WAECO upright fridge/freezer

Submitted: Thursday, Mar 26, 2015 at 18:03

ThreadID: 117244 Views:3854 Replies:2 FollowUps:2

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Portable Fridges

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Kenny73

Hope you wise people can help. I have a WAECO HD220 12v fridge. I run a 12v solar system in my shed. 2 x 200w panels, regulator and 2x120Ah batteries.
Fridge is only 3yrs old. It worked fine for the first year then it started playing up. The cooling fan comes on for a short while, it cuts out, then the compressor starts up but stops after about 20seconds, the cooling fan then starts again!!! The fridge does not get cool and the freezer does not freeze yet it seems to drain the batteries(due to the compressor constantly kicking in)?!
I have had the thermostat replaced - still not working! ($250)
I then had electrical panel replaced - still not working! ($350)
Me thinks a $2000 fridge should last more than 12 months.
The solar system has been fine running my 40L Engel and lights and water pump.
Any ideas or recommendations?

cheers

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Reply By: Athol W1 - Thursday, Mar 26, 2015 at 22:15

Thursday, Mar 26, 2015 at 22:15

Kenny
Sounds like a low voltage problem to me.
Have you checked the voltage at the fridge when the compressor starts, and is that voltage better than 12v, if not then it is a matter of checking the voltage back along the wiring and also at the battery terminals, it could be a faulty battery (or 2) that is not supplying sufficient power for the occasion.

Hope this helps.

AnswerID: 551657

Follow Up By: Grumblebum and the Dragon - Friday, Mar 27, 2015 at 19:38

Friday, Mar 27, 2015 at 19:38

I think Athol is on the money.Check voltage back to the batteries and clean all the terminals at the back of the fridge. It could possibly be a voltage drop due to incorrect wire size to the fridge.

Mine is a smaller model, now ten years old and still going good though we did have the occasional glitch with dirty contacts and once with a faulty thermostat.

John

FollowupID: 837175

Reply By: thephantom - Thursday, Mar 26, 2015 at 22:39

Thursday, Mar 26, 2015 at 22:39

Hi Kenny
Your fridge symptoms sound the same as hubby and I had in 2013 with our vitrifrigo 12v fridge.
We had a repair man come to us at a CP in Mt Isa and he diagnosed the fan as being faulty and replaced it for us. Seems the fan wouldn't run for long and cut out so the compressor would start up but the fridge would overheat so the fan would come on etc. etc. Charged $100 cash to replace fan but the best $100 we had spent in a while!!
Long story short. No problems with the fridge since then, even in very hot weather.
Hope this is of some help to you.
Cheers
Jules

AnswerID: 551660