Fridge advice needed

[Drover]

Have you tried redoing all the connections in the 2 connector blocks as I know they can be troublesome, they also look to be a bit on the exposed side.

We had a CI motorhome before for 10 years, never any problem but the vent was in a different place...
The chausson we now have has 2 vents, the photo shows the bottom one, the pipe is for the oven/grill that's above the fridge.
I have checked the connections but not renewed them.

 

[jagmanx]

Just checked the sizes and they are identical,

Either that or so near..
We might have had to ditch our oven which sits above the fridge !
No problem we now never used it much as an oven.
Now not at all...
(Ridge monkey and dutch oven does for us)
For most of its life it is a bread bin anyway.
So we expected to replace it with a cupboard

 

[Channelcrosser]

Plus this bit I dont like.
View attachment 117311

Hi Drover that looks identical to our PCB which has been found to be faulty. If it is the same one it is obsolete now and difficult to obtain. However Apuljack have sourced another PCB with identical terminals used on a later model fridge freezer which will cost me about £200. We will lose the red and blue lights and the frame heater but that is not important to us.
Dometic had the PCBs manufactured in Taiwan (or Thailand) and whilst they retained the ownership of the design they didnt own the software that was needed to drive it. Apparently the software is no longer available or not accesible ????

 

[campervanannie]

Sally has been thinking that perhaps we could just get a fridge and forget the freezer part of it.....
Though ours is a large fridge/freezer.

OMG you will miss it it’s the one thing since downsizing from a Rapido motorhome to a Adria Twin camper that I really miss it was alwAys full of ice cubes for drinks and lollies and ice cream for those warm days with the odd bit of proper food in it .

 

[trevskoda]

We dont have a fridge that size at home, more like for hiding stowaways in.

 

[wildebus]

OMG you will miss it it’s the one thing since downsizing from a Rapido motorhome to a Adria Twin camper that I really miss it was alwAys full of ice cubes for drinks and lollies and ice cream for those warm days with the odd bit of proper food in it .

And to confirm this, when I changed from a Camper with a good sized fridge but just a little icebox to a near full-size Fridge-Freezer in the Motorhome, having a proper freezer was great. I would not like to go back to a simple Fridge again.

 

[Drover]

Hi Drover that looks identical to our PCB which has been found to be faulty. If it is the same one it is obsolete now and difficult to obtain. However Apuljack have sourced another PCB with identical terminals used on a later model fridge freezer which will cost me about £200. We will lose the red and blue lights and the frame heater but that is not important to us.
Dometic had the PCBs manufactured in Taiwan (or Thailand) and whilst they retained the ownership of the design they didnt own the software that was needed to drive it. Apparently the software is no longer available or not accesible ????

Just spent a good few quid on heater elements but I think chucking another £200 at it in the hope it cures it looks like a no.
It's going to be a compressor one as the 240 ones are too short or too tall to fill the hole.

 

[mistericeman]

It's going to be a compressor one as the 240 ones are too short or too tall to fill the hole.

I'm surprised at that ....
I had to look hard as the one in our swift seemed an odd size ...
BUT got one that was spot on in the end .

 

[Drover]

OMG you will miss it it’s the one thing since downsizing from a Rapido motorhome to a Adria Twin camper that I really miss it was alwAys full of ice cubes for drinks and lollies and ice cream for those warm days with the odd bit of proper food in it .

Sshhh!!! don't tell Sally she has forgot about the ice cubes for her Gin.
I don't have them in whisky.

 

[Drover]

I'm surprised at that ....
I had to look hard as the one in our swift seemed an odd size ...
BUT got one that was spot on in the end .

Its 1245 high x 523 wide.. we dont want to go down to under the counter size .
Though we have only looked at one distributor for a 240 volt one to run from an inverter.

 

[wildebus]

Its 1245 high x 523 wide.. we dont want to go down to under the counter size .
Though we have only looked at one distributor for a 240 volt one to run from an inverter.

When you say you looked at one distributor for a 240V one, was this a marine distributor such as Shoreline? If you are looking at 240V fridges and Fridge/Freezers you have loads of places to look at, from on-line places like Amazon to Curreys, John Lewis, and lots of Retail Shops. I bought my LEC fridge from AO.com

Original Thetford

Replacement 240V Fridge

 

[wildebus]

Just spent a good few quid on heater elements but I think chucking another £200 at it in the hope it cures it looks like a no.
It's going to be a compressor one as the 240 ones are too short or too tall to fill the hole.

As a bit of an FYI, I actually sold my 3-way fridge for only slightly less than I paid for the new 240V Fridge/Freezer. It was operational but in fact that may not have mattered as the person who bought it only really needed the body of it as his current same-model was left off with food in and got contaminated. Sold it on eBay.

You never know who might want what you are getting shot of!

 

[Drover]

As a bit of an FYI, I actually sold my 3-way fridge for only slightly less than I paid for the new 240V Fridge/Freezer. It was operational but in fact that may not have mattered as the person who bought it only really needed the body of it as his current same-model was left off with food in and got contaminated. Sold it on eBay.

You never know who might want what you are getting shot of!

The 12 volt link jagmanx put up is a perfect fit. Though a bit smaller freezer would be perfect...
I should be able to find something to fit and thanks to advice on here I now know 12 or 240 will work. So the 3 way will be going .

 

[Nabsim]

I have a 110ltr Waeco compressor fridge, been running it for years and it is excellent in all weathers and any ground levels (have overnighted on some silly slopes). If I turn the dial up it will make the whole unit a freezer if you ever needed to do that. One thing to be aware of you need a lot of power if you are off grid, mine uses approx 48amps per 24 hours

 

[jagmanx]

I have a 110ltr Waeco compressor fridge, been running it for years and it is excellent in all weathers and any ground levels (have overnighted on some silly slopes). If I turn the dial up it will make the whole unit a freezer if you ever needed to do that. One thing to be aware of you need a lot of power if you are off grid, mine uses approx 48amps per 24 hours

Worth a look I am sure..
For me I would like a unit that. Causes minimum disruption to the fixings fittings and matches as far as possible.
As posted I would prefer a 12v unit.
We have 2x 100 amp-hour batteries and solar and only use the vehicle in summer.
We try not to have EHU so I think it all works.
For now our 3 way is still good and suits us but if it fails..
"I have a cunning plan" that does not involve Baldrick !
Ps we have had 2 moderately expensive fridge repairs (both gas related).So 3 strikes and it is out!⁶

 

[Drover]

I'm seriously trying to give our fridge a second chance to pull itself together, but it ain't cutting it....
It worked yesterday so I turned it off last night and switching it back on this morning........nothing , just half the leds on but can just make out aes .so if nothing by this afternoon I'll plug it into ehu and see what happens as its had a new heater element
Sally says just get it out of there and be done with it,
Though not holding up any hope.
Trying to find a half decent 80/20 or 80/ 40 split 240volt one with a width of 523 max and door hinge on the left is nigh on impossible ....though it is the cheapest option.
So far I've found 2x 12 volt compressor ones and 1 two way (gas and 240) that are under £1500 but out of stock. I have a limit.
The link for the thetford jagmanx put up is 2 mm too wide but tech give sizes the same.... guess it needs to come out to measure it with a lazer before I order it.
Who would have thought it could be so hard to swap a fridge for my now discontinued one. Though not wanting another 3 way one.

 

[wildebus]

I'm seriously trying to give our fridge a second chance to pull itself together, but it ain't cutting it....
It worked yesterday so I turned it off last night and switching it back on this morning........nothing , just half the leds on but can just make out aes .so if nothing by this afternoon I'll plug it into ehu and see what happens as its had a new heater element
Sally says just get it out of there and be done with it,
Though not holding up any hope.
Trying to find a half decent 80/20 or 80/ 40 split 240volt one with a width of 523 max and door hinge on the left is nigh on impossible ....though it is the cheapest option.
So far I've found 2x 12 volt compressor ones and 1 two way (gas and 240) that are under £1500 but out of stock. I have a limit.
The link for the thetford jagmanx put up is 2 mm too wide but tech give sizes the same.... guess it needs to come out to measure it with a lazer before I order it.
Who would have thought it could be so hard to swap a fridge for my now discontinued one. Though not wanting another 3 way one.

The typical 240V only fridge would usually have reversible doors. something to consider if that power option is still under consideration?

Something else to bear in mind is actually getting the old one out the door! If your current fridge is the same size as the Thetford in the link, and your habitation door is the same width as most motorhomes, it will be a very tight squeeze. You might even have to take it out the cab?
When we removed my old one (same size as that Thetford), we had to take the rubber seal off the door surround and lift the fridge up over the bottom link and push it pretty hard. It was so tight the printed label on the side of the fridge peeled off as it was going out the door!

 

[Drover]

The typical 240V only fridge would usually have reversible doors. something to consider if that power option is still under consideration?

Something else to bear in mind is actually getting the old one out the door! If your current fridge is the same size as the Thetford in the link, and your habitation door is the same width as most motorhomes, it will be a very tight squeeze. You might even have to take it out the cab?
When we removed my old one (same size as that Thetford), we had to take the rubber seal off the door surround and lift the fridge up over the bottom link and push it pretty hard. It was so tight the printed label on the side of the fridge peeled off as it was going out the door!

Didn't think of the door... just measured it and has 7mm to spare.
Fridge is on the left and has to go out the door on the right by the mat on the floor.

 

[exwindsurfer]

Sorry to say I am sending a waeco 110 crx fridge back today as it not fit for purpose it only run between 16 and 42 c and is classed as a tropical fridge I was not impressed. Now thinking of using a domestic fridge through my invert seeing I had 400amps of lithium and 600watts of solar.i bought it from Jacksons leasure.

 

[Drover]

Exwindsurfer that's a bugger.

I have just ordered a compressor fridge/ freezer from jacksons leisure. It is on a container ship and should be here on 25th feb...
Many thanks for all the input by everyone
It's much appreciated