Fridge not working on mains

Hello  folks,

 Our 1997 Trooper fridge trips out the mains when hooked up and turned on. It seems to work on gas (just).It is an Electrolux RM 4201s. My other half seems to think it is the heating element. This part appears to be about £60. I am just wondering if it worth repairing a fridge this old or get a new one???

Any thoughts much appreciated 

Lucy

It probably is the element, shorted to its casing, I repaired one in a friend's caravan last year that cost about £35 for the new element.

It's a relatively easy fix, complicated in our case because the element casing had rusted and bonded onto the coolant tube.

If this hasn't happened to yours it's about an hour's job to replace the element though you may have to remove the fridge from its position to get at the wiring connectors.

IIRC a new fridge is about £450, the smaller they are, the more expensive they seem to be. 

Usual suggestions to only attempt this if you're competent apply, make sure that no mains supply is connected before starting work.

Hi there,

An adsorption fridge has no moving parts and therefore can last for many, many years.

I agree with Chris that the chances are the 230V heating element is shorting out as the fridge is working on gas.

Personally, I would either renew the element or just use the fridge on gas; for sure I am too tight to lash out on a new fridge before I absolutely need to do so!

The "buy new element v. use on gas" is a straight cost calculation.

If you are like us and park up without EHU for weeks at a time then the loss of the 230V element is no big deal but if you spend most of your time on EHU then the cost of gas will make the £60 for a replacement element look like a good investment after a year or so.

Hope this helps. 

Best regards,

Thanks very much guys. Much appreciated I was worried about the age of the fridge in general but will definitely try a new element first. I need to get on it as we are off to the Lake District at the end of the month 

acertack wrote:Hello  folks,

 Our 1997 Trooper fridge trips out the mains when hooked up and turned on. It seems to work on gas (just).It is an Electrolux RM 4201s. My other half seems to think it is the heating element. This part appears to be about £60. I am just wondering if it worth repairing a fridge this old or get a new one???

Any thoughts much appreciated 

Lucy

Its worth checking. A gas service,i bet you have never had one,will check it out and its a safety check as well.
Go from there.

Regards

Micky