# Thetford fridge only works on hook up



## Dazcooper (Jan 27, 2013)

We currently own a 2007 swift bolero 680.

The thetford fridge only seems to work when we are on mains, any other time the spanner is on and the blue light flashes. We have tried to manually select gas or the battery but it still does not work.

We have been told it could be the fridges PCB.

Any help would be great.


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## whenIretire (Mar 16, 2012)

Nest to the spanner does a number appear? This would relate to the fault code.


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## Dazcooper (Jan 27, 2013)

Yes when gas is selected a number 9 appears and when the leisure battery is selected number 10 appears , the blue lights flashes on both.


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## 100127 (Jul 20, 2006)

This might help. Error 10 is no engine running to supply leccy to fridge.

http://www.swift-owners-club.com/support/oem-handbooks/thetford/troubleshooting-fridges.pdf


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## 100127 (Jul 20, 2006)

This might help. Error 10 is no engine running to supply leccy to fridge.
Error 9 is no gas.

http://www.swift-owners-club.com/support/oem-handbooks/thetford/troubleshooting-fridges.pdf


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## Dazcooper (Jan 27, 2013)

I have just been reading the thetford user guide, I thought that the fridge would work on 12v , but this only is the case when engine is running, this eliminates my fault 10. 

So any thoughts on the fridge not working on the gas supply fault 9 would be great thanks.

Gas bottle is full and all valves are open


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## 100127 (Jul 20, 2006)

You need to hear if the igniter for the gas is clicking. Fridges take a long time for the gas to come through. Try turning the hob on to get some gas through, and then try the fridge.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Do any other gas appliances work, also 12v is only available when the engine is running, the 12v side drawers a lot, and the LBs would be flat in no time at all otherwise.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

God you lot were quick, I saw the post, no answers, click reply, phone rang, I come back and my work is done.

Where else could you get that eh.


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## 100127 (Jul 20, 2006)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> God you lot were quick, I saw the post, no answers, click reply, phone rang, I come back and my work is done.
> 
> Where else could you get that eh.


 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Dazcooper (Jan 27, 2013)

The other gas appliances work fine, I can hear the clicking for about 30 secs when I turn the fridge of the on again, but then no ignite and error code 9 shows again


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

> The other gas appliances work fine, I can hear the clicking for about 30 secs when I turn the fridge of the on again, but then no ignite and error code 9 shows again


There will be individual gas valves (somewhere), one for each appliance. Often these are located in a bank under the fridge/cooker or similar. Could it be that the valve controlling the gas to the fridge has been accidentally turned off?

Phil


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Im no expert on Thetford fridges but I'm told they're VERY sensitive to level, so before you do any tests make sure the van is perfectly level.

When on gas you should be able to feel the heat from the flame at the top fridge vent. As has already been said, bleed the gas through thoroughly after changing a bottle.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Come on leave me something to do  

Bunch of flaming clever clogs the lot of you.


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## 100127 (Jul 20, 2006)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Come on leave me something to do
> 
> Bunch of flaming clever clogs the lot of you.


It's nothing really Kev. :lol: :lol:


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## whenIretire (Mar 16, 2012)

gaspode said:



> Im no expert on Thetford fridges but I'm told they're VERY sensitive to level, so before you do any tests make sure the van is perfectly level.
> 
> When on gas you should be able to feel the heat from the flame at the top fridge vent. As has already been said, bleed the gas through thoroughly after changing a bottle.


I find that the fridge still works on a slope (ie the flame ignites), just doesn't cool particularly well, and by that I mean hardly at all.

Could be that the reg is on it's way out (particularly if it's a truma). I don't know about the fridge but when we first got our van the hob would work but the combi boiler wouldn't on the amount of gas that the reg was allowing through, could it possibly be the same for the fridge, not enough gas getting through?


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

When I had a similar problem with the same fridge it turned out to be the flame failure device had moved out of the flame.
It was easy to see what was happening by removing the outside lower vent and a small metal cover. The first thing is to switch on the fridge and ascertain whether the burner lights during the 30 seconds or so. If it does then gas is getting through but possibly the flame failure device is not located properly or is faulty. if it doesn't then gas is not getting through.


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## Landyman (Apr 3, 2010)

Spider/bug/cr*p in the gas jet.
Happened to our old Bolero 2-3 years ago. Dealer checked it, cleaned the jet and no further problem.

Richard.


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## Dazcooper (Jan 27, 2013)

Thanks for the comments, the vehicle is flat. There is no ignite from the fridge just clicking for 30 secs then the error code , the valve in the cupboard is on.


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

Sounds like it could be any of a number of things then:

Blockage in the pipe feeding the fridge

Faulty gas valve (or a fault in the circuit that operates it)

Blocked jet

Personally I would take it to a specialist at this point but others may suggest ways that you can identify exactly what the issue is.

Phil


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## HarryTheHymer (May 1, 2005)

I had a similar problem with my Dometic RM 7605L fridge. There is a drain pipe from the fridge which discharges into a plastic container mounted over the lower hot pipe (part of the recirculatory fridge cooling system).

When I checked, the plastic container was full to the brim with water and wasn't evaporating, as it should.

The burner unit is close to this water container. I checked the burner unit and found the electrical contacts were corroded, especially the earth return. After cleaning off the rust it worked perfectly. 

The water in the plastic container was obviously overflowing onto the burner unit area. 

I now carry a small diameter flexible hose to syphon off any excess water. 

So, suggest you remove the lower vent and check the water container and any sign of rusting in the burner area.


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## InfaRed (Nov 9, 2010)

Error code 9 is gas lockout because flame fails to ignite in 30 secs.
Error code 10 "No engine running" signal and control is in manual.
Does it run on 12V when the engine is running? If not check the fuse.

I had a similar problem back in June and even after replacing the fuse for the 12V it still refused to run on gas but was OK on mains and whilst engine was running. After about 5 days it started working again and has been alright ever since.

Thetford have a trouble shooting pdf for fridges that maybe useful.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

There is also another possible fault, and that's the igniter itself, although less likely on this one, but they can still provide a spark and be defective, the spark is just not strong enough to light the gas, had it twice now, sparking away and doing nothing change it and poof it lights.

Fortunately most fridge parts are not too expensive except the PCB of course.


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