More Waeco Problems
Submitted: Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:01
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Member - Geoff H (QLD)
I thought I had fixed my Waeco problems.
I replaced the original cigarette plug with a hella socket and it worked fine initially.
However I left the fridge on the battery for 18 hours and when the battery hit 12.3v the fridge cut out. (It was set to low which I understand has a 10.5v cut out).
The reason I'm reluctant to take it in for repairs is that:
1. The repairer threatened me that if I bought the fridge in for a warranty claim and it was the battery then I would have to pay for to validate the claim (fair enough)
2. Then he said that just because the battery shows 12v or more doesn't mean it will run a fridge.
3. He then said if I do bring it in it will take a month of sundays to repairs.
I'm no expert but when I switched to emergency it dropped the fridge down to -9 so I imagine the battery is strong enough to run the compressor. I think the problem is inside the fridge because it would not run on the cranking battery either.
Is there some other way of checking the condition of the battery with a multimeter, before I finally take it in for a warranty claim and hope not to be ripped off.
Regards
Reply By: Member - The Bushwhackers -NSW - Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:08
Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:08
Hi Geoff, sorry to hear of your continuing problems... I remember your previous post.
I wouldn't have a clue regarding what might be the cause of the problem, but there was a link to an article re checking batteries on here a little while ago. I had a look, very good info, and I think it tells you how to
check the battery with a multimeter.
Try here.
Battery Info
Hope this is of some help,
Dave
AnswerID:
399927
Follow Up By: oldtrack123 - Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:53
Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:53
Hi Geof
You should
check the battery & connections under load [fridge on] with multi meter
check @ battery terminals .Then, if ok say above 12v, progressively
check across pos & neg back to fridge terminals.
If volts suddenly drop then the problem lies between that point & the previous
test point.
The
test must be done with a load on the battery
FollowupID:
668989
Reply By: Willem - Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:55
Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:55
When we had a problem with our 40lt Waeco I asked for advice here on the
forumWell.................so many
bright ideas, in depth knowledge and miscelleaneous answers. I even replaced the battery of the Xtrail under guidance only to find out I needn't have.
In the end I took the Waeco to the authorised repairer for this area ...a cool 220km round trip and after a second go at it, he got it right. It was a Waeco fault and it cost nothing under a warranty claim. Even if your fridge is out of warranty a warranty claim may be valid as Waeco were supplied with faulty parts (that's what they told me) for a range of models
Now its running fine and has been for the past 2 years.
My Engel in the Patrol just keeps purring along.........LOL
Cheers
AnswerID:
399934
Follow Up By: Carlin - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 09:01
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 09:01
Where was that repairman?
FollowupID:
669039
Reply By: WRVA - Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 23:12
Sunday, Jan 17, 2010 at 23:12
G,day. I don't have time to sit and read, if you like send me your Model and size ? where purchased and date, vehicle cig wiring size ? current problem ?
Waeco always comes up trumps over the other brands plus the Military tested the CF-40 AC good enough for them bloody perfect for you.
I will be happy to assist if I can.
Happy Wandering !
AnswerID:
399949
Follow Up By: Shaker - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 09:08
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 09:08
"Waeco always comes up trumps over the other brands ..... "
Please explain?
FollowupID:
669041
Follow Up By: Member - Ingo57 (NSW) - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 15:39
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 15:39
WRVA
The Military also drive Land Rovers???????
Say no more
FollowupID:
669116
Follow Up By: The Rambler( W.A.) - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 22:04
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 22:04
Thanks INGO57----It is amazing how three words in my post can upset a grown man(WRVA).Maybe he has an Engel complex.
FollowupID:
669230
Reply By: PradOz - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 07:36
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 07:36
Geoff
Not sure if you remember my waeco details we spoke about? Using a battery meter supplied by Derek
mine cuts out as soon as it goes below 12.4. In my case with my meter that was 12.39. So I had it switching from on to error back and
forth from 12.4 to 12.39 etc until i started the engine and of course all fine again until same scenario arose a short time later.
I believe I either have:
1. low voltage at fridge (10.5) but battery is still at 12.39 when it cuts out - so will replace cable to see what happens; or
2. I do remember someone on here saying to upsize the cable from battery to fridge "power point" and then also cutting the waeco supplied cable about 4 inches from end that plugs into the fridge and then extending it with upsized cable and anderson plug. I remember that fixed others problems; or
3. internal fault within fridge. Some on here and elsewhere have mentioned about internal fuse problems so may need to
check that.
I havent got time now to do it but hope to try these things soon. I will be interested to see how things are with any remedy you do. I might move battery meter back to my fridge point and see what I get there.
Where in QLD are you? My BIL took his in while on holidays on
Gold Coast and Waeco fixed his overnight (he told them he was only there on hols overnight) and fixed under warranty for free even though it was out of warranty. I cant remember what they said was wrong woth it - will try find out. I would consider taking it in like that if I lived there or was close enough to go there - never know they may help out. Bit far from
Sydney.
Cheers Mick
AnswerID:
399961
Reply By: Member - John and Val - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 08:38
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 08:38
Geoff,
Could be a fridge problem, but to me sounds very like voltage loss in the wiring. This loss is dependent on the current (amps) being drawn by the fridge and the resistance between battery and fridge. Resistance depends on cable size, cable length and any connectors, including the battery terminals. It's often overlooked that the starting current of any electric motor is far higher than the running current, hence voltage losses are higher during starting. It can be hard to get a measurement during this brief interval since a digital meter samples only a few times per second.
If you measure battery voltage at the battery you will not see the actual voltage reaching the fridge. An old trick to measure the voltage in low voltage a cable is to push small pins (dressmakers' pins) through each wire close to the fridge to give you an electrical connection for the meter without permanently destroying the cable. When finished, pull pins out, knead holes shut.
Suggest try running the fridge connected directly to the battery - remove the Hela plug and connect the wires of the Waeco cable directly to the battery terminals being VERY careful to get them the right way round. Clearly mark the positive lead before removing the plug. (I'd then tie a knot in it so it can't be mistaken.) If it isn't performing properly now, and the battery voltage is holding up, it really does have to be a fridge problem.
To answer your question, how to
check the battery : My approach is to fully charge the battery, then connect a known load such as a 20 watt light and measure battery voltage periodically as the battery is discharged. A 20W lamp draws a pretty constant current of about 1.8 amps. Find the number of hours it takes for the battery to get down to 11.5 volts. (That's a good stopping point that doesn't discharge the battery too far.) You then know the amps and the hours - multiply them together to get the amphours delivered by the battery to a safe endpoint. The battery should deliver at least half it's rated capacity with this
test. If it's much less then you may
well have a battery problem. There is no reliable way to determine battery condition without loading it.
(A final note to forestall an argument about ohms law - incandescent lamps draw pretty constant current over quite a wide voltage range. As the voltage drops their filament temperature and consequently resistance drops at about the same rate, hence (roughly) constant current.)
HTH
John | J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message |
AnswerID:
399964
Follow Up By: Pete Jackman (SA) - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 13:20
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 13:20
Thanks for the dressmakers pins idea. I usually just push the tips of my probes through the insulation but they often slip and I get a hole in my finger instead!
Cheers
Pete
FollowupID:
669072
Reply By: WRVA - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 11:35
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 11:35
I asked if you wanted to contact me I am going to the Factory today.
Don't waste ya time call 1800 21 21 21 Fax 07- 5507 6001
I can't say any more .
Happy Wandering !
When we go out a few
miles of shore I always take one Engel 30lt , you can't do better than have backup anchor.
( It's like Ford and Holden) PUT A SMILE ON YA DIAL. Don't you see the news Murders, etc every day our Country is going down
hill. Just say G,day Smille tomorrow you could be gone and a family member might be stuck with all your stuff. Hope they don't get ya Engel (poor buggers) -:)
AnswerID:
399985
Follow Up By: Member - Geoff H (QLD) - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 13:15
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 13:15
Thanks WRVA,
Unfortunately I'm not at
home at the moment so only know that it's a CF50 purchased a couple of months ago.
Works great at
home on 240v.
Works great on emergency mode. (
well frozen after 1/2 hour)
There is plenty of power getting to the compressor except when it runs through the voltage cutout part.
The cord shows the same voltage at the battery and at the end of the cord.
Maybe I'll just make the trip to the
Gold Coast.
Regards
Geoff
FollowupID:
669068
Follow Up By: Pete Jackman (SA) - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 13:25
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 13:25
Make sure you
check the voltage at the fridge end when ithe compressor is running (emergency mode is fine).
When it is drawing amps it will show up any resistance problems in the cabling which may show a dramatic difference to the tested voltage when the cable is not under load.
Regards
Pete
FollowupID:
669074
Reply By: greybeard - Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 14:26
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 at 14:26
until you can eliminate voltage drop by measure the voltage at the fridge under load we're all going to be struggling to assist.
the reason everyone keeps harping on this point is that in the vast majority of cases voltage drop is the problem.
when you run the fridge in emergency mode the low voltage drop out is not active. so whilst we can deduce that the compressor works and that there is some power reaching the fridge, we can't eliminate the issue of voltage drop.
measuring the voltage at the battery is a good first step, but once you have determined that the battery is ok it doesn't assist in the next step of fault finding.
it may be that there isn't any voltage drop in the rest of the cabling to the fridge, but unless the possibility is eliminated, and you have concerns about returning your fridge to waeco i'm at a loss as to how else to assist.
AnswerID:
400014