Fridge working or not?

[Helga]

For the 12v.
Under the sink you will see a connector with two wires going in and out each end.
Put a volt meter across the two wire and you will see if you have 12v going to the fridge,remember it will only work when the engine is running as there's a relay under the drivers seat which makes sure it doesn't drain the battery.

Hmmnnn.... under the sink there is a set of wires that do join with a conector... but that goes through the floor? I followed them and they go down to the gas cylinder under the van and I think they are for heating up the gas regulator? There is also another switch with wires under the sink, but that is an aftermarket job and appears to make 'live' a couple of wires under the rock n roll bed... I think they were for an after market water pump... so, no sign of any other fridge wires...

[lhd]

Ok if you remove the draw and look through it you will see the top right hand side of the fridge.There will be two wires coming out of there,one will be the 240v which goes to the plug socket the other will be the 12v.
Rob.

[chriscburgess]

I have the same fridge as Helga The 12v cable has three wires blue brown and black plus a connector. I'm not sure what they all do but hopefully this helps. - may be not!

[chriscburgess]

Like this. There are three wires as I said but I do not know what they all are. Can someone please advise as I can run on 12v but not get my igniter to spark

[lhd]

Like this. There are three wires as I said but I do not know what they all are. Can someone please advise as I can run on 12v but not get my igniter to spark

Thats it my mistake,there should also be a brown wire.
So three in total
240 plug
12v plug
brown wire.
Rob.

[chriscburgess]

Hi Rob

I'm confused by this. I also have 240v plug. The picture just shows the 12 v connections but I cannot figure out what each of the three wires is?

[Helga]

Ok everybody - electricity!

Still checking the 240 volt issue - I rechecked the socket and it is still def working, will post whether it has cooled later when I have given it several hours, as it only went on at six when I got back from work. It does 'feel' cooler - but no ice or anything like happened on gas yesterday. Now, the 12 volts,

Found the connector, here is the fridge end: Blue and black seem to be the electricity wires, brown is a mystery! Strange though, as they are live on 12 volts even when the engine is not running... they are supposed to be dead aren't they when the engine is out? Either way, at least I know they are live...

But there is something odd about WHAT they connect to... picture in next post!

[Helga]

Wrong, wrong... I mean WHAT THEY CONNECT TO IS LIVE ALL THE TIME! Here is a picture of the van's connector - but it is odd, not just because they are live all the time, but because there seems to be multiple wires going to the fridge - two brown and two red? Why two for the electricity feed? Do you think they go off to something else after feeding the fridge?

[Ian Hulley]

That's yer Jerry craftsmanship for ya.

Ian

[1664]

That's yer Jerry craftsmanship for ya.

Ian

Yeah. Take a nice simple idea and add stuff till no bugger understands it.

On a 3 way fridge there are three electrical supplies. None are in the least bit connected to each other. 240v mains to heat the 'goo' via the hook-up. 12v via a relay that switches in once the engine is running to heat the 'goo' powered by the van alternator. Then, a separate 12v supply that supplies the ignition and only the ignition that strikes the gas which then heats the 'goo'.

It looks like in their 'wisdom' Westfalia decided that it might provide hours of fun to clump this lot into a plastic connector to confuse and therefore disorientate the enemy. I am suitably demoralised and am waving a little white flag.

Leave it on 240 for a few hours - it'll probably work

The next person who tells me that Westie's are the best thing since sliced toast (sorry BREAD)..........

[Ian Hulley]

The next person who tells me that Westie's are the best thing since sliced toast (sorry BREAD)..........

*sniggers

[Helga]

Ah! Some success! I realised that it would simply have to come out...

Working on GAS now definately - managed to reconnect it to the supply out of situ, and good flame. Also managed to get 12 volt working by following the current with a multimeter until it reached an area of frayed cable... a little bit of tape later and the 12 volt element is working... plus I have got a a nice burn across my hand to prove it...

They heat up quickly don't they?!

Only thing is the 240 volt - multimeter shows power right down as far as the element but no heat, so must be the elemnt... But where would I get a new element for something this old? Anybody got one? It is a 240 volt element for model Electrolux RM184EGI.

A new question now though, which is ... is this flue ok? The burner ends in a round tube, as in the picture below, and the flue is simply a length of what looks like flexible steel tubing attatched to an iron mount that just loosely slides on top of the burner, you can see in the pictures below it in situ and also pulled off... the iron mount also has a specially lolded hole in it...

Is this right? Shouldn't the attatchment be 'hard' on as it were?

Is this an old bodge job do you think? Anywhere sell proper flues for this old fridge?

Cheers!

[kevtherev]

. But where would I get a new element for something this old? Anybody got one? It is a 240 volt element for model Electrolux RM184EGI.

!

well i would start with Electrolux or Dometic as they are known as now

[lhd]

For a new element phone the company below, you will need the fridge model and the product No. which should be on a silver sticker inside the fridge.
http://www.ashbridgedomestic.co.uk/page1000.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
about £35.00
You obviously havn't read the WIKI naughty,naughty........
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... aintenance" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also see that bit on the bottom of the flue in th pic?
Thats supposed to be welded on to the other bit and you will get poor oxigination if it's not, let alone the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.
If you look carefully at the second picture you can see where they are supposed to be welded together,try to get it as straight as possible.
I had a broom handle or something with someone holding it dead vertical whilst I welded it in place.
Also while you have it out give the jet a clean, even if it looks like it's not blocked.
I threaded a single strand of speaker wire through the hole then spun it round a couple of times with the jet in the middle.

Do us all a favour and take a pic of the top of the fridge.
If I had of been able to find mine it would have been much easier to help you, and other people are asking where the 12v wires go too.
Ps don't throw away that insulation as it's not easy to find at B&Q or anywhere unles you buy about thirty quids worth.
I renewed mine with some stuff we had at work, if you do replace it make sure it's flame proof and pack it as tightly as the shroud will allow otherwise all the heat goes up to the top of the fridge and will make it less efficient.
Rob.

[Helga]

Thanks, I'll contact ashbridge on Monday. Actually I had looked through wiki, but weirdly never saw the page you pointed at in your last post, which I have now! Same problem with the link slipping over the exchanger eh? However, I can't weld!! So, have purchased some cold weld putty, which says it can withstand heat up to 500F, that should be fine shouldn't it? Should I seal it all the way round? I presume so...

Will also take the burner housing apart and clean the whole thing..

However, won't be able to refit it until I have a new flue pipe which I have also found to have holes. But, I can only order that from Gunzl in Germany - but can't understand the website...! Will ring them on Monday, I hope they speak English.

As for the picture of the wiring, I'll do that tomorrow and post up here - showing where the 12 volt wires go.