trouble with fridge

rugbyken

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this year for the first time my fridge is struggling to cope although it’s 30+ outside the sensor in the fridge varies between 10 overnight to 17 by lunchtime, i did run it for a while on my changeover bottle which doesn’t have an inline filter so may be dirty fuel but it was struggling before that , freezer is still solid and stuff is cool so obviously working to a degree is the problem likely to be the burner or the flue ? ?
 
We had similar last year.
It was the burner. That would be my first item to check or fully replace..
How old is the fridge ?
Our burner was and looked "burnt out"

Later in the same tour the gas control valve packed up and that meant no gas at all.
 
It sounds like you may have to clean the jet out, it's a shame I'm not there to help.
You could try removing the grills on the outside of the van first it might just be the heat.i assume you've got the side of the van with the fridge in the shade.
Good luck , I hope you sort it out.
 
We had similar problem during that record breaking temp period back in July. Had fridge serviced and jet was partially blocked (it doesn't take much as the jet is no bigger than a pinhole). No problems now.
 
someone else advised leaving the panels off , wully gave me a usb 3” fan and i took it out through the window and placed it next to heat exchanger and in half an hour went from 18.7 to 5.9 so i drilled a hole through and picked up a spare usb point & thought sorted but it climbed back up to 12 again have repositioned fan & trying again in these temperatures if i can achieve 5.5 i’ll be happy
 
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If you find a fan is the solution to the problem, and decide to fit a fan, it can be a good idea to get a set up
with a thermostat setting and 3 way switch, Off, and On manual, with the 3rd position being
thermostat setting, which means the fan switches on automatically soon as the temp. at the back off the
fridge rises to a predetermined level. CAK Tanks sell single and twin fan setups.
 
As a start check and clean burner.
If you take video before and after you should be able to see if you've made improvement.
 
I’ve just had the same problem with my fridge,
Our local caravan place suggested dirty jet, so I replaced it, stupid price for a tiny bit of tin, £16.99
That didn’t do much, but it did improve slightly,
His other advice was to fully remove fridge and turn it upside down to move the liquid about in the pipes,
A bit sceptical, but nowt to loose, and it’s worked a treat......Colder than its ever been
 
yes, the upsidey downy thing is one of those unlikely sounding things that actually works. first thing i do with any fridge i get hold of
 
Great tip - it would be a big job on my fridge-freezer but if it saved me £1300 replacement would be worth the effort!
Will try to remember if get a problem.
 
My telly was playing up so I tried the turning it upside down thing now I’ve got a sore neck. Hope you’re fridge is working now ken remember last year when the cooker gave a wobbly you might have picked a bad load of gas up somewhere abroad and when it runs low it’s drawing all the crap up and causing you’re problems. Anyway you deserve a nice hot beer 30 degrees are we supposed to feel sorry for ye 😜
 
went along to Camperserve at loule yesterday he’s a bit longwinded but knows his stuff gave it a thorough check over said it wasn’t far from what he would expect given age of fridge but he serviced it said it wasn’t bad but burner had a lot of rust so he renewed that appears to be working ok touch wood, apparently the sealed cooler unit in these type of fridges has an ammonia based coolant in them and over time this will gel if left standing too long thus upending it to remix has a degree of possiblity but a new cooler unit is about £350 a lot cheaper than £1300 for a new fridge
 
I hope that the service sorts out your problems.
A while back I had similar problems and a new burner sorted them, so fingers crossed.
Just an aside, it makes me a little jealous reading about your travels, keep it up.
 
Can picture where you are. Nice.
Just had fridge fans fitted and had to turn the fridge setting down from 4 to 3 ... the fridge was freezing... they use work. So why aren't they a standard part of the build?
 
Just remember to fit the fans at the bottom vent blowing up through the cavity as per Thetford and Dometic's own advice. That way the blown air flows across the fins at the back of the fridge and you are helping the physics of the warm air rising by pushing it out of the top vent.

Many folks fit them at the top to try and suck the air through but this is simply not as efficient.

Graham
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the guy at camperserve reported problems with fans fitted at bottom disrupting flames and insisted top only, he showed me a dometic post fit a frame with two fans and a thermostatic probe that dropped down into the fins at €56 i said i’d leave it and just put a switch in line for when it’s hot
 
I had one fitted in the bottom vent in my last MH and it worked fine tbh.

As I say its what Dometic and Thetford recommend...


Graham
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this is obviously one of those contentious things . to me , with heat rising as it does ,it seems more sensible to fit any fans at the top vent. if you take into account that the flame is at the bottom , plus any dust and debris on the floor , even more so
 
The fans do not have enough 'oomph' in them to pick up debris from the bottom of the vent chamber.

Logic to me suggests the opposite of what you say: if heat rises it makes sense to draw in cooler air to help it rise.

The way I see it is if you were in your house and were warm and wanted to put a desk fan on, you would stand in front of it to receive the cooling effect, not behind it.

As you say though, it is a subject of some conjecture.

Graham
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