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Lindsay Alford Appliance Repairs 0419350106 (Melbourne business hours only)
Repairs to most brands of caravan and portable fridges. Please read the following before ring for repairs.
Gas /Electric ( Electrolux, Dometic and others) These are called “absorption fridges or 3-way fridges”.
12/24V Compressor Camp (portable) and Caravan fridges (Engels, Waeco and other brands) See.
Thermoelectric fridge/warmer. These struggle on hot days but are OK in air-conditioned vehicles.
Note they are small but are not a cheap alternative.
Repairs to three-way (Gas/240V/12V) fridges or absorption fridges. These heat a solution of ammonia using either gas or electricity, which then circulates the tubes and absorbs heat (cools the inside of fridge) when it changes back into a liquid.
There is two style of fridges. Front opening doors for caravans and chest fridges for campers.
Performance These fridges struggle when the temperature
gets very hot. Choice tested
camp fridges (December 2003) and found that the gas/electric fridge
had trouble maintaining inside temperature on very hot days and need
to be level.
Hints/Warning!
When using on 12V when travelling, the fridge needs to be turned off when stopped. It is about equal to leaving the headlights on. ( A relay with the ignition switch is a good idea.)
Use a cheap level to level the van and the fridge.
In hot weather, if possible park the van with the fridge facing south or east, avoid north or west. Some people use a shade over the fridge or install a little fan to help circulate the air.
Fridge Not Working
These fridges need to be a reasonable level to operate. Liquid needs to run down the coils/tube at "B".
If the fridge gets hot at "A" when operated on electricity and does not get cold inside, then the fridge has lost its refrigerant gas (ammonia) and needs to be recharged with ammonia. this is not cheap ($600 plus) See alternative below.
If the fridge does not get hot at "A" then the heating element is faulty or has another electrical fault.
Also, try on LPG gas
These fridges are no longer to be re-gassed. There use to be repairers in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane who used to re-gas them but now no longer do it.
Hints
Do not operate fridge on more than one power source at once. Some have interlock switches to prevent this, but some do not!
When connecting to 12V, make sure you connect it correctly. Some have one wire connected to the frame (earth) and this needs to be the same as your car otherwise you will blow your car fuse.
Check for gas leaks with liquid detergent at pipe connections.
12 Volt operation
The 12 v operation is only used when the car engine is operating. The fridge needs to be turned off when stopped. It is about equal to leaving the headlights on. ( A relay with the ignition switch is a good idea, get an auto electrician to do this.) Most fridges have 150W elements or larger for both sources of electricity and with 240VAC is 0.625A but on 12V it is 12.05A. The 12V is usually not switched through a thermostat due to the high current.
It is recommended that an Anderson plug is used to power the 12v operation.
When camping where 240V electricity is not available it is recommended to use LPG as the energy source.
You can buy a new small bar fridge cheaper than re-gassing a gas-electric fridge. Prices are about $300-$400 and are a consideration if you are only in powered sites. Choice tested these in June 2003 and found they do not perform as good as a full-size fridge, including the freezer compartment. Most have only one(1) star rating while most domestic fridges have 2.5 star rating They do not run successfully using a 12V battery and a 240AC converter as they draw a large surge current on starting the compressor. The 12V compressor fridges have no surge current.
The advantage of a bar fridge
Better performance.
Cheaper.
Less heat generated
A disadvantage of a bar fridge
Only runs on 240V electricity. May need a generator for 240V+
Do not fit in space as well.
Make some noise, gas/electric fridges make no noise.
Lower the value of the caravan?
These are more efficient but are slightly more expensive and most motor-homes use them. However, a Deep cycle house battery is needed to power the fridge. Solar charging is needed for free camping.
Donation of your old caravan fridge is welcome to make repairs to old fridges cheaper. (Geelong Area)
DIY, buy my book and do it your self, see 'Information'
Created Dec 2003 updated Sept 2009, Jan2013 May2018, Dec2018