Glasgow motorhome repair centre

[Fisherman]

Some good news for a change.
On our last trip we had issues with our Dometic absorption fridge.
We were right on the sea front in Elie with 60mph winds all night.
The fridge even at the highest setting could not maintain less than 12c when on gas.
Next day things were not much better but on our last morning it did get the temperature down to 3C.
Only a month ago I had cleaned out the burner.

This morning I took the van to the Glasgow motorhome repair centre for them to check it out.
After about three hours we were told to return.
When we got back we were told after checking things over no fault was found.
The engineer checked the burner and said it did not require any maintenance.
But I was advised that this particular fridge needs covers to be in place when the temperature drops below 10c, which up here is more or less the whole winter. They also advised me that when it’s windy the use of covers are important, as strong winds impair proper ventilation.

So when it came to the bill, they said no charge, I was gobsmacked.
I offered to pay something, but they insisted no charge.
My wife gave them a box of M&S chocolate biscuits she had bought as a Christmas present.

I have used them before for servicing and mots with my other vans, and they have always been reasonable, and I have been pleased with their charges.
But what’s important here is, they could have went to town and claimed we needed this and that done, I know I can trust them in future.

Well I have just started to test the fridge with the lower cover on running on gas, and the difference is substantial. The fridge is working a lot better than without the cover, lesson learned.

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[trevskoda]

Hence why folk now go electric fridge, seems a good lot to deal with.

 

[Fisherman]

Hence why folk now go electric fridge, seems a good lot to deal with.

Yes I would prefer a compressor fridge Trev, but when buying motorhomes you don’t get a choice. Ironically our van now comes with a compressor fridge. But the cost of removing our fridge and replacing it with one (which would have to be exactly the same size) makes this to expensive. Plus I would have to add another one or two 100ah lithium batteries to cope with power demands of a compressor fridge.

 

[trevskoda]

Yes I would prefer a compressor fridge Trev, but when buying motorhomes you don’t get a choice. Ironically our van now comes with a compressor fridge. But the cost of removing our fridge and replacing it with one (which would have to be exactly the same size) makes this to expensive. Plus I would have to add another one or two 100ah lithium batteries to cope with power demands of a compressor fridge.

I have a small fridge which cost me £50 as new, run 2 90 ah lead acids and 200w solar, but some folk require a large fridge and it would use nearly double the power mine does.

 

[2cv]

I’ve used the Glasgow Motorhome Repair Centre in the past and always found them to be excellent too.

 

[Wooie1958]

I know a lot of people on here say using the fridge vent covers is a load of bolloxs and makes no difference what so ever but i always found different.

Our fridge usage point was 8C and they made quite a difference when used so i just kept using them as per the instructions and the fridge worked great.

At the other end of the scale i fitted 2 computer fans which were " silent " so i could leave them running all night if needed especially in the south of France.

 

[Fisherman]

I know a lot of people on here say using the fridge vent covers is a load of bolloxs and makes no difference what so ever but i always found different.

Our fridge usage point was 8C and they made quite a difference when used so i just kept using them as per the instructions and the fridge worked great.

At the other end of the scale i fitted 2 computer fans which were " silent " so i could leave them running all night if needed especially in the south of France.

The use of fridge covers can make a great difference when used in temperature below 10c.
But this varies from fridge to fridge. When we got this van I was surprised to find that the fridge came supplied with two covers, I had to buy them for my previous two vans. I think Dometic did this due to the performance of this fridge. It certainly made a difference when I tried the cover out yesterday. But only use the lower cover when using gas, both being fine on electric.

They work by limiting the amount of cold air entering the vent creating a micro climate behind the fridge which assists the absorption process.

I will leave this lower cover on for the next three months unless we get some warmer weather.

 

[Tonybvi]

I’ve had my van for over 5 years now and have always put the covers on both top and bottom when the clocks change in Autumn and take them off when the clocks change in Spring (same as I swap to winter tyres on the cars). It is a three way AES fridge which runs on gas or electricity. I have never had any issues with having both vents on in this time, neither when I did the same with my previous Frankia. Both vent covers have air spaces cut out in them top and bottom which I have always assumed allows both to be on when running on gas. As stated above I’ve never had an issue with both vent covers being on and it’s a bit of a faff to remove the top one every time it automatically switches to gas.

 

[Fisherman]

I’ve had my van for over 5 years now and have always put the covers on both top and bottom when the clocks change in Autumn and take them off when the clocks change in Spring (same as I swap to winter tyres on the cars). It is a three way AES fridge which runs on gas or electricity. I have never had any issues with having both vents on in this time, neither when I did the same with my previous Frankia. Both vent covers have air spaces cut out in them top and bottom which I have always assumed allows both to be on when running on gas. As stated above I’ve never had an issue with both vent covers being on and it’s a bit of a faff to remove the top one every time it automatically switches to gas.

I can only go on what the manufacturer states.
They state that using a top cover can lead to a build up of CO2 behind the fridge which could get inside the van, and that it can also affect ventilation making the fridge run
inefficiently. If you don’t have a CO2 detector fitted I would fit one and make sure it’s working properly. In your position possibly running with just the lower cover would suffice. The most important cover being the lower.

 

[Tonybvi]

I have both a CO2 detector and a smoke detector fitted. My vent covers are similar to those shown below and I reckon that the cut outs top and bottom should be adequate for any CO2 to escape. The only caveat Thetford recommend is that the covers should be removed if temperatures consistently rise above 8deg which I hadn’t appreciated before, so in the unlikely event of a warm spell in N E Scotland during the time my covers are on I shall remove then.

 

[Fisherman]

I have both a CO2 detector and a smoke detector fitted. My vent covers are similar to those shown below and I reckon that the cut outs top and bottom should be adequate for any CO2 to escape. The only caveat Thetford recommend is that the covers should be removed if temperatures consistently rise above 8deg which I hadn’t appreciated before, so in the unlikely event of a warm spell in N E Scotland during the time my covers are on I shall remove then.

View attachment 147965

Very similar to ours.
Probably a case of the manufacturer covering themselves.
The chances of this leading to CO2 build up would be negligible.
And your CO2 detector will detect any levels long before they become dangerous.

 

[Wooie1958]

Mine being older had the gas flue seperate so having the top cover on didn`t bother that side of it.

The flue vent is on the right side with its own small cover that was fitted all the time.