Fridge playing up

bijapos

Switched the fridge on yesterday (gas), after a few hours it was barely working, the ice box element (? the metal "grate" thingy) was well cold, but no ice on it, but the fridge itself wasnt cold at all. Drove a bit on the 12v setting and no real change there.

Have not used it for a few months in fairness, any servicing needed or is something blocked?... its an Electrolux RM2251 in a 91 Camper, if thats any use, gas, 12v and 220v.

Shook my fist at it, swore at it and threatened it mildly, didnt help so have to try to fix it the normal way. :rolleyes:. Any ideas?

Cheers.

Btw, cooker and heater all work 100%, and yes there is gas in the bottle :-)

peasant

That's normal

as long as the ice box thingy gets cold, everything is working. The empty fridge itself never really feels that cold until you put a fe things in it and have it running for a while.

bijapos

Thanks for the quick reply peasant but I think its working a fair bit below par. All vents are clear but to be honest I dont know anything else about fridges. Have the manual downloaded and cant find anything there either.

Had some sausages in it recently so it might have the swine flu. :eek:

peasant

The coolant in it may not be circulating as well as it should due to airlock. The trick there is to take out the fridge and put it on its head for a night ...or so they say.

As yours is still working somewhat, taking it for a drive over some well bumpy roads while switched on may do the trick ..it worked with mine once

bijapos

Heard that years ago but wasnt sure if it was someone taking the P. I'll give it a shot anyway, see what happens.

Cheers

*Kol*

Can the fridge be serviced? If it's the same age as the MH maybe it needs refrigerant after this long (if it's possible to do that??).

bijapos

I'll take it out tomorrow morning, put it on its head and see what happens, if it doesnt work does anyone know someone who services fridges or preferably all gas appliances in campers? Live in Dublin.

*Kol*

Unfortunately it could end up being more economical to buy a fridge if the turning it upside down trick doesn't work. Hopefully you can find someone who can service the fridge as the three way fridges are expensive.

ASRB

I had same problem with fridge not cooling properly. I was told to clean "chimney". There should be a built in scraper at the top of the chimney where it fits on to exterior vent. just work this up and down, but this puts soot onto the gas jet at the bottom so you have to clean this also. It was a messy job but fridge working fine once more

dowtchaboy

I would agree with 2 posters above -

(a) turning the fridge upside down overnight fixed one I had that had died through not being used for a couple of years - seems the coolant used is composed of 2 normally mixed fluids which can separate out into 2 layers after a long period sitting still, and then it stops working. The price I was quoted for redoing the coolant was frighteningly high and not guaranteed to work, and the price of a new on or even second hand was way higher than a domestic fridge.

(b) the chimney and the burner/heater area does seem to benefit from a scraping/cleaning.

However - 2 other points:

(c) your van needs to be reasonably level for fridge to work on ANY method 12v, 220v or gas - this is because there is not moving part such as a pump in the fridge to push the coolant around - it relies on gravity to get it down the zig-zag tubes you will see round the back. On fridges older than about 1990 (not sure of year) this is quite critical - I think it's 3 degrees angle max. Later than that I think it can be 6 degrees (quite a noticeable slope) before it stops.
This had me confused on my first van when I had just fixed the dead fridge by (a) above - and then it seemed it would not work on 220V when plugged in at home - until I noticed than I was on a slope. Moving the van, or using the little wedges to level the wheels up a bit got it going no problem. The next van I got (year 1994) had no problem coping with the slope in the driveway.

(d) On 12v it is more a coolbox than a fridge - ie if it is already cold then running it on 12v will keep it that way (as long as you keep the door closed as much as possible) - you won't make ice for instance on just 12v running. It also seems to be a power hog - I have run down my leisure battery often by forgetting to turn it off 12 (my van does not seem to switch off this 12v automatically when the engine is off.)

Usual strategy is that when preparing to head off on a long trip you should cool everything in your kitchen fridge beforehand, maybe arrange some coolblocks in the freezer, plug in the van to 220V, or use the gas, to get the fridge cold hours before or even overnight, and then load up the van fridge with the cooled food and frozen coolblocks just before you leave. Oh - don't forget to disconnect the power lead before driving off!!!!

bijapos

Right. So I took the fridge out last night, (sweet jesus not easy ) stood her on her head, gave the valve/burner area a good scrub and connected her up again. Ice box reacted very well, ordinary fridge bit took some time but seemed to cool down after a while though the performance is probably not 100%, The woman thinks I'm getting paranoid and that it works ok so I'll just build it back in. Problem is the photos I took while taking it apart were deleted when she switched some default setting on the camera (dont ask, also my fault for not saving them) but I've a pretty good idea how it all fits together again, then see what happens over the next week or so.

Cheers for the advice everyone.

dowtchaboy

It does take time to see the thing working. Mine is fastest on gas, then mains - you should feel it cold after an hour or so but it could be overnight before you can get icecubes and frost on the icebox thingy.
On 12v - it's a coolbox - you will wonder is it/isn't it...... it will be just a bit cooler than the rest of the van. Sounds like it's working - congratulations! That's €540 saved (the cost of a new one)!

bijapos

No, its €540 minus 2 plasters (€1.60) :rolleyes: and 4 bottles of beer I got in Germany (€2.76) , makes €535.64 saved!

peasant

For peace of mind:
Now take it to a gas fitter and get it pressure tested for leaks ...just in case you didn't tighten everything as you should have when you put it back together.

A cool fridge is not so cool when it explodes in a ball of fire during the night :eek: