1997 Hymer Electrolux Fridge wiring

David Tester

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My fridge in my 1997 Hymer is causing the circuit 1 10A fuse to blow, I have disconnected the blue (12v positive) wire from the terminal on the top of the fridge, this terminal is an integral part of the casing of the fridge, it no longer blows the fuse when disconnected. Why would the blue 12 volt positive wire be wired to the fridge casing, I would have thought this terminal should be a brown negative wire.

Actually the hymer is my daughters so dad gets the good jobs to do on it.
 
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The colours differ on hymers,if you give tezza33 a shout he is clued up on the hymer wires and may be able to assist you
we have many knowledgeable members on here with a vast range of help provided well worth thinking about a membership for this alone imho
good luck and let us know the outcome
 
The colours differ on hymers,if you give tezza33 a shout he is clued up on the hymer wires and may be able to assist you
we have many knowledgeable members on here with a vast range of help provided well worth thinking about a membership for this alone imho
good luck and let us know the outcome
Thank you for the reply, the wiring on my Hymer is Blue 12 v positive, Brown 12 v negative, so I can`t understand why a 12v positive would be wired to a tag on the fridge casing.
 
No its negative earth, I have a good multimeter and spent all my working life in the electronics industry so can find my way round a circuit, but thanks for the reply.
 
Blue is positive but the blue wire should be connected as in this picture, check the terminal it is connected to (with the wire disconnected) and I don't think it it is an earth connection, you will find an earth connection spade terminal blind rivetted somewhere else on the top of the fridge
Hymer fridge.jpg
Does it just blow the fuse when the fridge is turned to 12v?
Has it worked OK before?
If yes then I would check the 12v element
 
Thank you for the post. The wiring on our fridge is slightly different to the photo, the pair of blue wires in one crimp tag are terminated to a tag rivetted to the top plate of the fridge, a continuity check show that the fridge top is also connected to negative thus giving a short circuit and blowing the 10A fuse in the control unit circuit 1, obviously when the tag with the blue wires is disconnected from the fridge top the fuse stays intact, if the tag with the blue wires shouldn`t be connected to the fridge top, where should they be connected? The Hymer was recently purchased second hand, the previous owners admitted always having a problem with the fridge, probably only using it on mains hook up.
 
Can you post the model number of your fridge please, Hymer fridge wiring is unlike any other I have seen but usually blue is positive and brown is negative, have you checked if the blue wires are 12v when disconnected, looking closely at the picture above that does look to be an earth tag so I think you will find that is a negative cable
here is a better picture showing as you said it is to the fridge top
Hymer fridge 2_InPixio.png
If you look at this picture the brown negative cable going into the connector has a blue cable connected to the other end, it is clearly marked negative, I think this is the cable you are disconnecting so I now suspect it is an earth connection, check if the fridge case is earthed when this is removed
The 12V feed for the heater are the red & white wires to the 1st and 2nd terminal block and 12V feed for light & igniter are the brown and blue wires to the 4th and 5th terminal block,
Hymer fridge 3.jpg

As I said Hymer fridge wiring is complicated because it also uses white as an earth connection
IMG_20160731_173723.jpg
A few things for you to ponder but you are obviously knowledgable, does your interior light and ignitor work?
There must be a short in one of them or the 12v heater
 
Unfortunately the fridge label is missing so I can`t determine the model, blue shows positive on my Fluke when disconnected from the tag on the fridge but I will check again, the igniter doesn`t work and I haven`t checked the interior light or 12 volt element so will do so next. Didn`t realise that the Germans were so mixed up with there colour codes, seems to me that can be quite dangerous.
Thank you for taking so much trouble to help with this problem, its satisfying to know that someone is prepared to give their time to help.
 
This forum and its sister forums are full of people who like to help, if you live close enough or go to a meet most of them will even physically help, even with your electrical experience you can see how nothing could prepare you for a Hymer fridge :unsure: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

After you have done more checks please post the results, could you check if the fridge casing is earthed with the blue wire removed?
 
I think you've answered your own inital question really.
As to where the blue wire should go - knowing the model or seeing a few photos of main connectors might help.
 
As I said in my first post, the Hymer is my daughters so i`ll get a photo this week.
We have a La Strada Regent L 2001 on the Mercedes Sprinter 213 CDI, just having the ABS unit replaced plus steering joints, rear silencer and wiper blades to get it through the MOT, by Mercedes commercial dealers, estimate £3,800, this motorhome hobby can be expensive can`t it.
 
On the models I have worked on (2001 onwards) the blue wire with the that you are uncoupling goes to the earth connection on ignitor so if it does have 12v supply on it that could be where your 'short' is, I think you may be getting in your Daughters good books by removing the fridge to replace the igniter 😵
Blue wire.jpg reignitor.png

If you can get a picture of the front to identify the model number it would be useful
 
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There is a standard for wiring colours for DC wiring, but my Hymer has the polarity the "wrong" way round. However, there are a couple of circuits where somebody has wired it the "right" way in subsequent modifications.
I suspect that your fridge wiring may have been meddled with in the past, so you can't assume any connection is correct.
 

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