Club 80-90 Forums

My fridge has started to emit a dodgy smell. I think it smells like hairspray. It is a dometic 4210 3 way. It happens on 12v 240 and gas.

I took it to a caravan engineer at the weekend who said that the ammonia smell is a tell tale sign that the fridge is leaking coolant, therefore goosed and not repairable. The other tell tale sign is that the fridge actually heats up. There in lies the mystery! Mine still cools well. The freezer box is chilling quite well, it's only been on 240 for 30 mins.

He suggested a mice nest possibly cause they pee amonia smelling urine everywhere.

Any suggestions, worried about continuing to use it

Can only really recommend pulling the fridge out and having a look, normally only a few screws, two wires and one gas pipe. Can't see how else you will find out what's wrong.

Well I sat for a bit and the freezer box bit got really cold but the rest of the fridge didn't get any cooler. Must have been on for about an hour. I think the coolant must have been leaking slowly.

Read another post on here that said there wasn't much that couldn't be replaced on these. Everything looks really reasonable few quid for parts but 400 quid for the "cooler" I will bet that's the bit that's bust on mine!

pi quattro wrote:Well I sat for a bit and the freezer box bit got really cold but the rest of the fridge didn't get any cooler. Must have been on for about an hour.

As long as the freezer bit is getting really cold it's working. That's the bit that cools the entire fridge (eventually), but the cool air will disappear pretty much as soon as the door is opened if the fridge is empty.

You could still have a leak mind



or mice