Thetford 3 way fridge - Error 9

[Thornebt]

When away in very hot weather in Cornwall a few days ago I had my Thetford fridge running on gas and it kept cutting out at the hottest times of the day. It ran fine overnight. The error code 9 was something to do with overheating.

I thought that maybe my spark electrode (which somehow doubles as a thermocouple) was faulty. I now realise that my fridge was on the sunny side of the van and I would have been better off parking with the fridge on the shady side!

That said, you can't always keep your fridge on the shady side and it should run ok in hot weather.

I've got a new spark electrode arriving soon. If it's not that then I'm aware it might be a faulty thermistor inside fridge or PCB faults are common.

I'm just interested on people's thoughts on the performance of these fridges in hot sun.

 

[autorouter]

Maybe a fan blowing cool air through the cooling circuit behind the fridge would help. The heat builds up behind the fridge and the natural circulation might not be enough. Some people fit one with a thermostatic switch for automatic switching, but a simple on/off switch would probably be fine for most situations.

 

[suavecarve]

Maybe a fan blowing cool air through the cooling circuit behind the fridge would help. The heat builds up behind the fridge and the natural circulation might not be enough. Some people fit one with a thermostatic switch for automatic switching, but a simple on/off switch would probably be fine for most situations.

What he said

 

[Thornebt]

I did read about fitting fans on this forum. Maybe a fan installed at the bottom vent and facing upwards to blow air to the top would be best? Can anyone recommend a fan please? Would a 12v fan be best? And a simple thermostat?

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[autorouter]

I thought that maybe my spark electrode (which somehow doubles as a thermocouple) was faulty. I now realise that my fridge was on the sunny side of the van and I would have been better off parking with the fridge on the shady side!

This flame thermocouple is nothing to do with the thermostat which controls the temperature in the fridge. The fridge thermostat might actually be a thermocouple, but more likely is a temperature-dependent resistor, and probably located on a finned metal plate inside the fridge at the top somewhere. The flame thermocouple's job is to detect when the flame blows out or otherwise fails, and cut off the gas solenoid valve.

Actually, there might not be a thermocouple for the flame anyway. There is another technology for flame detection, which measures the resistance of the burning gas. Burning gas is quite conductive, but plain old air has a very high resistance.

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[VXman]

I did read about fitting fans on this forum. Maybe a fan installed at the bottom vent and facing upwards to blow air to the top would be best? Can anyone recommend a fan please? Would a 12v fan be best? And a simple thermostat?

Thanks in anticipation.

Generally people put the fan at the top tomsuck air through. Fans suck better than they blow. Yes 12volt. You can find a 12 v feed easy enough behind the fridge. Thetford do a kit. I bought a cheaper kit with a thermostat control included. I also fitted a on off switch.

Some people just purchase cheap computer fans.

 

[Thornebt]

I've bought a Titan twin fan kit from Amazon. I know at £70 it's a more expensive option but I'm not good with electrics so at least this way I know that the components are appropriately matched and there should be some instructions. It's got a small control panel, is thermostatically controlled on auto setting or can also be used on manual setting.

 

[icantremember]

I've bought a Titan twin fan kit from Amazon. I know at £70 it's a more expensive option but I'm not good with electrics so at least this way I know that the components are appropriately matched and there should be some instructions. It's got a small control panel, is thermostatically controlled on auto setting or can also be used on manual setting.

This is my solution in top vent .....