Thetford Fridge

Hi fellow owners

My Thetford fridge is not working on any power source.  I have never had this problem before although van is fairly new to me.  I have had a quick look at previous posts which suggest that the van needs to be level.  I don't, however, think this is the problem.  

My van is still under warranty so I will contact the dealers (tho I feel I am never away from them) but wondered if any of you have any thoughts.

I also have a reversing camera that only works intermittently which I don't like very much either!!

Cheers

Lizzie

Has it worked at all since you had it? When did you notice it not working?
Just thinking anymore info you have  you might get more directed response. Probably best from fellow symbol owner ?

It has worked with all power sources since I got van in february. Generally I am hooked up either at home or camp site, no problem. I run it from vehicle battery when travelling. Recently I have stayed a couple of days without an electrical source so ran the fridge from lpg supply. I noticed the fridge was off last night so tried to reset. I have plenty of gas. Would not reset. I checked with the engine running today, fridge would not work. I am now at home and have connected to power source and fridge will not set itself. I have consulted the autosleeper manual I got with van and the Thetford booklet but no good info really. Thank you for your reply. I am pretty inexperienced and do not have a lot of practical experience with the workings of the van when things go wrong.

I’m not the most experienced either, but you might want to try change the fuse on your control panel. It should be easy enough to find the fuse for the fridge either on the panel itself or from the maual. It is something you can do by yourself.....honest it’s easy....once you know how. If a fuse change works then voila! If not then you know it’s not the fuse.

I know my manual tells you what fuse matches which appliance . My old van had a sticky note close by to tell you.

Guess it’s worth a shot?

Lorfal wrote:I’m not the most experienced either, but you might want to try change the fuse on your control panel. It should be easy enough to find the fuse for the fridge either on the panel itself or from the maual. It is something you can do by yourself.....honest it’s easy....once you know how. If a fuse change works then voila! If not then you know it’s not the fuse.

I know my manual tells you what fuse matches which appliance . My old van had a sticky note close by to tell you.

Guess it’s worth a shot?

On the Sargent power supply you need the fuse labelled 'permanent supply'.

Ok. That’s brilliant. I will try that.
L

Nessie1 wrote:............  I have never had this problem before although van is fairly new to me.  I have had a quick look at previous posts which suggest that the van needs to be level.  I don't, however, think this is the problem.............
Cheers

Lizzie

That suggestion is correct, but it only refers to gas as far as I know. 240v and 12v don't require the van to be level, so yours doesn't sound like a levelling issue.

Ken.

Kingham wrote:That suggestion is correct, but it only refers to gas as far as I know. 240v and 12v don't require the van to be level, so yours doesn't sound like a levelling issue.
Ken.

Why is that Ken?
There has to be a reason, but I don't know enough about the innards of a fridge to work it out???? 

I'll do some digging later Dave, but I've always assumed it was something to do with the gas jet and the fact that a flame sits upright, whereas the other two power sources don't have that problem.

I'm not a gas engineer though and don't know that for certain, but the only times I've had problems with my fridges not working, they've always been on gas and not level.

Gromit wrote:

Kingham wrote:That suggestion is correct, but it only refers to gas as far as I know. 240v and 12v don't require the van to be level, so yours doesn't sound like a levelling issue.
Ken.

Why is that Ken?
There has to be a reason, but I don't know enough about the innards of a fridge to work it out???? 

Interesting.  I understood that the need for the fridge to be reasonably level was to allow the circulating gas to move properly through the pipework before it condensed back to a liquid and started the journey again.

The only difference between gas/240v/12v operation is the heat source; the circulation of the gas is identical and so would only operate effectively if level (or close to level).


Edit:  This explains the operation reasonably well:  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

....and after a short bit of digging, I retract my earlier statement as it looks like the reason for levelling is due to the refrigerant liquids and applies equally to all three power sources.

That'll teach me to listen to urban myth without checking 

Good thing you did Ken.
It brings it to the notice of our members, so it has done them a favour! 

Be sure to let us know how you get on Nessie....fingers crossed the fuse change works

We are having what on the surface of it the same problem.

We last used the van on 22nd July and during that trip and all previous trips the fridge has worked without issue.  We plug into the mains at home to chill it down a few days before we set off and load the fridge.  We make the ice cubes in the freezer box.

We travelled up to Norfolk on 02/08 and thought the fridge didn’t feel it’s usual chilly self.  Although the cabinet (by my feet) is still warm.

We have mains, we have plenty of gas and the leisure battery is full. When set to Auto the fridge chooses mains, I have tried overriding it and setting it to gas, but I can’t hear anything.

The van is level without levellers.

The Sargent contract had the wrong time set, which I have corrected, both gas valves under the settee are on.  No fuses are burnt or MCBs tripped.

Can anyone else suggest things to test ?

Kingham wrote:....and after a short bit of digging, I retract my earlier statement as it looks like the reason for levelling is due to the refrigerant liquids and applies equally to all three power sources.

That'll teach me to listen to urban myth without checking 

It's not quite an urban myth. As pointed out in another thread, the gas powered side relies on hot air rising under convection through the centre of the heat exchanger, and if the van is significantly out of level it can't do that as effectively. But, as you say, the effect of refrigerant circulation covers all of the power sources and ~probably~ dominates the other.

Just to add to this levelling debate. I've had first hand experience of this. Before I had the level hardstanding constructed, we stored the van on our very steep drive, about 30 degrees.
On EHU the fridge cooled as normal, but on the one occasion I tried gas the temperature never dropped.
So I'm of the opinion that not being level has little effect on the fridge coolant circulation.

Morning all,
Just back on the site after a busy few weeks, mostly travelling, I have to say!  I took my van back to the dealers as still under warranty and they did a thorough investigation.  The connection had come loose at the back of the fridge (is it a sort of plug, maybe?).  They put it back together and popped a tie on it, said it was fairly common.  Fridge has been perfect since then.  Thank for all the posts.
Lizzie

Glad to hear you are sorted Nessie!