was. Just seems odd that all other 12v was fine until after I left it

 

[1807truckman]

Hi, just my thoughts, if the fridge was working on gas and 240v then I can't see how the elekroblok should affect the gas other than maybe the igniter has died. I'd be very suspicious.
Graham

 

[silverweed]

When I went to collect the van and making it pretty obviouse that I was rather sceptical about all the habitation electrical suddenly not working. I was told that the engineer had worked very hard on it and had managed to restore power to the habitation side again but it was very temperamental and temporary. Fridge working on gas now. But I had to actually pay for that, as he charged me two hours labour so I walked away £120 down. What a load of rot

 

[delicagirl]

is it working n 12v now?

 

[QFour]

Please correct me if i am wrong but don't the fridges need a power source even if they are on gas. The fridge working on 240v must mean the 240v also provides power to the fridge electronics. If you only have gas on the fridge needs another supply either 240v or 12v. The fridge if set on automatic should switch to 12v operation when on the move. When you stop it should switch to gas but also uses 12v.

The Electro Block will probably have a fridge output to sort this out.

..

 

[antiquesam]

Please correct me if i am wrong but don't the fridges need a power source even if they are on gas. The fridge working on 240v must mean the 240v also provides power to the fridge electronics. If you only have gas on the fridge needs another supply either 240v or 12v. The fridge if set on automatic should switch to 12v operation when on the move. When you stop it should switch to gas but also uses 12v.

The Electro Block will probably have a fridge output to sort this out.

..

The only electricity needed when operating on gas is the igniter, and in the old days this was just a flint spark.

 

[vindiboy]

These fridges need a permanent 12 volt feed, mine has a separate feed and a seperate fuse. turning of the habitation 12 volt feed will not [should not ]affect the fridge as stated it has a separate feed.As folks will know my fridge failed altogether.after 2.5 weeks a new one has arrived from Germany but now the agent is very busy with other vans so we are waiting for a fitting date Grrrrr.

 

[silverweed]

I will state it again, the fridge works on gas and there is 12v working in the habitation area which lights the gas, works the step and the pump. The 12v to the fridge stoops working when the ignition is turned on, at this point the control panel on the fridge is totally dead. As soon as the ignition is turned off the fridge sparks up again on gas all on its own as it is an AES fridge.

 

[silverweed]

Vindiboy did you buy the fridge yourself directly from Germany and if so was it a good price compared to buying in the UK. I only ask because there has been so many problems with the one I have that I am on the point of replacing it if it develops another fault

 

[vindiboy]

Vindiboy did you buy the fridge yourself directly from Germany and if so was it a good price compared to buying in the UK. I only ask because there has been so many problems with the one I have that I am on the point of replacing it if it develops another fault

No, we have an Electrolux man in Romsey [whispaire] he does all sorts of motorhome stuff and other things, he checked the fridge out for me when we came home from France and pronounced it dead, he ordered a new one from Germany and now has it at his premises, £1570 ish AES , about £60 cheaper for non AES.

 

[silverweed]

The same price as I paid for my one about 4 years ago

 

[DnK]

ordered a new one from Germany and now has it at his premises, £1570 ish AES , about £60 cheaper for non AES.

We had ours replaced in Estepona after the coolant drained following corrosion of the pipe work, February this year €1200 fitted. Had to wait 10 days for it to come from Germany but as soon as it arrived they fitted it. I thought I'd been stung but it seems I got a fair deal.

 

[cornish hymer]

12volt running fridge

The 12volt side of fridge works when the engine is running,there should be a fuse in the engine compartment,near the battery i think,Quite common for them to blow,so think this might be your problem

 

[Hycon]

The fridge needs a permanent 12v supply for the AES unit to work a fuse may have blown .If it is working on Gas or 240 volt the cooling seystem must be working Ok they are verry reliable .So the fault must be in the AES control pannel.I had a similar problem ( not working on 240volt) and by passed the control pannel and wired 240volt directly to the 240 volt heater via a switch so that it would work when on hook up,not recomended. In your case you may need a new control board , the are very expensive and overpriced for what they are about £160 but cheaper thyan a new fridge.

 

[vindiboy]

The fridge needs a permanent 12v supply for the AES unit to work a fuse may have blown .If it is working on Gas or 240 volt the cooling seystem must be working Ok they are verry reliable .So the fault must be in the AES control pannel.I had a similar problem ( not working on 240volt) and by passed the control pannel and wired 240volt directly to the 240 volt heater via a switch so that it would work when on hook up,not recomended. In your case you may need a new control board , the are very expensive and overpriced for what they are about £160 but cheaper thyan a new fridge.

By passing the control panel is not recommended as you say you will have also by passed the thermostat too, so you have a potential fire risk there I would think, but as you seem to know what you are doing, I am sure you are aware of this.