Removing a Westfalia Fridge.

[PetenAli]

If you have undone the 7 screws and the gas pipe then you are almost there. Undo the locking nut on the jet and the screw at the other end of the flame tube and you are there. These firdges are pretty robust. They have been bumped around in the back of an old van for 25+ years.

Must be soo close! Will post how I get on in the morning.

Thanks again for all the expertise.

Pete

[PetenAli]

Yes! Got the jet out. Here's some pics just in case anyone else is having a go... Just like the man says:

Unscrew the screws on the cover (there are actually 8 on mine - five on the bottom and three at the end):





Undo the bracket at the front of the fridge:



Undo the gas pipe:



and the larger nut that retains the jet:



Unscrew the U shaped washer at the other end of the flame tube. Pull the flame towards you:



and the jet virtually drops out:



Its now soaking in carb cleaner - I couldn't get the sealing ring off without mullering it so I hope the carb cleaner wont dissolve it!

Also the housing gasket is just about OK - I took it off very carefully - does anyone know if replacements are available?



Hopefully all this will go back together. I have found one other problem which is that the piezo only sparks intermittently. I went out last night in the dark to check it because I had a suspicion something was up. It tends to work for the first 2 or 3 tries and then sometimes will work every time and others not until its been left a few minutes. Does anyone have any ideas on this please?

Just like to say thanks very much for all the advice last night. Got to get to work now but will try and put it all together this evening and see what happens.

Pete

[lhd]

Do the speaker wire trick or you wont be pleased with the result IMHO.
People say soak it in this, blow it out with compressed air ect...ect.....

I have always found the best way to clean it is to get a single strand of cheap speaker wire about half a metre long, thread it through the hole and spin the jet around a few times,it works a treat.
It wont damage the jet as the copper wire is softer than the brass jet. If you do this the pin hole will be clear of all residue and crap and your fridge will work much better.
Rob.

[PetenAli]

Will do Rob - thanks again. Will go and delve into my electrical box where i think I've got some speaker wire. Just got to be careful not to enlarge the hole I guess. But as you say one single strand should do the trick.

Pete

[Red Westie]

This is not the same model as mine but the fan looks the same although mounted at the top drawing the air through the fins (mine is mounted underneath blowing upward.
I did a 'quiet' fan mod on mine, improving cooling and making it run quieter with a 120mm fan mounted on a bracket. see pics.





Martin

[PetenAli]

Hi Martin,

Perhaps they are the same - the pic that shows the fan on mine was taken with the fridge upside down for ease of access when removing the jet. My fan blows air upwards (or would if it was working). I'm just cursing computers that I've thrown away that had 12v fans in them! Can you get them from places like Maplins?

Also I'm presuming this is the thermostat that operates the fan - is this right?



Never having had a working fan I have read that they can be noisy. Does anyone fit an override switch to stop them keeping you awake at night?

Thanks again,

Pete

[ninja.turtle007]

Martin's fridge is a later model with an auto ignitor.

The fan normally won't be running at night as it should only come on when it'a really hot during the day.

[PetenAli]

The fan normally won't be running at night as it should only come on when it'a really hot during the day.

And am I right about identifying the thermostat?

Also - one more question before it all goes back in... does anyone know what this brown / white wire is for? Its connected to the back of the fail safe overrride knob that you keep pressed in when lighting the gas. The other end is the white insulated spade that you can see in the pic. I can't see it on any of the wiring diagrams that I've found:



Thanks again - there must be almost a Wiki's worth of material here now based on my questions and your answers?!

Pete

[ninja.turtle007]

Yes, that is the thermo switch.

The brown wire is an additional earth, I think.

[PetenAli]

The brown wire is an additional earth, I think.

So should I be looking for another earthed wire to connect it up to? And what difference will it make as the fridge was working on 12v and 240v before I took it out and this brown / white wasn't connected then?

Thanks again - I've learnt so much over the weekend.

Pete

[ninja.turtle007]

Mine works fine on gas without it being connected. I don't have mine connected for 240v but I can't see Why the brown wire will need to be connected. Fridge is Earthed through the plug and flue.

[PetenAli]

Right on. Wont bother about it then!

[PetenAli]

Success! At least up to a point. Got it all back in nicely and fired it up on 240v - had ice cubes within three hours.

Went out later to try and get it going on gas. Managed to get it to light but only with a very yellow flame and it wouldn't stay alight for more than a few seconds (even holding in the fail safe override). The more I tried the less the piezo would spark so something is obviously up there as well. I will have to start Googling parts I think.

One other thing - the brown / white wire mentioned above... I found anther brown / white with corresponding spade so connected them up. The result was that the green "fridge on" indocator LED came on - even when the gas wasn't lit. Undo the two wires and the LED goes off. Me thinks someone has been in there doing weird stuff with the wiring as there are all sorts of other unconnected wires under there that I found when the fridge came out.

Apart from the gas operation it is all working very nicely now - thanks again for all the time and advice.

Pete

[Winchweight]

Looks like a job for a dry weekend..

[keith]

nice thread...nice pics. mine stopped working on 240 last year..which is the least worse fail in my book....but I would still like it right...job to do over the winter