Help..!!! My fridge is not cooling.. urgent….

Just smiffy

Just smiffy

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Ducato PVC
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My fridge freezer is not cooling, I’ve had it on most of the afternoon and I’ve got a temperature gauge in the freezer compartment and it’s not cooling at all.
It runs on gas fine and the flame is roaring away as in the picture no error codes except when I put it onto 12v (code 7) it also doesn’t switch over to 12v when I start the engine. I haven’t tried it on EHU as I won’t be using it. I not bothered about the 12v much either I just need it working on gas…

I leaving home on Sunday for the ferry (France) on the 3rd and will be away for 10 weeks…
The burner looks recently new and it fires up ok flue seems to be ok..

Any ideas please..?

Thetford N3000 series model C1

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The cooling part works the same whether operating on gas, 12v, or mains. It's therefore useful to be able to operate on more than one power source to determine whether the cooling part is faulty or one of the power sources. Does it work correctly on mains? If it does then the fault is with the gas burner - either the burner itself or with the supply to it.
 
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You may have two different faults or it could be a control PCB issue. Or it could be a refriderant problem.

I would start clean the chimney if its sooted up that will stop it working on gas, normally they still work a bit even when sooted up. But it probably will need a clean anyway.

For the 12v check that you are getting 12v on the heavy wires at the fridge with the engine running if so check the resistance of the element (disconnect it first) should be around 1 ohm. If not could be a relay or fuse.

Any smells of ammonia that would point to a refrigerant leak.

With time so short might be worth investing in a 12v compressor fridge/freezer box.
I think suavecarve got a cheap one that works well.
 
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Lenny HB said:
You may have two different faults or it could be a control PCB issue. Or it could be a refriderant problem.

I would start clean the chimney if its sooted up that will stop it working on gas, normally they still work a bit even when soothed up. But it probably will need a clean anyway.

For the 12v check that you are getting 12v on the heavy wires at the fridge with the engine running if so check the resistance of the element (disconnect it first) should be around 1 ohm. If not could be a relay or fuse.

Any smells of ammonia that would point to a refrigerant leak.

With time so short might be worth investing in a 12v compressor fridge/freezer box.
I think suavecarve got a cheap one that works well.
Click to expand...
Suavecarve got an extremely cheap one off the father in law but had to return it.

Can I ask how old your van is and when it worked last in warm weather. (Assuming it is warm when you have tried it) just in case you have the same problem as me and no baffle was fitted

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I’ll plug it in on EHU and see if that works…
No vent covers..
I haven’t tried it on gas before but I did on electric when I first got it and it worked then.. but not tested on gas before..
Lights up well and stays alight and the flame is roaring…

I’ll try to clean the flue… just dismantled my scaffolding too🤬
 
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Just smiffy said:
I’ll plug it in on EHU and see if that works…
No vent covers..
I haven’t tried it on gas before but I did on electric when I first got it and it worked then.. but not tested on gas before..
Lights up well and stays alight and the flame is roaring…

I’ll try to clean the flue… just dismantled my scaffolding too🤬
Click to expand...
If the flame is roaring as opposed to just being lit (they have two states, lit and roaring) but it isn't cooling then it sounds like you have suffered a refrigerant leak. Check the flue is clear but even if it was a bit blocked it should still cool to some extent. I'm assuming the MH is level.

Your EHU test will help pin point the problem.

Best wishes, we have a Domestic compressor cool box which is great but they aren't cheap.
 
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Just plugged it into EHU, it’s on and acting as it should will check in a few hours, van is as level as can be… won’t be able to clean the flue until tomorrow now as getting dark..
I’ve looked at a compressor fridge/freezer cool box and £400 at Halfords but nearest stock is Croydon which is doable as I’m staying at my sisters near Gatwick until Wednesday, I’m going up to hers on Sunday but now maybe Monday/Tuesday 🤷🏼‍♂️

Trouble is there’s not a lot of room in the van for another cool box..😎
 
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It could be worth checking that the thermistor that is inside the fridge cabinet is in the correct position , it should be clipped on the 5th fin from the right on the cooling fins .

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GeoffnDee said:
It could be worth checking that the thermistor that is inside the fridge cabinet is in the correct position , it should be clipped on the 5th fin from the right on the cooling fins .
Click to expand...
Yep.. all ok on that one.
 
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If you can't be sure that gas previously worked since new, and it works on 12/240 and you have a beautiful flame then the baffle or lack of it or it dropped out of position is a real possibility.

Access to above the flame easy or not ?
 
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suavecarve said:
If you can't be sure that gas previously worked since new, and it works on 12/240 and you have a beautiful flame then the baffle or lack of it or it dropped out of position is a real possibility.

Access to above the flame easy or not ?
Click to expand...

It worked for the last owner, he assures me….😎
 
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Just smiffy said:
It worked for the last owner, he assures me….😎
Click to expand...
Is there any possibility the burner could have been nudged out of position.

When mine went, they changed the burner and it worked (baffleless) on a cold day .
Has to be worth changing it as a trier (Imv)
 
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If the flue is OK simply change the burner. On my last van I messed with the burner for ages. It appeared to be OK but wouldn't cool on gas. It turned out to have an incorrect burner installed - they vary according to fridge model.
 
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tonyidle said:
If the flue is OK simply change the burner. On my last van I messed with the burner for ages. It appeared to be OK but wouldn't cool on gas. It turned out to have an incorrect burner installed - they vary according to fridge model.
Click to expand...

Where to get a new burner at short notice though, that’s my problem..😔😎
 
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You could give these a try if your coming up from cornwall

www.southdevoncampervans.co.uk

Campervan hobs and sinks - South Devon Campervans

South Devon Campervans for hobs, sinks and full campervan kitchen kits. We have everything you need for your campervan conversion.
www.southdevoncampervans.co.uk www.southdevoncampervans.co.uk
Also do compressor ff.
I had a good deal on an Alpicool Taw 45 with removable, internal battery as well.

Screenshot_20230428_232336.jpg
 
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