Solar

[pan-al]

Hi all I have a 3 way electrolux fridge gas has packed up .I have 220 ah leisure battery and starter battery connected up to 130w solar panel on roof through mppt controller is there anyway I could run the 12v part of the fridge off the solar panel when stationary. Thanks in advance

[Mocki]

Yes, that Will work fine , in bright sunshine , for about 6 hours , then the battery will be depleated and it’ll be dark .

Seriously, the 12v heater in the three way fridge will require around 12amps constantly , depending on model maybe more
Your battery ( assuming it’s lead acid and NOT lithium) is good for 110amps max if its fully charged ( and unless you have charged it on mains three stage charger it wont be ) and whilst your mppt controller will do a fine job the panel is only capable of half what the fridge requires so it wont keep up even if the sun shone brightly all night long .

[pan-al]

Thanks for that mate.

[slowcoach]

I think what mocki meant is that if you had a compressor fridge, then yes you could run it pretty much as much as you wanted. Your solar setup sounds good, but not suited to the gas 3way fridge running on electric

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

[Mocki]

Although i have a compressor fridge myself ( Because i cannot have a three way in my camper as its a twin slider ) i deliberately didnt go down the “bin the three way fridge “ route , i answered the question that was asked , and if it came across as sarcastic or rude, it wasn’t the way it was written nor ment .

[Robsey]

I wouldn't worry, didn't see any rudeness or sarcasm.

I saw a clearly worded response identifying that the three-way fridge is a thirsty bugger when run on 12 volts.

I would rather know the "warts and all" side of stuff, not just the "sales blurb, all is Rosey" nonsense.

I found it useful and informative, for my future plans.
I just wish camper-van fridges weren't so expensive.
Something I will worry about at a later date.

I read the answer as...
It will run for short periods with all the conditions in your favour.
But probably not ideal for off-grid camping holidays.

[Stesaw]

For what its worth i run two 130w panels on my roof that are in parallel, so double the amps instead of double the voltage. Ive personally found that setup better than putting them in series which doubles the voltage but the amps stay the same. Did this test on our holiday this last week, so if you're using a lot of power it keeps the battery topped off easier.

Can charge phones and other devices, lights and radio on all the time (as thats on leisure system side) and the diesel heater, when its chilly enough..although it does serve as quite a good clothes and hair dryer

I've never gotten our fridge to operate on 12v im assuming the elements shot. Ive been debating replacing the fridge for a 12v cooler box and in the space of the fridge fitting a small oven and more storage.

The new camper fridges are quite a chunk of money, but if you're using you're van a lot and plan to keep it id imagine its a good investment.

[Mocki]

The advantage of more solar panel voltage into the mppt is that you get charging sooner and for longer in winter , once the combined panel voltage gets above 16v it will charge , whereas that doesn’t happen when the panels are in parallel .
I have 225a traction batteries and they can more than keep up with the diesel heater , lighting and charging all year round , but i do have a compressor fridge as i said before

[Burtybassett]

Hi all I have a 3 way electrolux fridge gas has packed up .I have 220 ah leisure battery and starter battery connected up to 130w solar panel on roof through mppt controller is there anyway I could run the 12v part of the fridge off the solar panel when stationary. Thanks in advance

What is the problem with the gas ? Have you looked into it at all ?
It may be cheaper to get it running again on gas rather than fork out loads of ££'s on a compressor version and solar.

I have a Dometic RM 182a in my 1983 Westie....still going strong on gas - I use it all the time when camping and makes ice, even in hot weather. Damn thing starts 1st time - every time. When I first bought the camper 10 years or so ago, I tried to get the fridge running....it just wouldn't. I made it my mission to fix it and while hunting down instructions and information on it I came across a handy YouTube video from a guy in Canada showing how to get it running.

Your issue might be something simple like blocked gas jets or a perished silicone seal on the burner box or the fridge might just need 'burping'....maybe the baffle is corroded and needs replacing......saw a post on this site earlier this year on someone doing just that...

[pan-al]

Hi burty.had the fridge out last year turned it upside down and burped it for 24hrs.put it back in and it worked fine for a week then packed up again. Yesterday I thought I'd try it again so I lit pilot good blue flame vent outside was getting very warm and left it on for 12 hours freezer compartment not getting cold.So next job is to remove again and bench test it for a few weeks in a friend's garage until it stay working for a month

[Burtybassett]

Hi burty.had the fridge out last year turned it upside down and burped it for 24hrs.put it back in and it worked fine for a week then packed up again. Yesterday I thought I'd try it again so I lit pilot good blue flame vent outside was getting very warm and left it on for 12 hours freezer compartment not getting cold.So next job is to remove again and bench test it for a few weeks in a friend's garage until it stay working for a month

Yea that's what I did first time. I blew all the gas lines out with an airline, then took the burner box apart and found the silicone gasket was perished.
Bought some gasket maker in a tube from my local car spares shop and whamo....worked s treat

[Burtybassett]

An earlier thread with another user sorting their fridge out...might be helpful.
It's in the Campers section

[Mocki]

viewtopic.php?t=179368&hilit=Fridge&start=45
And
viewtopic.php?t=56587

Are worth a read

If it is not working on any form of power at all, you can try the turning it over ritual !
Inside is not gas , but ammonia based coolant, which crystallises if allowed to dry on any surface, so if the fridge hasn't been used for a while , and therefore no circulation , the crystals build up , eventually blocking the smaller pipes....so turning the fridge upside down, leaving it for a couple of hours, and then righting it for a couple of hours and doing this two or three ( or more) times, flushes the coolant through, and it washes the crystals back into the coolant, and they dissolve .

If it is working on mains , but not on gas, chances are the flu is blocked, or the jet is blocked, or partially blocked .
If it's working on gas, but not on either one, or both of the electric sources, it's an element issue , providing you are sure it is actually getting power to the element

It is also important to remember that a flame only ever burns vertically in a drought free environment, so the fridge must be within a couple of degrees of level for the flame to "hit the mark" , this however will not have much effect on electric only gas

12v feed should be fused to the relay from the main battery
‪You should use a standard 30amp auto relay .‬

If it’s not working on gas , but is lighting , you need to clean the burner assy
Turn the fridge upside down, undo the burner retaining screw from the bottom of the chimney heat shield and disconnect the gas pipe , blow high pressure compressed air through the jet ( never "proggle" with anything , of you make the hole in the jet anything other than perfectly round the gas won’t squirt in the right place ) you can force WD40 or similar through it with airline
You need a big blue flame the full size of the burner mesh when you reassemble it

Mains and 12v are simply 120w ( depending on model) heating elements and are easy to change .

One of the biggest issues with three way fridges is the camper conversion companies didnt do a very good job when they wired for 12v , the 12v element should “draw” about 11amps , but most of the 12v installs used silly 5amp cable and so the 12v side of the fridge wont work to full capability. The old myth that the 12v side is only to maintain temperature is bourne out of caravan installs, where the 12v feed from the car is 30ft long from the battery or alternator along the length of the car and half the length of the caravan on thin wires with a less than good connector between the car and the caravan, voltage loss was massive . If you install with a good oversize wire from the main battery on your van via a 30amp relay triggered by the alternator and use chassis earth as the neg the 12v heating element will be very much closer to the mains in power and the cooling will be pretty much as good

[Burtybassett]

Cheers Steve, I didn't know how to tag in the link to that post.