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

Just smiffy

Just smiffy

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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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If cleaning the flue doesn’t fix it then I’ll have to ring every caravan/motorhome place between Redruth and Crawley to see if they’ve got one I could pick up on the way…😎
 
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Just smiffy said:
I need it tomorrow or Tuesday latest…
it’s bank holiday Monday
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Oh crap... Not good then. Just noticed you are Cornwall end of the country. Just wondering if eddievanbitz can suggest anything as he is down that way and knows his stuff? Sorry Eddie.
 
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Gromett said:
Oh crap... Not good then. Just noticed you are Cornwall end of the country. Just wondering if eddievanbitz can suggest anything as he is down that way and knows his stuff? Sorry Eddie.
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I am confident that us Funsters will make sure Just smiffy will have his beers cold for this trip 👍

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Just a thought, the burner is just a flame spreader on the Dometic's it's only held in with metal tabs probably the same on yours. If the flame not central to the chimney that can affect performance, had that problem on our last van.
 
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Gromett said:
Oh crap... Not good then. Just noticed you are Cornwall end of the country. Just wondering if eddievanbitz can suggest anything as he is down that way and knows his stuff? Sorry Eddie.
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No sorry I’m away in the SOF

12v Mains or gas produce heat, try it on mains if it doesn‘t work on mains either it’s probably not the board😢

You said it’s not working with engine running, on the actual circuit board there is a 20 amp (25 amp on newer ones) blade fuse which will have failed, your probably before as the cover is off (missing) in your picture) and is covered by what looks like a sponge

Good luck
 
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Where are you headed? If you can't get the exact one. Someone might be able to deliver.
 
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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.
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Same with mine.

Wrong burner fitted, changed and been fine since. 👍
 
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I going to clean the burner and the flue today so hopefully that’ll sort it, if not I’ll have to phone around and see if I can get a new burner from Redruth to Crawley, I’ve got the ferry at Newhaven on Wednesday…

Incidentally on mains last night for a couple of hours the fridge got down to 4c so it’s working well on EHU… need it working on gas as I’m not doing sites on EHU…😎

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For your 12v …Your pcb photo is the exact same as ours and on our last hab check it was picked up the fridge wouldn’t run on 12v, was advised to replace the pcb, if you take the board off there’s a 20 amp fuse under it, try checking that for the 12v issue. Our fuse just needed replacing, it was rather a loose fitting so melted.
 
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Ok just finished cleaning the jet and got a flexible plastic tube to shove up the flue as far as I could and very little dust and no soot came out all is clean as far as I can see.

Had the top vent off and the top of the glue is half way down and can’t see much but all looks ok, I have a good roaring flame so now have it on and will see..
Have checked fuses in the black box and all ok there for the 12v side of things..
As said last night it works great on ehu not bothered too much about 12v just need it working on gas..😎

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if you get it down on ehu then swop to gas but have it set as low as possible as most will not work well the lower you try to set them on gas. Middle or less seems to work better
*In fact mine doesn't like trying to reduce the temperature on gas when the side of the van is in the sun. get it down on ehu & then swop over & it will cope all the time.

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Well….. I’ve had it on gas and I went out in it to a few camper shops to see if I could get a new burner, anyway the freezer compartment is down to 6c, so on to the next shop and it’s up to 8c anyway no burners stocked so back home now and it’s 7c… so it’s trying and I’m thinking that cleaning the burner may of helped but whether it gets down to temperature or not I’ll wait and see, my plan now is to see if I can get one on my travels and change it…

So now I have a new prob to sort as I thought the van was veering to the left a bit and discovered the front passenger wheel is hot and the brakes are binding so now I’ve got to jack it up get the wheel off and take the brakes apart and give them a good clean and refit, then hopefully I can pack the rest of the van up and get off tomorrow….😆🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼😎
 
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Just smiffy said:
Well….. I’ve had it on gas and I went out in it to a few camper shops to see if I could get a new burner, anyway the freezer compartment is down to 6c, so on to the next shop and it’s up to 8c anyway no burners stocked so back home now and it’s 7c… so it’s trying and I’m thinking that cleaning the burner may of helped but whether it gets down to temperature or not I’ll wait and see, my plan now is to see if I can get one on my travels and change it…

So now I have a new prob to sort as I thought the van was veering to the left a bit and discovered the front passenger wheel is hot and the brakes are binding so now I’ve got to jack it up get the wheel off and take the brakes apart and give them a good clean and refit, then hopefully I can pack the rest of the van up and get off tomorrow….😆🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼😎
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Just a thought, anything you might need, you could pop into Coastal Motorhomes in Ringwood.
Not directly on your route but you could come that way.
 
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Hope you can get it sorted Garry. There are two Motorhome centres just off the M5 between J21 and J20 (I think) where you might be able to get spares. Davan and Highbridge.

Hope you can fix the front wheel problem and fingers crossed for a lovely holiday. 🤞
 
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Just smiffy said:
So now I have a new prob to sort as I thought the van was veering to the left a bit and discovered the front passenger wheel is hot and the brakes are binding so now I’ve got to jack it up get the wheel off and take the brakes apart and give them a good clean and refit,
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Could well be the caliper slides .common for them to stick
 
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Just smiffy said:
Just checked and it’s working on EHU as the freezer is down to -8 already…

Will get the vents off tomorrow and try to clean the flue, 😎
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It is amazing how much difference it makes having the flue cleaned out. The fridge on my frankia was near useless before it was cleaned out then it was great. But it did need doing a few times over the year I had it. Not sure why
 
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Just smiffy said:
I’m not doing sites on EH
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You can get a CCP card from the machine on almost any of their aires. The EHU they offer will keep you cool until you manage to sort it.

Best wishes for the trip. Just consider it a retrospective tour where you are living like campers did in the 50s and 60s. :)
 
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gus-lopez said:
Could well be the caliper slides .common for them to stick
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That’s exactly what it is Richard, it’s the far one and I’ve got it soaking in penetrating fluid while I have a bite to eat, it hasn’t been working properly for a while as it’s only been braking on one side really.. it’ll be good to go soon…😎

I’ll put new pads and disks on when I get back in August….

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Just smiffy said:
Well….. I’ve had it on gas and I went out in it to a few camper shops to see if I could get a new burner, anyway the freezer compartment is down to 6c, so on to the next shop and it’s up to 8c anyway no burners stocked so back home now and it’s 7c… so it’s trying and I’m thinking that cleaning the burner may of helped but whether it gets down to temperature or not I’ll wait and see, my plan now is to see if I can get one on my travels and change it…

So now I have a new prob to sort as I thought the van was veering to the left a bit and discovered the front passenger wheel is hot and the brakes are binding so now I’ve got to jack it up get the wheel off and take the brakes apart and give them a good clean and refit, then hopefully I can pack the rest of the van up and get off tomorrow….😆🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼😎
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We have had this where I have cleaned out the flue and burner and it still won't get down to temperature. I resorted to replacing the burner and jet. It will freeze water in the fridge now.
 
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Just a thought had your Gas feed got an in-line filter? It could be contaminated.

You Gas Bottle/s are they low on pressure.

CCP- All have EHU.
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My fridge wouldn’t cool down and was exactly as you describe. The burner was changed to a circular type, been fine since. The original was the same as yours.

I now have this one.

www.ebay.co.uk

DOMETIC FRIDGE BURNER FOR GAS REFRIGERATOR WITHOUT NOZZLE JET CARAVAN MOTORHOME 7315091010450 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DOMETIC FRIDGE BURNER FOR GAS REFRIGERATOR WITHOUT NOZZLE JET CARAVAN MOTORHOME at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
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donkey said:
Please place an axle stand under that motor before undertaking any more work on it. That tool kit jack is not adequate on its own.

Geoff
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Woaw didn't notice that. Scary as hell that. Just smiffy please tell us you had it propped up somewhere we can't see in the picture?

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Ok, I’ve freed it all up and its working fine but I’ll have to renew it all when I come back in the summer…

As for the fridge I’ve put it on EHU to let it get down to temp. I’m leaving here on Monday now for my sisters near Gatwick for the ferry at Newhaven on Wednesday, I’m knackerd and it means I’ll watch f1 tomorrow 🙂

I’ll put it on gas when I leave here and see it it keeps the temperature with all the food in, if it doesn’t my sister can have it… I’ll then look out for a place that has a new burner and replace, probably in France…

Thanks for everyone’s help and support and suggestions still needed and if anyone knows a place that has a burner in stock for me to pick up around Crawley then please let me know…😎
 
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