Dometic 3 way fridge newbie

Hi this is my first post on the forum as we have recently purchased a 2013 Kemerton as I need an on board shower and love the rear bathroom with proper shower cubicle. We also wanted the front lounge as we were  upsizing from a VW with front lounge layout. In the camper we had a compressor fridge on 12v which we found brilliant. We now have a dometic 3 way fridge and although we had a 3 way caravan fridge in the 90s technology has moved on!

I thought I understood the instructions but have become slightly baffled and so have this question. When parked up without the engine running and away from mains hook up such as when doing a supermarket shop, stopping for lunch, sightseeing etc do you have to turn the gas on or can you use 12v?  Our instructions seem to indicate 12v only works when the engine is running. Whilst you would obviously use gas for wild camping,  if stationary for a shortish period it seems a fiddle to have to remember to turn gas on. Is my understanding correct or am I being stupid? I am worrying about returning to a van flooded out by a defrosted fridge after a lengthy visit to a Spanish hypermarket 

So far we have had a 4 night trip away and all seems ok although like others I quickly noticed the rattly blinds in the sliding door. Our VW was totally rattle free and so insulating tape etc is being invested in. We may also go down the adaptation route for single beds as we find them preferable in Motorhomes. Great tips about them here.
Otherwise so far so good with what seems to us an enormous Motorhome. Like others we wish the layout was available on an automatic crafter or sprinter. Then it would be perfection. 
Thanks in advance for any information.

Your fridge should cope happily for a few hours without any power source (providing you don't keep opening and closing the door).  If in very hot climate then may be advisable to switch fridge to gas and same if you going to be leaving the van for long period.

Would be nice if you could take a moment to say hello here....

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The fridge will only run on 12v with the engine running so if you park up for any time in hot weather you will need to switch over to gas. Leaving the van for a couple of hours or so - say on a ferry- will not cause a problem if you just leave the door closed.

pstallwood wrote:The fridge will only run on 12v with the engine running so if you park up for any time in hot weather you will need to switch over to gas. Leaving the van for a couple of hours or so - say on a ferry- will not cause a problem if you just leave the door closed.

Longer even than that Peter. We left our fridge switched off all day in sweltering weather during a French trip. (Senility or brain fade - not sure which!! )

When we realised and checked inside, the stuff in the freezer compartment was still frozen, and the other items were perfectly OK. The more there is in the fridge the longer it will take to defrost.

I am not surprised, Gromit. Never tried a long time as SWMBO is a bit paranoid about leaving it off for too long.

Thanks everyone. I made a mistake as thought it was a dometic fridge but it is a Thetford. Useful to know that people haven’t  had defrosting floods when left off by mistake. We are bound to forget as used to a constantly running 12v fridge. Will have to retrain our aging minds.

Mabel98 wrote:Thanks everyone. I made a mistake as thought it was a dometic fridge but it is a Thetford. Useful to know that people haven’t  had defrosting floods when left off by mistake. We are bound to forget as used to a constantly running 12v fridge. Will have to retrain our aging minds.

Hi and welcome to the forum from chilly Bridlington 
Boaby

Mabel98 wrote:Thanks everyone. I made a mistake as thought it was a dometic fridge but it is a Thetford. Useful to know that people haven’t  had defrosting floods when left off by mistake. We are bound to forget as used to a constantly running 12v fridge. Will have to retrain our aging minds.

If it's a Thetford with automatic power selection, then it will automatically switch to gas unless you actually switch it off. If you don't you could be using up your gas unnecessarily.

Paulmold wrote:

If it's a Thetford with automatic power selection, then it will automatically switch to gas unless you actually switch it off. If you don't you could be using up your gas unnecessarily.

Like emptying your tank on the front drive by forgetting to switch it off after a trip.

It only caught me out once, but that was enough. I hate clever gadgets that try to do my thinking for me. How difficult was it to switch manually to whichever energy source you wanted to use!!

Rant over . . . for now!

It was your experience Dave that prompted my answer.

We were advised by the seller to use the manual option for power source for that reason! Also we tend to turn the gas off when driving in any event so hopefully will not accidentally use all our lpg but watch this space. 
Thanks for the welcome.

We leave ours on the auto but thereare times when manual selection is better.  On one site the voltage would drop regularly at about 6pm when everybody was using power for kettles, water heaters etc and the fridge kept jumpig back and forth bewteen gas and 240v and got confused and went into error (8?) mode.  I had to switch to manual gas to cure it.
Then, if you switch off the gas for the ferry but don't switch off the fridge it will again go into error 8 mode and won't a;ways recover when you start the engine again. You can tell errors because the little blue light flashes.  Sadly that cannot be seen from the front seats on our Nuevo.  Of course, if you switch the fridge off you will probably forget to switch it on again.  Can't win really!
By the way, if on 12V and you stop th engine it will not switch to gas for about 15 minutes. That is deliberate - to avoid it firing up the gas when you stop for fuel or to replenish the gas tank.

inspiredron wrote:By the way, if on 12V and you stop the engine it will not switch to gas for about 15 minutes. That is deliberate - to avoid it firing up the gas when you stop for fuel or to replenish the gas tank.

That's a very good point Ron, and well worth highlighting. 

It catches a lot of people out at first. They arrive on a site with no hook-up and switch to gas power, then wonder why it won't fire up and stay on. Then suddenly, after several abortive attempts and much cursing and swearing, it lights up and runs perfectly!

Don't ask me how I know this - I remember it well! 

Can anyone tell me the reasoning behind this auto fridge input switching? Have owners complained to MH manufactures that their fridge suddenly doesn't work when they switch their engine off, or unplug the EHU??
We're all losing brain cells, but I still have the capacity for deciding myself how to power my fridge.
Al.

It's called "progress and innovation" Al.

Whether it's busted or not (and it usually isn't!! ) it has to be changed so the dozy punters will think it's a desirable new must-have gadget.

Future societies will have a small number of pre selected designers (so called) who will go to school and be educated. The rest of the population won't need a working brain, because their gadgets and appliances will do all the thinking for them!!

Am I being entirely facetious????

When leaving France, we, whilst in the ferry queue we run ours at max cold on gas until actually on the ferry, when, of course, we have to switch it off
Most of our ferries are between 6 and 26 hrs, never open the door, all will be well at destination!

Gromit wrote:It's called "progress and innovation" Al.

Whether it's busted or not (and it usually isn't!! ) it has to be changed so the dozy punters will think it's a desirable new must-have gadget.

Future societies will have a small number of pre selected designers (so called) who will go to school and be educated. The rest of the population won't need a working brain, because their gadgets and appliances will do all the thinking for them!!

Am I being entirely facetious????

Actually, Dave, though now retired I was a senior design engineer with a large European company, I therefore have had to use my brain, quite a lot actually!!!

Obviously one of the chosen few Ian . . . or you would have been in a future existence! 

Lots of very useful information here about the fridge. Back in the 90s our little fridge in our touring caravan was so simple and the compressor was great. Just switch it in and leave it, but don’t run battery down! A whole new ball game with this one and we have noticed that annoyingly it is hard to see the blue light from the cab seats to check if it is steady or flashing. Will add “check fridge” to our “ pre flight” checks.

Mabel98 wrote:We were advised by the seller to use the manual option for power source for that reason! Also we tend to turn the gas off when driving in any event so hopefully will not accidentally use all our lpg but watch this space. 
Thanks for the welcome.

I also switch off while driving for the same reason, now I've learned the hard way!!

Don't know if this would be of interest. Also very handy when crossing the Channel as you don't have to crawl under the van to convince the authorities that the gas is turned off. Just a loop from the regulator outlet with a gas tap in line

Hi,
We have had our 2013 Kemerton from new and have always left the gas switched on for travelling. I have the van parked on the drive with EHU and just prior to leaving home switch the gas tap for the fridge on and then disconnect the EHU.
During the journey the fridge then automatically switches to gas  when we stop for comfort breaks etc. If, as has been said, the gas isn't on, the fridge will search for an alternative fuel and show an error code.
Just remember to switch the gas tap off when you return home.
Great van by the way!

Frank

Its very easy to forget to switch the fridge over from one mode to another, even with a checklist...however, we have not had any defrosting problems. As has been said, keep the door closed as much as possible. But also helps to have the fridge as full as possible (providing the stuff inside is already chilled down). Fill any spaces with bottles of water - or if its up to me, beer & wine...