Lazy-Ferret
21-07-2015, 20:26
Can anyone answer where I need to look to find out why my caravan fridge actually heats up when on 12V.
When on either Mains electric, or Gas, it is super efficient, often freezing the contents of both the fridge and the freezer section, if we do not pay attention.
Ever since we have had the van, we have thought there was an issue with the 12v not keeping the fridge cool, but because of the way the car was set up, with 13pin socket, and the caravan with 2x7pin, with a converter lead, I blamed that to start. A few weeks back, I sorted all that out, but found that when connected to the car, the engine revs needed to be raised in order to get the volts up enough to turn the voltage sensing relay for the fridge to pull in, and this therefore needed 2 people to test.
After a quick test, when my wife was available, I was pleased to see that the blue light stopped flashing, and the number 10 fault code disappeared. At last my fridge seemed to be finally happy on 12 volt.
Next outing was only a short run, and again the fridge did not seem to be cool upon arrival on site, despite pre-cooling it etc. I wondered if the voltage on the car was dropping when all the lights and wipers were on, causing the voltage sensing relay to drop out, so I re-wired the car, and fitted a relay that triggered only when the engine was running.
When we went off to Wales last week, and as usual, pre-cooled the fridge on the Wednesday, and loaded it up on the Thursday, with many items that were frozen so they would not only help keep the fridge cool, but defrost ready to use over the next couple of days. We departed early Friday morning, and on the journey, when ever we stopped for a comfort break, I would leave the car running, run round and open up the caravan, and make sure the fridge blue light was on and not flashing, before returning to the car and stopping the engine. All seemed OK.
When we arrived on site the fridge was colder than the outside air temp, but not properly cold, but as it was a very hot day, we just thought we were being paranoid. On the home journey, the same thing happened.
Today, I decided to look into it further, and made a lead up to connect the fridge directly to a charged battery. I checked the current, and it was drawing just under 12amp, so was fairly happy the element is working, but after leaving it for an hour, when I opened the fridge, which was empty, it was like opening an oven door, the air inside was actually hot.
The fridge is in an Adria Adora and very well fitted and sealed.The 2 vents only give you access to the area directly above the flues, and the very bottom where the gas jet, and electrical connection box are. I can see the wires for the two heating elements disappear up to the area between the vents, where there is no way to get to the back, other than removing the whole unit from the van, which I do not want to do until I have some idea what I am looking for.
Anyone had this, or know where and what to look for?
When on either Mains electric, or Gas, it is super efficient, often freezing the contents of both the fridge and the freezer section, if we do not pay attention.
Ever since we have had the van, we have thought there was an issue with the 12v not keeping the fridge cool, but because of the way the car was set up, with 13pin socket, and the caravan with 2x7pin, with a converter lead, I blamed that to start. A few weeks back, I sorted all that out, but found that when connected to the car, the engine revs needed to be raised in order to get the volts up enough to turn the voltage sensing relay for the fridge to pull in, and this therefore needed 2 people to test.
After a quick test, when my wife was available, I was pleased to see that the blue light stopped flashing, and the number 10 fault code disappeared. At last my fridge seemed to be finally happy on 12 volt.
Next outing was only a short run, and again the fridge did not seem to be cool upon arrival on site, despite pre-cooling it etc. I wondered if the voltage on the car was dropping when all the lights and wipers were on, causing the voltage sensing relay to drop out, so I re-wired the car, and fitted a relay that triggered only when the engine was running.
When we went off to Wales last week, and as usual, pre-cooled the fridge on the Wednesday, and loaded it up on the Thursday, with many items that were frozen so they would not only help keep the fridge cool, but defrost ready to use over the next couple of days. We departed early Friday morning, and on the journey, when ever we stopped for a comfort break, I would leave the car running, run round and open up the caravan, and make sure the fridge blue light was on and not flashing, before returning to the car and stopping the engine. All seemed OK.
When we arrived on site the fridge was colder than the outside air temp, but not properly cold, but as it was a very hot day, we just thought we were being paranoid. On the home journey, the same thing happened.
Today, I decided to look into it further, and made a lead up to connect the fridge directly to a charged battery. I checked the current, and it was drawing just under 12amp, so was fairly happy the element is working, but after leaving it for an hour, when I opened the fridge, which was empty, it was like opening an oven door, the air inside was actually hot.
The fridge is in an Adria Adora and very well fitted and sealed.The 2 vents only give you access to the area directly above the flues, and the very bottom where the gas jet, and electrical connection box are. I can see the wires for the two heating elements disappear up to the area between the vents, where there is no way to get to the back, other than removing the whole unit from the van, which I do not want to do until I have some idea what I am looking for.
Anyone had this, or know where and what to look for?