Thetford Fridge Model N3080

I have experienced an occasional situation where the lights on the panel flash but it is not possible to select an energy source to start the fridge. The only remedy is to completely disconnect and then reconnect to reset the fridge. I have had conflicting views on this fault but understand that there is a modification possible to insert in to the wiring loom behind the fridge. Thetford have not been very helpful on this matter. Any observations would be helpful.

Hi there,

I don't have this particular model but I noticed that no-one has responded so ....  

.... come on everyone, "Any ideas?"   

Best regards,

Similar problem on our sussex Duo , and the control modual had to be replaced. Under warranty at the time though.

I've had same problem with our 2014 Broadway and after making many complaints to dealer and Thetford , dealer finally ordered a part and since fitting it in September fridge has worked fine.

John.

After many conversations between Thetford, a Service Agent and Dealer I have been told that the fault needs to be present and identified before it can be remedied. I have to note the fault code  by testing and advise Thetford who would then be able to say what requires to be done! In the meantime they advise me to leave the fridge on in and hope that the fault will reappear! It could, and possibly will, occur when I am abroad on holiday. Not much progress  and in my view worthless as the fault has only occurred on my attempts to switch on the fridge.

If you've actually managed to speak to someone at Thetford, that in itself is a major achievement. Not much use to you I know, good luck and hope you either sort it before your trip or all goes well while away.

We have just experienced the same problem with our Sussex Duo. Fridge will not start on any source, having run smoothly all last year. Thetford have suggested that we press all three buttons, confirmation and arrow buttons, to identify problem. Ours showed the fifth cooling icon. apparently this means that we have to take it back to the dealer. I booked it in with Marquis but will have to leave it with them for up to two days. Other forums have shown that this is a 'known problem'. some have suggested removing fuses and then restarting but I am unsure which fuses are being commented on. The fuse in the main control panel under the sink has no effect. Does the fridge have fuses built into it?. Has anyone any ideas? 
Thanks.

On our Broadway the fridge fuse is under the drivers side bench seating, on the left hand rear side a small box section with a clear cover on the front and our fridge fuse is there.

John.

Just back from Marquis. Apparently the Control board needs replacing. We have agreed a price, after bartering, for the part to be replaced, although I am still not very happy as we are repairing a fridge that is already a replacement and do wonder how long this one will last.
However I have just found the thread on this forum under 'miscellaneous' which highlights many problems with Thetford fridges. This thread has been 'stopped' due it being a'known problem' with legal issues being followed. Can anyone tell me what the present position is?

Must admit, each time I select the fridge on, hoping that it stays green!!! I did have issues with this fridge( under guarantee at the time) and did have issues with the service provided by the above retailer, but this were resolved after a letter too Head office.

We are also having problems with our thetford fridge. We find that by puting it on auto it selects gas .  It should select electric but even puting it to manual electric it just won't work. We have been away over the weekend and have had to run it on gas. I  dont imagine I will be able to speak to anyone tomorrow but will phone thetford on Tuesday. Will perhaps try our dealer tomorrow. Anyone else had this problem ?

Don't shoot the messenger!!

According to the Thetford engineer at Newark this weekend the fridge is extremely sensitive to the 'quality' of the 230v electricity supply, particularly outside the UK. He says the fridge was designed around gas operation and if you are having problems when away from home, try running on gas.

Peter

We had it working fine on electric the first trip away but then we connected the electric at home before our next trip away ( last week ) , and it didn't work. I did get it to work for a short time on manual electric , but then it stopped and just kept flashing with a code 8 and a spanner showing. This continued when I tried it back on auto so its a phone call tomorrow and probably back to dealer.

Should have said thank you Peter for your input.

had to replace the fridge control unit  (under warranty ) 2014 warwick  xl ...   fridge would not work on gas when overnighting without ehu .....great travelling through spain and portugal with a fridge full of food to throw away !!!!!
ref peters comments re "quality" of electricity....the A S control unit has a smoothing device to iron out current / voltage variations...should not be an issue...typical thetford  bull....

geoff brooke wrote:
ref peters comments re "quality" of electricity....the A S control unit has a smoothing device to iron out current / voltage variations...should not be an issue

The 230v goes via the circuit breaker direct to the appliance/socket, there is no smoothing circuitry built in to the van other than that built into individual appliances.

I'm not suggesting that the Thetford fridge shouldn't work everywhere on the mains - the Dometic does.

Peter #1

Hi Peter...hope you are well.
..ref electrical smoothing....this info came from AS main dealer....need i say more about the competencies of some dealer staff

geoff brooke wrote:this info came from AS main dealer....need i say more about the competencies of some dealer staff

Unfortunately not.

Peter #1

We have just collected our van from Marquis. They replaced the control board and the charge was less than quoted. Quite pleased. Then we thought that we had better check it before leaving, just to make sure. Guess what? Not working. A technician came and eventually he sorted it out. He was most apologetic and helpful, offering contact on the end of a phone if there were any further problems. If you have bought tour van from Marquis then I would suggest phoning your dealership and ask to speak to a technician because this is the second Marquis dealership that has offered this and they have helped me over the phone successfully, before.
I watched what he did and here are some pointers.  If they are of use I do not know.
To set fridge to run on 12v when travelling have the engine running before setting.
To check whether gas is working - if the bottom inspection cover is removed an inspection cover can be seen and moved on the small right hand side galvanised box as you look at the back of the fridge. I could hear the fridge clicking as it demanded gas and the the burner can be easily seen when it lights.
To switch to EHU switch fridge off on front panel. This should reset the fridge and allow you to set EHU as normal.
To check whether the fridge is working on electricity the only way appears to be feel for heat to be coming from the exchanger at the back of the fridge.
Having just written this I all seems an absolute waste of time on something that should just work as expected.
However i don't think that we will truly ever trust this make of fridge.

thanks very much indeed pootler....great info. We will follow your recomendations !!
I dont feel that we can trust the fridge again...minimal perishables from now on !!
So much for "fully automatic...set and forget "

Ours  has to go back to dealer for new control board. They will phone us when they get one in. Seems to be quite a common problem !

Hi Judy
I reported  the fault code to our dealer and he ordered the new control board from thetford...took 8 working days to arrive  and then had to wait 10 days for the dealer  to have a service slot to fit it.
Incidentally, the whole fridge has to be removed in order to fit the control board...cannot be done by accessing through external vents....... few hours job !

Since the new pcb was fitted to our fridge it works fully automatic.

John.

Thanks for info. We will probably have to sit in the cafe next to the Perthshire motorhomes or get a taxi into Perth. At least it's good to hear that it works when the job is done. Not what you expect from a brand new fridge only used for two nights. Not even sure now if it worked for those two nights as the lights go out and unless you touch it again you wouldn't know if it had jumped to gas. There's obviously a fault when so many are being replaced. I phoned Thetford to say I wasnt at all happy about this as it was inconvenient and a two hour drive plus the cost of petrol to get there and that a brand new fridge should not have this fault in it and the girl hung up on me !! I wanted to ask who I could put my compaint to in writing.