RM212 Fridge - Electric Ignition not working

[kimmypw]

Hello, i have started experiencing issues with my RM212 3 way fridge.

The fridge is working fine on the mains, however the electric igniter switch has stopped consistently working .I carried out some troubleshooting, after hooking the van up to the mains, the igniter starts to work again after 20 mins or so. I am guessing this is to do with the voltage draw needed from the battery. All other 12v lights etc are working fine, Batteries were tested last week, both had 12.8v. Once the igniter is working it lights the gas with no issue at all.

Has anyone experienced this before? Are the fridges quite easy to put out a little to see whats going on? Also when calling suppliers they have just said i will need a new fridge. Does anyone know where i can get hold of a new igniter if needed.

The replacement fridges are £700 without fitting my T25 has had a bad old 12 months and has therefore cost me a few bit, would be good if the fridge is fixable.

Sorry last question, does anyone know someone in the northwest who services these units? I was given the name Caramedic, but they are not trading anymore.

HELP Thanks in Advance Kim

[1664]

Do you know what conversion your camper is? I can show you exactly where the fixing are and how to take the fridge out if its an Autohomes.

[kimmypw]

Hi thanks for your time, its a 1990 holdsworth conversion 1990

[Da dan]

Try taking the fridge out, take the jet out and look to see if it’s blocked. Where it comes into the ignition chamber. Just make sure you don’t have a leak after you put it all back but easy to do


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[Da dan]

Sorry just reread, is the switch sparking? If not you maybe able to clean the contact area to make it spark again


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[1664]

Right, well I am not familiar with the Holdsworth conversion but it can't be a million miles away from how mine was done. Look in the cupboards either side of the fridge, on mine there is a screw in the side of each cupboard that goes into the side of the fridge outer skin to fix it.
IF you have external vents next to the gas exhaust flue, remove the top one as this gives you access to the flexible flue pipe to the exhaust plate on the body of the camper, mine just pulls off.
https://postimg.cc/w3R2qBB1][/url]
 https://postimg.cc/Hj0zKksX][/url]
This is where yours and mine may differ, I have a section of wood I can remove below the sink which enables me to access the top of the fridge while it is still in situ, this is incrediably handy as it means I don't have to remove the sink above it to gain access, it's a bit like trying to decorate your hall with your hand pushed through the letter box but can be done. You will have to split the gas connection the the fridge as that will in all likelyhood be a solid piece of pipe and the fridge ain't going anywhere with that still attached and if you force it you will damage the pipe. I had best mention that obviously the gas needs to be turned off or better still totally disconnected. This is the top of my fridge as seen with the top of the furniture removed as I was stripping the interior out for a refurb.
 https://postimg.cc/RWhj4HNj][/url]
 The two larger circles are brackets fixing the fridge to the furniture, the five smaller circles above the m a screw that fix a thin metal plate to the top of the fridge which stops draughts coming in visa the external vents to the outside. There may be gaffer tape over the screws too as Added draught protection. These all have to be removed aswell. The gas pipe is the short U shaped piece just to the on the left hand side and you can see where I disconnected it in the next picture.Then all you have to do is disconnect the 12v suppy to the ignition switch, and the 240v to the mains connector under the safety cover as shown here. The 12v supply to run the fridge while driving is also under this cover. The yellow rings on the left are the ignition switch connections, the yellow rings on the right are the screws holding the 240v mains connections and 12v fridge connections, the red arrows are little tabs that need to be levered outwards to remove the cover once the screws have been removed.
 https://postimg.cc/6yXvkr1p][/url]
 And finally the connections with the covers removed.
 https://postimg.cc/S24nBqDt][/url]
 The frisge should now pull completely out. If it doesn't then there might be another fixing screw in a cupboard you missed. The gas pipe is what I forgot once and that held it quite firmly. Happily I didn't force it and knacker the copper pipe.

It is a time consuming job when you do it for the first time but it's better to be careful that bugger it up or break something.

 
To be honest your igniter problem sounds more of an electrical bad connection or battery related issue than the actual ignition unit, if the igniter works after you have been on mains hook up for a while (and the mains charges the battery) then the battery might not be that good. Ripping out the fridge is a lot of hassle only to find your battery is on the way out. A bad cnnection on the other hand could be just about anywhere between the battery and the ignition unit.

[bigherb]

I would check the rocker switch first they seem to suffer the grease going hard inside and causing poor connection to the switch contacts.

[kimmypw]

Cant thank you enough for taking time to reply with all this help and information, I really appreciate it. At the moment i am getting a spark after mains hook up, i have taken it for a drive in the hope this will charge battery , hopefully nothing so far. I have ordered a multimeter and will go for a longer ride to see if this makes a difference to the "charge"

Depending on the results i now have all the info how to take it out and have a descent look at whats going on and clean anything up that needs it. I really do hope its a battery issues, that sounds a lot cheaper

Will update the post in the coming days  have a nice weekend and thanks again.

[MidLifeCrisis]

... after hooking the van up to the mains, the igniter starts to work again after 20 mins or so.

... Once the igniter is working it lights the gas with no issue at all.

The two above items point towards an electrical issue - and if the ignitor really does just start working after 20mins then that points to the battery not being charged surely ..... can't think what else would be improved by 20mins on mains power?

Just to get the full picture - you plug the van into mains, and you have a Zig Power management box thing? that then charges your leisure battery - is that correct?
And just to be clear again - as far as you know is the fridge ignitor connected to the leisure battery? (this would most likely be via the Zig box - so does the Zig need to be turned on to get the ignitor to work? these vans have usually been played around with so much by previous owners that its often difficult to understand another vans wiring)
One final one - when the ignitor is not working is it just unlit when switched on? and when working the switch flashes about every second until the gas lights - does that sound like what you are seeing?