Fridges and Caravans
Submitted: Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 21:06
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Jason (macca)
Hi all,
Do domestic type fridges work ok in Caravans. The reason I ask is that I have an onsite van and in 2 weeks I have killed 2 fridges.
The first fridge was a 12 month old Simspon 270 litre standard house hold fridge. It worked like a champion for the first few days. After about day 3 the fridge just didnt seem to get cold. The freezer was working but ok but it too seemed to be a bit warmer than normal
The 2nd fridge was a 7 year old Lemair that worked
well at
home in the garage. I took it out to the van and presto.....It failed after about day 3 like the first fridge. Same symptons.
Does it have something to do with poor ventilation in the van and the fact that the van is roasting hot inside during the day?
Any comments are greatly appreciated
Jason
Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 21:09
Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 21:09
Probably both and not enuf ventilation. Domestic fridges need air space around them and van fridges are built in and only have air up the back????
Also was the van level allround as domestics dont like being off level
AnswerID:
280677
Reply By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 21:55
Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 21:55
Jason
I had problems with the old gas/elect' in WA so i pulled it out, took it to the
Goomalling dump, went down to
Norseman Retavision and got a Bar fridge, perfect, I had frozen goods in the freezer and all day not running while travelling and at sunset it was still frozen hard,
Westinghouse RA123T
.
AnswerID:
280690
Reply By: Willem - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 08:10
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 08:10
We carted a Kelvinator domestic fridge around in our caravan for 5 years while on the wallaby. When we eventually bought a house again the fridge did its duty there for a year and then we sold it to a friend who gave it to his daughter to set up her
home. The fridge is still working and would be about 13 years of age.
Our van was bought as a
shell and I furnished the interior making sure that the fridge had lots of ventilation. It never missed a beat.
Cheers
AnswerID:
280713
Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 14:32
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 14:32
probabally made in japan
have you had a look where new fridges are made now?
FollowupID:
545078
Reply By: Member - beachbum - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 09:12
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 09:12
Jason, there is no doubt that the high ambient temperature would make the fridges work pretty hard but I doubt that it would cause them to die. I would have a close look at the mains supply voltage before anything else. I have measured caravan park voltages as low as 213 Volts, at the outley point and this does not do your electrics any good at all. It is also outside the Australian Standard. A group of us stayed at a park north of
Bundaberg around this time last year and two Trailblasers and a CF50 Waeco quit due directly to this cause and when I approached the management was rudely told that we should only be using our on board fridges and no Air cons. That management has now moved on but I doubt the problem has been resolved as the park is fed via a SWER line and the system can't handle the load without major upgrading and this will be quite costly.
AnswerID:
280719
Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 16:11
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 16:11
Good point.
I stayed in a caravan park in Switzerland one time which had a 160V AC supply - was supposed to be 220V!
Mike Harding
FollowupID:
545101
Reply By: Mikee5 (Logan QLD) - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 11:51
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 11:51
Domestic fridges are supposed to be left off for several hours after transporting before turning on. especially if it has been turned on its side or back. Maybe this is the cause?
AnswerID:
280742
Reply By: Jason (macca) - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 13:39
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 13:39
Thanks for all the replies.
I will get a mate to
check the volts coming into the van and I will look at better ventilation.
Thanks all
Jason
AnswerID:
280757