Caravan fridge problems

[laurieash]

Hi all
I used my caravan last weekend, the fridge when i pluged it into the mains tripped the house fuse reset tryed again,triped again? last time on mains it was fine.tryed on gas would not light i could hear gas and the igniter was working as it would pop the gas but would not light. caravan was level, gas was through not air, any one got any ideas.
Laurie.

 

[elpeede]

H'mm I'm no expert but most fridges run off a compressor.. it may be that this has got siezed. I am doubtling that Caravan fridges have a compressor mind... they may just have a heater to heat the refridgerant (I know it sounds odd but it the way it is) It may be the heater element has gone short circuit hence it keeps blowing the trip.

As for the gas not working.. maybe that points more to an issue with the switch which selects which option you are using.

Sorry can't be any more help.. I've just emptied my head of caravan fridge content

 

[solarman216]

regarding the mains tripping, was it earth leakage or circuit breaker? the fridge only has a small heater in it connected through a stat, so check the cabling and the heater connections for faults, re the gas if it was popping but not lighting I expect the jet is part blocked, it not much more than a pilot light so the orifice is very small do not attack it with wire etc just blow it with compressed air if poss, Rick

 

[Deleted account DD]

When we got our current cravan in Oct 2008 it had very similar problems to what you describe.

The gas was getting through and the igniter sparking but not lighting. It would not work on 240v but did not trip out.

They could not work out what was wrong and in the end the manf replaced the absorption/heat exchanger assy under warranty.

That fixed it. The best description the useless gits could give me was that "it was knackered so 240v wouldnt work at all and it wouldnt let the gas light to protect itself"

Not the best engineering explanation but it does make sense for the "dual" problem that's suddenly appeared on yours.

How youll test yours I dont know :nenau

 

[laurieash]

regarding the mains tripping, was it earth leakage or circuit breaker? the fridge only has a small heater in it connected through a stat, so check the cabling and the heater connections for faults, re the gas if it was popping but not lighting I expect the jet is part blocked, it not much more than a pilot light so the orifice is very small do not attack it with wire etc just blow it with compressed air if poss, Rick

The house fuse tripped not the caravan one,would i have to take the fridge out to work on it?

 

[R1cho]

fridge? in my day we put food in bag and tied it to string and then dangled it tin river :lol:lol on a more seriouse note sounds like the element is shorting out and may need replacing.

 

[laurieash]

fridge? in my day we put food in bag and tied it to string and then dangled it tin river :lol:lol on a more seriouse note sounds like the element is shorting out and may need replacing.

I dont beleve you tied your bag and put your dangly bits in the river,not with the amount of kids you have:lol:lol Laurie

 

[R1cho]

i have no idea what you mean :augie:augie

 

[solarman216]

The house fuse tripped not the caravan one,would i have to take the fridge out to work on it?

if the house "fuse" blew or MCB tripped then I would guess the element has shorted, a test with a meter can confirm that, yes to work on it you will need to remove it, they are Ammonia absorption cycle fridges and as long as they have not lost gas will work on any heat source, Rick

 

[R1cho]

if the house "fuse" blew or MCB tripped then I would guess the element has shorted,

heyyyyy thats what i said :lol:lol

 

[solarman216]

heyyyyy thats what i said :lol:lol

that was next post down, had not read that one, so your ball, but you did not tell him he had to remove it to work on it, (light hearted) sorry my smilies do not work it is something to do with my browser Opera, they work with internet explorer but it is far too slow, Rick

 

[R1cho]

but you did not tell him he had to remove it to work on it,

have to let them work some things out themselves :lol:lol:augie:augie just jokin to be honest i only know about fridges from workin in pubs in my younger years and what he said fit with the probs they had we jut called sum1 in to fix it :lol

 

[solarman216]

have to let them work some things out themselves :lol:lol:augie:augie just jokin to be honest i only know about fridges from workin in pubs in my younger years and what he said fit with the probs they had we jut called sum1 in to fix it :lol

yea but that dont fix my smilies, Rick

 

[R1cho]

yea but that dont fix my smilies, Rick

try google chrome or firefox then, myself i use firefox but am thinking of changing to google chrome, they are both alot faster than internet explorer but have all features

 

[solarman216]

try google chrome or firefox then, myself i use firefox but am thinking of changing to google chrome, they are both alot faster than internet explorer but have all features

I got the latest firefox but it is unstable on my machine and it is slower than Opera, I run a laptop with an Orange dongle, Opera used to allow smilies but some parameter must have changed and I cannot find what it is, Rick

 

[laurieash]

Fridge

Hi guys fixed fridge a guy told me that run the fridge on gas for a few days and that will dry out the elmement that gets damp and creats the short. tryed it it works fine now no tripping out:thumbs
Laurie.

 

[rustic]

Hi guys fixed fridge a guy told me that run the fridge on gas for a few days and that will dry out the elmement that gets damp and creats the short. tryed it it works fine now no tripping out:thumbs
Laurie.

But you said it wouldn't work on gas, so how come you got it working on gas to dry it out :nenau

 

[rustic]

re the gas if it was popping but not lighting I expect the jet is part blocked, it not much more than a pilot light so the orifice is very small do not attack it with wire etc just blow it with compressed air if poss, Rick

I have the same problem on the boat fridge, it's fine when on hook up 240 volts, but will not stay lit, and also the spark is quite small.
On 12 Volts DC, I won't consider it as the current draw is too high.

Last time ( 6+ years ago) some rust bridged the spark gap, so only option is to remove it and clean the jet as well.
Thanks for the advice Rick,

best regards, Richard ( Rustic).

 

[laurieash]

But you said it wouldn't work on gas, so how come you got it working on gas to dry it out :nenau

kept trying, as i could hear the gas from the vent outside of van,and could see the spark, then it just fired up so left it on for the week.
Laurie.

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

Sounds dodgy i know but if you take the vent off the outside you can light the gas with a long necked (BBQ type) gas lighter. It is only an emergency option though. If you have ignition problems it is better to get it sorted properly :thumb2