Engel Fridge playing up

12v lead or 240v lead? It sounds like a bad connection. You could get a multimeter and check the continuity of the lead and at the same time flex the lead. Could also be the socket that the lead plugs into. May need to check it for mechanical damage.

Leroy

GREENDOG

My 20 year old 15lt plastic body Engel had that same problem some years back. It appears that where the 12/240 plug went in the plastic surround broke. So I took the fridge apart and rewired(bushmechanic-wise) it and soldered the ends of where the wires joined the plug, taped it up, and it has worked ever since. It now lives in the missus' car and is used whenever she goes shopping for tucker. The plastic body has broken and I have recently made a wooden frame for it to live in. It has never been serviced and just keeps on working.

Cheers

Didn't I just read somewhere that Engels never play up...???

Sorry, bored at work again.

Thats what i thought, is Willem in the DOG HOUSE ?

Ive had 2 friends with the same problem on the current series (F) engel.

In both cases it was a broken wire at the fridge end of the 12 volt lead.

Replace the lead and I think you'll fix the problem.

Take it to a shop that sells Engels and try it with a new lead. I am sure they will be happy to help you out. Especially since if it is the lead then they will get a sale.

If you are only just touching the plug and it's doing it - with minimal to no movement of the lead my money is on the connection on the inside of the fridge.

The leads aren't cheap either.

Got a mate with an Engel who's lead you can plug in & wobble a bit?

The plug is fairly well strain relieved. I have noticed on my fridge slide the plug rests against the end of the slide. Any mechanical vibration would be transferred from the body of the plug to the connector in the back of the fridge.

Might take the angle grinder to the fridge slide before we head to Arkaroola.

Dave

Hi Greendog,

I agree with Phil G.
Some leads tend to break the wires at the plug. We had to do emergency (beer was not cold) repairs while on the Anne Beadel. We had a gas soldering iron. Had to cut the plug up a bit to do the repair but it is still going OK after 5 years.
Another mate just bought a new lead.

Hi Greendog.
My Engel fridge uses a moulded 3 pin connection socket on the standard OEM supply cable. Often with this type of connection suffers from poor connection problems & is not user serviceable. This Engel OEM supply lead has two parrallel connection pins at the top & one horizontal connection pin at the bottom. It is interesting to note that the two parrallel pins are both connected to the positive battery line (thus sharing the full running current between them) whilst there is only a single negative pin. I have two leads where the negatrive pin connection has failed due to over heating / over current. The heat causes a carbon build up on the terminals that creates an ever increasing high resistance contact. This will eventually lead to the plug to fail permanently.
Before replacing the plug check (& clean if required) the connection pins at the fridge socket. A tell tale sign of this problem is heat marks / distortion on the plug & discolouration on the fridge socket connection pins.( By the way, this is also the most common fault with domestic low voltage downlights!)
Whilst you are at it, if you are using the cigarette plug, also check those connections as well as the internal fuse.
It could be of benefit to earth the fridge & thus have a higher current / low resistance negative connection (assuming that the negative side of the fridge is bonded to ground? This could cause problems when connected to 240 volts supplied from a safety switch / RCD protected power source. Will need to check out the fridge once the car gets back!)
My 39 litre 1998 model Engel needed a new compressor & fan after 4 years.
Cheers Tony

Greendog it was quite a common problem particually in the early Engels & it was almost always in the plug not the fridge. Regular use or packing gear around the back of the fridge often flaired the ends of the contacts in the plug leading to a poor connection & intermittant opperation.
I had 2 leads where the plugs actually snapped off inside. Easiest way to check is with a multi tester.
Cheers Craig...........