Engel Fridge is busted - Any advice please.

I'm afraid to admit that my Engel MT45 (3 years old) failed while on the last Kulkyne trip. It won't cool or freeze. Still draws power and the motor appears to work but no chill factor. Can anyone suggest anything I could check before running it into the repair centre?

I've done a forum search but not being GenY, my search parameters produce a gazillion responses of little relevance.

Many thanks. Mick

(P.S. I own a Waeco as well so comments from the gallery will be ignored!)
''We knew from the experience of well-known travelers that the
trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
Richard Maurice - 1903

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Reply By: Member - Jack - Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 21:07

Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 21:07
I had a similar problem, which turned out to be a thermostat problem. Local Engel man had it fixed in a jiffy. May not be your problem, but the symptoms are similar.

Jack
The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll-Alice In Wonderland)

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Follow Up By: Member - Mick O (VIC) - Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 21:21

Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 21:21
Was it an expensive fix OBJ? I'd been thinking thermostat type thoughts as evrything else still seemed to be working.

Cheers, Mick
''We knew from the experience of well-known travelers that the
trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
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Follow Up By: Member - DAZA (QLD) - Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 22:11

Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 22:11
Hi Mick

I have a 29ltr & 40ltr Engel, the old 29ltr had to be repaired some time back, it had similar symptoms, cost $400-00 to repair,
I claimed Contents Insurance, through the House Insurance, I said
it was a part time Beer Fridge, ended up paying only $100-00,
its worth a try, if its a major repair.
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Follow Up By: Member - Jack - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 07:29

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 07:29
It was less than $100, if my fading memory serves me at all ... including fitting and testing.

This was on an older Engel than yours, but I am sure the bits are still basically the same. The more thngs change the more they stay the same.

Bound to be an Engel man close to you.

JE
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Reply By: Member - Steve M (SA) - Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 22:12

Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 22:12
Hi Mick

My 10 yo Engel failed once in Tasmania - caused because I did not leave enough air space around it.

From Hobart to Straun - fridge not working.

Turned it off in disgust at myself - back on the next day and all OK.

Hasn't failed since (3 years later).

AnswerID: 330079

Follow Up By: Member - Mick O (VIC) - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 06:25

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 06:25
Thanks Steve. Tried that on several occasions and have run it on both 122 and 240V. No luck.

Cheers Mick
''We knew from the experience of well-known travelers that the
trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
Richard Maurice - 1903

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Reply By: Flywest - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 00:39

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 00:39
Take this as you will.. for what little it may or may not be worth..

A ol "mate' a mine was one a these guys who always brought more home from the tip - than he took there!

He was ya typical single income dad with a tribe a kids & doin it really tough at that point in his life.

He happened to have a old timber shed (only thing keeping it standing was the termites holding hands) full of all his "treasures" (from the tip), including an engel someone thru out that wasn't working and according to a fridge bloke couldn't be fixed for less than the cost of a new one.

Mate worked on the theory that one day, somone would thow one out the same with the parts he needed to make one good fridge from 2 duds! (Yeah - as if!)

The whole shed was chockers full of such crapola/rubbish - coz in all honesty thats what it was.

One day a neighbor had a burn off in their back yard - and during the night the fire spread to the dividing picket fence and then his shed - razing it to the ground along with all the rubbish.

When the insurance assessor came - they picked thru the remains - the assessor making a "list" of damaged goods, for replacement under his policy.

Always quick thinking on his feet, when questioned by the assessor "what was this" - he broke down in tears saying "Ohh No - my NEW Engel fridge only had it a year or two and barely usedit twice", etc for the remains of some old mouldy coleman tent found at the tip - and so it went on - from memory he got about $40 K for the camping gear contents of his shed...all of it rubbish he collected from the tip!

Next time I saw him, was camped out bush one day - I thought I'd arrived at the wrong campsite beecause it looked like someone had just taken off wth the entire NEW contents of a camping supplies shop!

It was him alright - first question I askked was "when do YOU win the bloody lottery?".

He explained about the unfortunate fire!

So - how goods your insurance?

Cheers
AnswerID: 330098

Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 04:30

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 04:30
He may also have gotten very little money for the whole garage if heh had been assessed as being under-insured.

. . . . or he may have ended up in gaol for Insurance Fraud.
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Follow Up By: Member - Mick O (VIC) - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 06:24

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 06:24
Thanks for the thoughts but I don't reckon I'd ever get back enough $ for all my gear. Besides, it's in mums shed. Don't think she'd be too happy with me torching it lol.

Cheers Mick.
''We knew from the experience of well-known travelers that the
trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
Richard Maurice - 1903

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Follow Up By: madcow - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 08:06

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 08:06
And we all end up paying extra for someone's dishonesty. I'll bet the insurance company would love to get the details.
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Follow Up By: Member - Old Girl (QLD) - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 14:23

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 14:23
Just made our first claim on contense in 15 years of cover. I backed out the garage with out checking the height of the door. sure enough I took it out. A quick bash with the hammer and a block of wood I could get the car out of the garage and it was only a bit dinted was a bit stiff to open and shut. That's fine how do I tell John, he was away on a trip. I didn't. Not a week later He did the same only the roof rack got caught and took the whole roller door out. I was out the front bleep my self with laughter. After calming down I went to him and said will see how good the insurance cover is. No worries just had an unlocked garage for two and a half months. Last week we were moving and the kids dropped the Plasma (thought they were helping me). So onto the phone to see if we were covered. No because it was an accident. Wasn't the roller door one too. We are changing companies. I'm still laughing at Johns face when he took out the door. He still doesn't know I did it too.
Sharon
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Reply By: Member - MUZBRY (VIC)(MURRAY) - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 08:26

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 08:26
Gday MickO
I read your latest trip and enjoyed every moment.Not to sure what a dingo will do with a bar of soap, but thats his problem.
Murray
Muzbry
Great place to be Mt Blue Rag 27/12/2012

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Follow Up By: Member - Mick O (VIC) - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 17:20

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 17:20
Yhey love the stuff Muz. Soap and shoes. They'll pinch them both and chew them to pieces. Glad you enjoyed the read. I'm making myself sit down and do one entry a night.

Here's to travelling

Cheers

Mick
''We knew from the experience of well-known travelers that the
trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
Richard Maurice - 1903

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Reply By: mechpete - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 19:56

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 19:56
had a similar problem with mine in 2005 , pull the cover of the end and look in the bottom tray ,see if there is oil in there ,if so its had a crack in the pipes somewhere and the gas has got out .
the motor will still run but no cooling ,had mine fixed only a month ago after walking around it in the garage , couldn,t bring my self to throw it out , got it looked at by a friend of a friend and cost me a 30 pack of VB , works great again
mechpete.
to many corrugations eventually gets even the best of em !!
AnswerID: 330211

Reply By: Member - Ian F (WA) - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 22:15

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 22:15
I had a problem with an old model 29 litre and nearly discarded the unit until a chap believe it or not told me to turn it upside down (off) for a 1/2 hour then right way up for 15 mins then switch on. He said you may have to do it a couple of times.
believe me I said BS but tried it and low and behold it worked.
Try it as you have nothing to lose
Ian
AnswerID: 330240

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