Sully Sur Loire festival this weekend but fridge issue on gas

[suavecarve]

So which Thetford Service Centre have you managed to get to look at it? As I said - I rang maybe 10 and none would look at it.

Just received a response from your "baffle" comments which i sent off to the service centre.
They are going to drop a camera down there to see if it is missing and can send off for a new one.

Is this something that you can do if your dealer cant do it and send them a video ?

 

[VXman]

Just received a response from your "baffle" comments which i sent off to the service centre.
They are going to drop a camera down there to see if it is missing and can send off for a new one.

Is this something that you can do if your dealer cant do it and send them a video ?

Bit late now.....I will get the new fridge tomorrow.

 

[VXman]

We have just reallocated a 240 volt plug to 240 volt 3 pin connection that goes in the motorhome from the Father in Law.
Just tested it out and we get 240 volts from the inverter to the fridge, so on the presumption they cant fix it in a fortnight, we will go on the next holiday with this and use a mixture of normal 110/240 our adapted from battery 240 and 12 volt whilst travelling electricity.
I did look at getting generator, which would have a use for daughter in winter (lives seriously out in the sticks) but it didnt quite make sense

Do I understand this correctly? You are using an inverter powered by the leisure battery to power the 240v side of the fridge? If I have it correct - will that not flatten the battery pretty quickly?

 

[gus-lopez]

We managed 2 months in France and Spain without a gas fridge. We had to do a lot more EHU sites than we would have liked but with ice blocks and a cool bag we managed to do up to 3 nights off grid but it was a hassle.

For me the lack of gas would make the whole van unfit for purpose as I never use ehu except at home or occasionally at a friends in the Uk.

 

[VXman]

For me the lack of gas would make the whole van unfit for purpose as I never use ehu except at home or occasionally at a friends in the Uk.

Well, you might be right but what was the alternative? We have done 10,000 miles travelling in the first year since we bought it new, in UK, France, Spain. Had I tried to refuse the van that would have ruined a year travelling. You wouldn't have got a new van delivered in pandemic restricted UK last summer. I tried very hard in all other routes in getting this fridge fixed but between Thetford service centres that didn't want to know and a disorganised and slightly useless dealer I was pretty much stuck so made the best if a difficult situation.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[suavecarve]

Do I understand this correctly? You are using an inverter powered by the leisure battery to power the 240v side of the fridge? If I have it correct - will that not flatten the battery pretty quickly?

We would use it intermittently with ice blocks in there so turning it on for an hour then seeing how long it lasts and turn it on for another hour.
Our intention is to have shed loads of sun (370 watts) and 220 amps of battery. A bit of battery management and it should be good

 

[suavecarve]

For me the lack of gas would make the whole van unfit for purpose as I never use ehu except at home or occasionally at a friends in the Uk.

The problem with the lack of working gas.
It took VX a while to work out he didnt have gas working and it took us 1 1/2 holidays as occasionally we use electric.
It was only when we were 3 days without that we noticed it
Vans now come without a gas cylinder so it was 4 months (as we didnt go away) until we even fitted gas, then you see the flame and you have a cold fridge.

The fridge is only compartment of the whole package of the motorhome and can be replaced (as per VX) so under those circumstances giving the people time to do the warranty side of things seems appropriate before making yourself motorhomeless for quite a period (imv)

 

[suavecarve]

VXman and all others interested.
Took van down to Chris at reliancecms as planned this morning.
We had fridge off for journey so he could then immediately check it on gas and confirmed we are not blagging and the fridge freezer is not working.
Had chat with Thetford and cunning plan is they have changed the burner today and we pick up and monitor it over weekend.
Not possible to check baffle so if not working on gas this weekend bung e mail to him with results and Thetford will locate a baffle then we can organise a fitting day. (Hopefully before 14th)
Then if that cunning plan still produces no cold it's a new fridge.

Baffle can't be got at without removal of fridge from housing.

maison Adriaadventure

 

[VXman]

Bit late now.....I will get the new fridge tomorrow.

Just noticed I'd said this. Drive all the way to the dealer (99 miles) and left it at the dealer all day. Only to find out he didn't have a new fridge!! He reckons he took the fridge out and did some stuff and showed me the fridge was down to 7.5degrees. no idea why he didn't tell me he didn't have a new fridge.

Anyway, got home. Tried next day and no definitely not working. What did he do...cool it on electric?

Not happy as we are off the France and off Grid for 10 days. Bought an inverter and and an Extra battery and will try the inverter- EHU trick to see if we can keep the fridge cool. Armed with coolbox, ice and freezer blocks too.

He says new fridge due in on 8th and booked in for 27th when we are back.

That will be exactly 12 months since we spotted the problem!!!

 

[suavecarve]

Just noticed I'd said this. Drive all the way to the dealer (99 miles) and left it at the dealer all day. Only to find out he didn't have a new fridge!! He reckons he took the fridge out and did some stuff and showed me the fridge was down to 7.5degrees. no idea why he didn't tell me he didn't have a new fridge.

Anyway, got home. Tried next day and no definitely not working. What did he do...cool it on electric?

Not happy as we are off the France and off Grid for 10 days. Bought an inverter and and an Extra battery and will try the inverter- EHU trick to see if we can keep the fridge cool. Armed with coolbox, ice and freezer blocks too.

He says new fridge due in on 8th and booked in for 27th when we are back.

That will be exactly 12 months since we spotted the problem!!!

He rang about 1500 hrs and asked us to come pick up as per previous post.
We got there about 1650 hrs.

He reckons he had just finished changing the burner when he rang.
When we got there, the temperature in the freezer was -18 C
The fridge was a mild +14 but cold to touch the metal grid.
We went for a spin to have dinner at Portsdown and the temperature went up as we were parked nowhere near flat.
Got home (about half an hour) and put it onto gas, and there is ice at the back of the freezer just behind my rather dirt cheap beer which will be ready in about 20 minutes.
Fridge has dropped 1 degree after 20 minutes on gas. (Big fridge so will take some time)

It would appear to me that we are fixed with the change of the burner and the Thetford engineer they consulted with said he has know it only 3 or 4 times where the burner is giving off an excellent flame and the fridge has not worked. He can probably change that to 4 to 5 times now.

Top jonny banana marks to Adriaadventure and cmcardle75

Will monitor over the long weekend, but it is working, which it doesnt appear to have done previously

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[gus-lopez]

Armed with coolbox, ice and freezer blocks too.

You should be able to pick up ice cubes in many french supermarkets at this time of the year. You can get them year around in spain & most fuel stations usually have large chest freezers full of nothing but ice cubes

 

[suavecarve]

VXman

Probably or hopefully the final update from me on this issue.
We had -18 in the freezer and +8 in the fridge (empty) after 18 hours so we turned the gas off and left door open to get ambient temperature.
We then reset the gas at 1800 hrs last night and we have -15 in freezer and +9 in fridge.
Firmly believing our issues are over and expecting a titan 120cm double fan from Amazon today to fit before next holiday

 

[VXman]

People generally say 3 way fridges work better on Gas however I have found ours excellent on electric (both mains and battery) Generally (on mains electricity) we get 6 at the bottom of the fridge it can freeze at the top if you are not careful. Regularly got frozen lettuce in the salad compartment!

Glad you got yours sorted. We are in France now and will juggle inverter power, ice, cool box. Van booked in for new fridge on 27th.

 

[VXman]

Well it's taken nearly a year but new fridge fitted. Seems to be working OK. 5 days off grid at Silverstone for the F1 next week will test it properly.

 

[suavecarve]

Well it's taken nearly a year but new fridge fitted. Seems to be working OK. 5 days off grid at Silverstone for the F1 next week will test it properly.
View attachment 634360

And my issues have returned !!!
Currently back in France and having to hook up.
The 12 volt through Inverter had limited success.
2 more days of leccy then playtime again with fridge management

Pleased for you

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[suavecarve]

Reigniting the thread as our gas hasn't worked all summer.
I upped to 200 ah of lithium and had a further holiday in Brittany for 3 weeks.

Having spoken with Chris who has spoken with Thetford the issue arose that if it is the baffle then that is not a Thetford issue but a diagnostic issue which would need paying for to reliance.

Not being prepared to pay I rang our dealership Alan kerr and put them in contact with reliance and Alan kerr agreed to cover the cost if it is the baffle and Thetford provide a new fridge if the issue is the fridge.

So dropped off this morning at reliance and they look at it tomorrow and we find out (hopefully) what was wrong.

Reliance have a spare few baffles ready

VXman Adriaadventure cmcardle75 Lenny HB Simon-Alan Kerr (just so you know it's still excellent service)

 

[VXman]

Presumably if the baffle is the issue Thetford will reimburse the dealer as it is Thetford problem in the end.

Our dealer has been struggling to get Thetford to pay for the labour costs of fitting the new fridge!!!

. On top of that we asked for compensation for the inconvenience, extra costs for the nearly 1 year we had without a gas fridge. Specifically, we asked them to pay for an extra battery and inverter we purchased to run the fridge on electric when off grid.

If you have bought lithium to cover for a non working fridge I'd be looking for someone (dealer/Thetford) to at least cover some of that cost.

I believe Thetford have agreed something with the dealer but have not got the details yet.

 

[suavecarve]

Presumably if the baffle is the issue Thetford will reimburse the dealer as it is Thetford problem in the end.

Our dealer has been struggling to get Thetford to pay for the labour costs of fitting the new fridge!!!

. On top of that we asked for compensation for the inconvenience, extra costs for the nearly 1 year we had without a gas fridge. Specifically, we asked them to pay for an extra battery and inverter we purchased to run the fridge on electric when off grid.

If you have bought lithium to cover for a non working fridge I'd be looking for someone (dealer/Thetford) to at least cover some of that cost.

I believe Thetford have agreed something with the dealer but have not got the details yet.

I think the thing that Thetford are saying is that they make and sell the fridge and "roller team" fit it and the baffle is part of the fitting it into the van scenario therefore roller teams issue and therefore drops alan kerr in it.

Annoying as it has been, and compensation being as nice as it could be, I only want a working fridge in my life, a couple of beers within it, a sunset on a free aire and the wife having gone out to get some bread. I am an easily pleased man. I was going to buy the battery anyway and got 200 amps for £650

I could do without the hassle of then trying to get something out of Thetford which appears to continue the issue. Glad yours is still up and running

 

[The Wino]

I think the thing that Thetford are saying is that they make and sell the fridge and "roller team" fit it and the baffle is part of the fitting it into the van scenario therefore roller teams issue and therefore drops alan kerr in it.

Annoying as it has been, and compensation being as nice as it could be, I only want a working fridge in my life, a couple of beers within it, a sunset on a free aire and the wife having gone out to get some bread. I am an easily pleased man. I was going to buy the battery anyway and got 200 amps for £650

I could do without the hassle of then trying to get something out of Thetford which appears to continue the issue. Glad yours is still up and running

I think whatever the problem the dealer should sort it. If it's a manufacturer's fault they then should get in touch to reclaim it from them. If I bought a new car and a tyre developed a bulge in the sidewall I wouldn't expect to chase it with Michelin I'd get in touch with the supplying dealer ( who no doubt would try and blame me!)

 

[suavecarve]

I think whatever the problem the dealer should sort it. If it's a manufacturer's fault they then should get in touch to reclaim it from them. If I bought a new car and a tyre developed a bulge in the sidewall I wouldn't expect to chase it with Michelin I'd get in touch with the supplying dealer ( who no doubt would try and blame me!)

You may be prepared to make a few 300 mile round journeys. I m not if I don't have to

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[suavecarve]

Update. Just picked it up and there was no baffle at all
It would work in cold weather but not in warm weather so when they changed the burner and it worked that would have been the reason then when we went to a warmer France it didn't want to know.
It would appear the issue is roller teams and not Thetford s

Lenny HB VXman Adriaadventure cmcardle75

 

[VXman]

Don't quite understand why the lack of a baffle is Rollerteams issue. I understood it was inside the chimney which is part of the fridge.

I was told by the Spanish technician I originally went to that the baffle was a known manufacturing problem by Thetford HQ Spain but UK Thetford said they know nothing of it and ignored my suggestion that that could be the problem.

 

[VXman]

I could do without the hassle of then trying to get something out of Thetford which appears to continue the issue. Glad yours is still up and running

I tend to feel the same as you but my wife is like a dog with a bone and won't let it go. She is often successful with getting ' free' stuff so I'm just leaving her to it.

 

[colyboy]

Check the flue, take the top of the flue off. Then with along radiator brush push it up and down you will be surprised how much soot will fall out. We have used this method several times with success.
DO NOT TRY try to make the hole in the jet any larger.

Colyboy

 

[colyboy]

Sorry just read what you said about the warranty. I have done this several times and it works and have had no issue’s with any warranty.

Colyboy

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[suavecarve]

Don't quite understand why the lack of a baffle is Rollerteams issue. I understood it was inside the chimney which is part of the fridge.

I was told by the Spanish technician I originally went to that the baffle was a known manufacturing problem by Thetford HQ Spain but UK Thetford said they know nothing of it and ignored my suggestion that that could be the problem.

I presume it is because Thetford provide the fridge with a baffle to be added and in fitting it into the motorhome rollerteam failed to do it.
I suppose it would be similar to Thetford providing the fridge and the handles weren't affixed.

I do know it's not my issue though !

 

[Lenny HB]

Seems odd it won't work in hot weather when they left the baffle out when Rollerteam are Italian.

 

[suavecarve]

Seems odd it won't work in hot weather when they left the baffle out when Rollerteam are Italian.

Apprentice error ?