Fridge help please

[Water Rat.]

Really struggling now. Done everything to get the gas fridge going but it is not working at all. We should be in Stourport tonight, does anyone know anyone within a reasonable distance who either services these things or sells them. It seems caravan establishments won't even consider them being on boats and we do need a fridge. Thanks.

[Alan de Enfield]

Just a suggestion :-

You may be better getting it serviced / fixed if you can, or replacing with the same make.

 

A different model may well have the flue in a different 'place' (using the dictionary definition of place and not C&RT's) and wont line up with the flue on the boat, resulting in additional time & work moving flue pipes etc.

 

Dont know if they do LPG or are Boat Gas registered but maybe worth a phone call :

 

Thermex (M & E) Ltd

4 Baldwin Road,Stourport-on-Severn,Worcestershire,DY13 9AU

• Tel: 01299 664531

 

• Fridges & freezers - retail & suppliers
• Gas
• Gas appliances - supply & maintenance
• Gas boilers
• Gas central heating
• Gas cooker installation
• Gas cooker repairs
• Gas cookers
• Gas engineers
• Gas heating equipment
• Gas leaks
• Gas plumbers
• Gas safe registered
• Gas servicing

Edited June 11, 2014 by Alan de Enfield

[colmac]

We live in Stourport and moor the boat in the basin. Try having a chat with the people in Limekilns Chandlers. There is a guy in the basin called Alan who knows everyone around here that repairs boats and accessories.

[Water Rat.]

Thought an up date might be if interest. I always like to know the outcomes of questions on the forum.

Well. After many conversations, head scratching and very bad language on my part. We have ordered a new gas fridge from Socal Southampton, £299 plus next day delivery @£6.95. Audlem Mill very kindly offered to take delivery for us and we are on the way there, so, all we will need to do is find someone to fit it and we are done and can get on with out trip.

[alan_fincher]

We have ordered a new gas fridge from Socal Southampton, £299 plus next day delivery @£6.95.

 

Well not sure exactly what you have ordered, but that sounds a staggeringly good deal.

 

Anywhere I have seen selling new LPG fridges, (particularly the Dometic ones) I'm sure they have been a very great deal more than that.

[ditchcrawler]

 

Well not sure exactly what you have ordered, but that sounds a staggeringly good deal.

 

Anywhere I have seen selling new LPG fridges, (particularly the Dometic ones) I'm sure they have been a very great deal more than that.

http://www.socal.co.uk/outdoor-living/cooling/dometic-waeco/combi-cool.html

[alan_fincher]

http://www.socal.co.uk/outdoor-living/cooling/dometic-waeco/combi-cool.html

 

Thanks,

 

Rather odd that the gas consumption is quoted at 375 grams per day, significantly worse than was quoted for models 20 or 30 years ago, (would use a 13Kg bottle in just over a month, with no other things using gas).

 

I can't really believe they have actually started making them less efficient, so presumably either a mistake, or an admission that they use more gas than they used to say they did.

[sueb]

You may be able to fit it yourself. The fittings may just screw or clip together.

[George94]

The reason it is cheap is that this is not actually a fridge but a cooler. On a hot day like today it will only cool down to 50 degrees F., which is not sufficient to keep meat and milk, etc.. For that you need a temperature below 40 F.

[alan_fincher]

The reason it is cheap is that this is not actually a fridge but a cooler. On a hot day like today it will only cool down to 50 degrees F., which is not sufficient to keep meat and milk, etc.. For that you need a temperature below 40 F.

That's not what various web-sites say about it....

 

The DOMETIC WAECO CombiCool RF-60 Front Opening Door Cabinet Fridge 3-Way Absorption absorption fridge cools to 30C below ambient temperature. It has a capacity of approx. 60-litres.

 

 

Mind you at 30 degrees © below ambient it would turn everything to ice, even on a hot day like today!

 

It is the norm with these things that they are not thermostatically controlled when running on LPG, and it is an owner responsibility to set the flame size to give the right degree of cooling for the amount of contents and the ambient temperature.

 

Certainly if we run our elderly Electrolux on too high a flame setting, things get far to cold, and we start to find ice crystals in the milk!

 

I see no evidence what Julie has bought is not a proper fridge - do you have a web-site that supports what you have said, please?

[cereal tiller]

 

Thanks,

 

Rather odd that the gas consumption is quoted at 375 grams per day, significantly worse than was quoted for models 20 or 30 years ago, (would use a 13Kg bottle in just over a month, with no other things using gas).

 

I can't really believe they have actually started making them less efficient, so presumably either a mistake, or an admission that they use more gas than they used to say they did.

The consumption figure quoted is for when the fridge burner is running at it's highest setting.

 

The burner automatically switches between high and low flame.

 

Got one of these last year,it will run for 57 24 hour periods on a 13 KG propane cylinder

 

CT

[furnessvale]

The reason it is cheap is that this is not actually a fridge but a cooler. On a hot day like today it will only cool down to 50 degrees F., which is not sufficient to keep meat and milk, etc.. For that you need a temperature below 40 F.

The write up says 30c below ambient. Unless this is wrong, you would need to be in Death Valley to have a problem.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

 

(Sorry. already covered by others)

Edited June 13, 2014 by furnessvale

[MtB]

As an aside, I have Shoreline electric compressor-driven fridges in both my boats, and I seem able to leave both of them permanently on when I'm away from one or other boat for weeks at a time, the batteries being kept adequately charged by surprisingly small solar panels.

 

In the ALDEBARAN I have a full sized under-counter fridge and two 80w (I think) solar panels, and in the REGINALD I have a dinky little fridge (bought from Lime Kiln) and a single 100w panel.

 

I'm vaguely hoping that when the days get shorter in winter the lower ambient temperature will still allow me to leave them ON while I'm away.

 

MtB

[George94]

That's not what various web-sites say about it....

 

 

Mind you at 30 degrees © below ambient it would turn everything to ice, even on a hot day like today!

 

It is the norm with these things that they are not thermostatically controlled when running on LPG, and it is an owner responsibility to set the flame size to give the right degree of cooling for the amount of contents and the ambient temperature.

 

Certainly if we run our elderly Electrolux on too high a flame setting, things get far to cold, and we start to find ice crystals in the milk!

 

I see no evidence what Julie has bought is not a proper fridge - do you have a web-site that supports what you have said, please?

 

You are absolutely right. For some reason I thought they were quoting Fahrenheit, not Celsius. Apologies to the OP if I caused any alarm.

[smileypete]

With the gas powered absorption fridges they can sometimes be fixed by turning upside down:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=turning+absorption+fridge+upside+down

 

Maybe if the old fridge works after this it could be of use to someone.

 

Also some of them don't like working if tilted even a little.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[trackman]

As an aside, I have Shoreline electric compressor-driven fridges in both my boats, and I seem able to leave both of them permanently on when I'm away from one or other boat for weeks at a time, the batteries being kept adequately charged by surprisingly small solar panels.

 

In the ALDEBARAN I have a full sized under-counter fridge and two 80w (I think) solar panels, and in the REGINALD I have a dinky little fridge (bought from Lime Kiln) and a single 100w panel.

 

I'm vaguely hoping that when the days get shorter in winter the lower ambient temperature will still allow me to leave them ON while I'm away.

 

MtB

I think you'll be very lucky Mike. We have 136W if panels and a good mppt controller. In winter this helps a bit but the short days and low sun etc mean we still need a fair bit of additional power to run our Shoreline 12V fridge. We turn it off at night in winter too.

In summer it's another matter, generally little need to run the engine for battery charging on half decent days.