I think my 12v fridge is on the blink

[Guest]

Currently it serves no other purpose than to light my face when I open the door. Basically it's not cold. Is it worth the time and expense of getting it looked at or should I just bite the bullet and get a new one?

[Sea Dog]

A quick search will reveal just how expensive a new 12V fridge is so, if it us in good nick otherwise, it probably is worth looking at the repair option. 

 

Often, there's a little red light by the internal control which flashes a code. This code gives a clue as to what might be wrong. 

 

The real trick might be finding someone who can fix it. Good luck.

[Guest]

Yeah, I think I will probably need to find an electrician/fridge repairman initially. Almost choked at the prices of 12v fridges. Not sure if a 240v fridge would be a feasible alternative unfortunately.

[dor]

Can you check the voltage at the fridge?  The 12V compressors are very reliable, but prone to stalling if the voltage isn't high enough.  Whilst the fridge might only draw three amps when it is running, it will draw ten times that when starting up so is very susceptible to low voltage.  Could be bad connection, cable too thin or battery voltage low.

 

There should be a small LED light, either on the back by the compressor controller or, more often, inside the fridge low down.  The flashing rate is diagnostic.

[Guest]

Thanks dor, I'll take a look this evening and try your suggestions

[pearley]

When ours played up I phoned Shoreline who gave us a contact in the area (Braunston) who was prepared to look at boat fridges. Cost us £55 for a recharge. If we had been in a house we'd have just bought a new one. 

 

The biggest problem when buying a new one is getting rid of the old. 

[Nightwatch]

As we know it's been hot recently, not today so far though. Is your fridge well ventilated? Last year I drilled big holes in the adjacent cupboards as there was plenty of heat coming from the recess. Imagination perhaps, but I think the fridge worked better and more efficient.

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

As we know it's been hot recently, not today so far though. Is your fridge well ventilated? Last year I drilled big holes in the adjacent cupboards as there was plenty of heat coming from the recess. Imagination perhaps, but I think the fridge worked better and more efficient.

There's an idea, I'll take a look at that too. Basically I have to chuck out all the food that is in the fridge (not much actually). I usually keep a 2L or 5L bottle of water in it when the fridge isn't full of food. Perhaps should pull the fridge out of its cubby hole and see what the ventilation is like. My kitchen is somewhere I haven't spent a lot of time figuring out what's what since I bought the boat last year as its all been working nicely until now!

[OldGoat]

Firstly - what sort of fridge is it? - a compressor type or and 'absorbption' type that runs on gas/12v/240v (just in case) A 12v compressor type is usually pretty reliable and often the problems are with the supply cables etc

 

Secondly - 240AC fridges - if a good quality one can be run 'economically' via an inverter - which also should be a good quality one.

[Richard10002]

How old is it? Mine was about 14 years old when the compressor started running 24/7 and not keeping it as cold as reqiuired. I eventually found a fridge engineer who, (for £35), told me that the piston in the compressor had given up. He tried to source a compressor which he said would be about £200 or so supplied and fitted, but he couldnt find one.

 

I bit the bullet, paid my five hundred quid for a Waeco from Ely Chandlers and the pain of the expenditure has now gone, and I have a lovely 12V fridge.

 

Cant imagine having to run the inverter 24/7 just to run a cheaper fridge. I could guess that the cost of the fuel to supply the inverter draw would eradicate any saving over a few years, even if solar provides most of it during the spring/summer.

[Flyboy]

11 hours ago, welly said:

Currently it serves no other purpose than to light my face when I open the door. Basically it's not cold. Is it worth the time and expense of getting it looked at or should I just bite the bullet and get a new one?

What type of fridge is it ? If it is a compressor type, can you hear the compressor running ?  If the the compressor is not running it may be just a faulty thermostat. 

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, Flyboy said:

What type of fridge is it ? If it is a compressor type, can you hear the compressor running ?  If the the compressor is not running it may be just a faulty thermostat. 

It's a Shoreline compressor (I assume!) fridge, it's 12v only anyway. I can hear what sounds like humming and maybe even a bit of bubbling, so something is running at least. I'm going to pull everything out of the fridge and pull the fridge out of its cubby hole - which might not be giving it enough ventilation and see if anything ominous is occurring!

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

How old is it? Mine was about 14 years old when the compressor started running 24/7 and not keeping it as cold as reqiuired. I eventually found a fridge engineer who, (for £35), told me that the piston in the compressor had given up. He tried to source a compressor which he said would be about £200 or so supplied and fitted, but he couldnt find one.

 

I bit the bullet, paid my five hundred quid for a Waeco from Ely Chandlers and the pain of the expenditure has now gone, and I have a lovely 12V fridge.

 

Cant imagine having to run the inverter 24/7 just to run a cheaper fridge. I could guess that the cost of the fuel to supply the inverter draw would eradicate any saving over a few years, even if solar provides most of it during the spring/summer.

I'm not entirely sure but it doesn't look that modern. The boat is about 20 something years old and while I don't think the fridge is quite that old, I suspect it's probably not far off. It must easily be 10 years old, will have to look at the manual when I get home.

 

I'd be hesitant to be running my inverter 24 hours a day, in fact I don't like turning it on at the best of times as it's not the best - I've tried to go 12v for everything, which I have done other than my Morco boiler. My inverter is a pretty basic Sterling Power quasi-sine inverter (that I can't charge my laptop with!) so generally don't use it.

 

I'll have a bit of a fettle about the back of the fridge tonight and see if I can suss out what might be happening with the bugger.

[Rebotco]

If you can truly hear gurgling going on, the motor is running. That means the thermostat is OK. Most likely fault in that case is that it has lost its refrigerant gas, and a recharge will work for a while.  But the leak will still be there and will eventually need repair. That gets expensive, but not as expensive as a replacement fridge!

If the "gurgling" is just a buzzing type noise, it is a voltage or compressor fault.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Rebotco said:

If you can truly hear gurgling going on, the motor is running. That means the thermostat is OK. Most likely fault in that case is that it has lost its refrigerant gas, and a recharge will work for a while.  But the leak will still be there and will eventually need repair. That gets expensive, but not as expensive as a replacement fridge!

If the "gurgling" is just a buzzing type noise, it is a voltage or compressor fault.

Cheers! Gives me something to go on!

 

[Guest]

Highly recommended daventry fridge company based in braunston phone: 01788890469 12v fridge repairs carried out by semi retired owner Brian. Not connected just very satisfied customer good luck

[pearley]

2 hours ago, oats said:

Highly recommended daventry fridge company based in braunston phone: 01788890469 12v fridge repairs carried out by semi retired owner Brian. Not connected just very satisfied customer good luck

That's who we used (Post #6) last month. Cost us £55. Its still Brian, now 80 years old. 

[Machpoint005]

7 hours ago, dor said:

Can you check the voltage at the fridge?  The 12V compressors are very reliable, but prone to stalling if the voltage isn't high enough.  Whilst the fridge might only draw three amps when it is running, it will draw ten times that when starting up so is very susceptible to low voltage.  Could be bad connection, cable too thin or battery voltage low.

 

^^ Yes, this. I thought our elderly Electrolux had given up last year, turned out to be an iffy 12v connection and a low state of battery charge. Now works fine having "jiggled it a bit" (OK, I reattached the wires!).  

Edited May 10, 2018 by Machpoint005

[Guest]

Didn't get to properly examine the fridge last night, it'll be a job for this evening after I've got myself up the Hanwell Flight. I did take out all the food that has gone off and gave the fridge a bit of a clean. It seems the freezer compartment is definitely cold but not frozen - there's no ice forming - but the "fridge" section is basically lukewarm. So it's not entirely dead. I think a fridge engineer will be the next appropriate move. I would love to use Brian but unfortunately Braunston is a bit out of the way for me. May have to try and find someone local before renting a car and driving up to Braunston to see Brian. I should probably get in touch with him at the very least.

 

Thanks all!

[WotEver]

3 minutes ago, welly said:

It seems the freezer compartment is definitely cold but not frozen - there's no ice forming - but the "fridge" section is basically lukewarm. So it's not entirely dead. 

That sounds to me like it’s lost some pressure, which a refrigeration engineer could replace by re-gassing. Obviously if there’s a leak then it’ll happen again but that could take a very long time if it’s a tiny leak. 

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, WotEver said:

That sounds to me like it’s lost some pressure, which a refrigeration engineer could replace by re-gassing. Obviously if there’s a leak then it’ll happen again but that could take a very long time if it’s a tiny leak. 

Marvellous. That sounds like it might be salvageable!

[WotEver]

6 minutes ago, welly said:

Marvellous. That sounds like it might be salvageable!

Only a refrigeration guy can tell you for sure. 

[Onewheeler]

It has been said in the past that (so long as the compressor is working) turning the fridge off, leaving it upside-down for a day, then turning it right way up can effect a cure. Never tried it, I read it on t'interwibbly so it must be true.

[WotEver]

2 minutes ago, Onewheeler said:

It has been said in the past that (so long as the compressor is working) turning the fridge off, leaving it upside-down for a day, then turning it right way up can effect a cure. Never tried it, I read it on t'interwibbly so it must be true.

That worked for the old absorption fridges. Do that to a modern compressor fridge and it’s likely to be terminal. That’s why all modern fridges come in large cardboard boxes with THIS WAY UP writ large. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Onewheeler said:

It has been said in the past that (so long as the compressor is working) turning the fridge off, leaving it upside-down for a day, then turning it right way up can effect a cure. Never tried it, I read it on t'interwibbly so it must be true.

There are a number of posts on various forums that confirms this may work. So with nothing else to lose I'm going to try it.

 

Watch this space. ?‍?

 

I may check the manual first though...

Edited May 11, 2018 by Guest