# Fridge stopped working



## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

Having a run of bad luck. Sorted one problem and now my fridge has stopped cooling. 
I am away for the weekend on hookup. The fridge has stopped working.....was Ok for a day but now freezer warm. This happened in the summer and was rectified when I realised that I had left the winter vent covers on. The winter covers have been on as it is -3 at night. But I took them off restarted the fridge but it is still not working.

It is a Thetford SES ( 97 litre?) and the blue light is on. I have tried it on gas and mains but no good. I M
am on a slight incline, but as the Fiat is nose down that is not unusual and does not usually affect it. 

Any ideas? It is cold so not critical for now, but obviously needs fixing. My dealer looked at it last time, but found nothing wrong. It is still under warranty, I think and the van has to go back to the dealers for something else at some point. 

Julie


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Does it work again now that the temp has gone up. I know if the temp goes too low then the fridges and frezzers stop working as the surrounding temp is lower than the temp it operates at.

cabby


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

Not sure as it takes quite a while to recool. 

The heating was on inside so the ambient temperature was warm. It is pretty useless if it stops when it is cold outside as it is warm inside so everything goes off.

I am at home now so I will try it again tomorrow as it is on hookup outside.

A bit of a pain!


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

I'm with Cabby on this. Last winter, we lost a freezer full of food because it was TOO cold outside.  

Our Dometic fridge/freezer only has a thermostat for the FRIDGE part. If the outside temperature is very cold, there is no point in the fridge running. And if the fridge doesn't run, neither does the freezer!! So its contents thaw out, quite rapidly. :evil: 

By fitting winter covers - mine is a sheet of aluminium fitted temporarily inside the plastic grill - the thermostat finds it harder to detect how cold it is outside. Since fitting my winter cover, the freezer has worked fine. :roll: :wink: 

HTH


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

The vents were on when it stopped and it was -3 at night....which is not that cold compared to many places in UK.

I will turn it on in a minute and check this afternoon. I t may have been the slope, but it was very shallow and not steeper than I often park on without using the blocks.

There are no error messages.


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## ubuntu1 (Jan 14, 2008)

*fridge problem.*

Please be careful with homemade winter covers. Don't forget that your fridge vents products of combution out through your grills and if you get it wrong and run on gas you could kill yourself.

Why not call out a motorhome engineer to look at your fridge. You should get it fixed pretty quickly.


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## Chascass (May 10, 2007)

It might be because you are out of level, where I park my van at home it is not level (nose down) and the fridge has always worked until a couple months ago, blue light on but not freezing up, took it out for a run and it has been ok since.

Charlie


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

Well, it is fine now. 

No idea what it was. Maybe levelling, but it seemed OK to me.....my glass of wine didn't slide away!

I'll keep an eye on it and hope it stay working when I am away in Scotland in early March.

Thanks for ideas on the reason.


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

Re-opening this as the fridge has defrosted/ warmed up again. This time it is virtually level. It was fine yesterday then it had to sit out all day on gas and it is no longer cold. The gas seems to be working and it did not get cold again back on hookup. 

So infuriating and I am going away in it next week for 10 days. I have no idea what to try. It is one of the newer Thetford SES fridges. The heater is directly opposite but so they are in many vans. The work surface directly above it is not hot.

Any ideas please?


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

How old is the fridge, have you looked at the thetford website for a service agent ? it may be under warranty.

If not under Warranty, he should still be able to fix it, however it may cost a few ££'s


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

4maddogs said:


> .....................
> 
> Any ideas please?


If the problem is apparent on both gas and electric it could simply be a rust build up in the cooling matrix,I had a similar problem and have solved it by simply turning the fridge upside down for 24 hours.

Have a look at this thread


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## thegamwellsmythes (Jul 29, 2008)

Are you absolutely certain that you have sufficient gas in the bottles?

Our hob will work on a virtually empty bottle but the fridge, boiler and heating won't work.

If you aren't 100% certain try swapping the bottle for one that you know is full and give it a go. Worth a try maybe.

Good luck with it anyway.


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

Hi
I have taken it to a service centre after discussing with Thetford. 
The gas bottles are almost full and as it is not working on hookup either it is the fridge not the fuel.

It is only just over a year old so still in warranty.

BTW Thetford tried to suggest that no fridge will work unless it is absolutely level....as Ducatos are slightly nose down that is a bit of a design fault! I know this to be not completely true as it has been level virtually for the past two days and was not entirely level on my drive. 

I any case, surely they should work with a small slope?


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

Just an update. The fridge is no good. Caput! Something about getting very hot in one place.

I am relieved in one way as you need to be able to trust your kit. I wish that the dealer had spotted it back in August when I took it back as it would saved all the to-ing and fro-ing. 
Never mind it is confirmed now, so I hope a new one comes through quickly....although I fear I will have a 10 day trip without it as I go away in a week.


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

The fridge arrived the following working day and was fitted in time for my holiday. 
Fantastic service from Thetford and Drayton Caravans in Norwich.
Thanks to you both.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

AFAIK the acceptable tilt level is + or - 5 degrees from horizontal......

that was a figure we had in our old fridge when we were caravan operators

That seems quite OK with us and ours has always been reliable (unti, the jet got blocked last autumn just 2 days after being serviced :twisted: )

Dave


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