westy fridge not working on electric hook-up

[Lefty]

Hi all,
Any ideas with this fridge problem anyone? The fridge works on gas and 12v, but not on electric hook-up. Is there a fuse or anything I should be looking at? I'm not very technically minded, so any help to point me in the right direction would be much appreciated.
Daren

[Ralf85]

If your camper is a westie, you have a trip switch to the side of the rock & roll bed with a plug socket. If the blue button is sticking out and the black switches are down it has tripped. If it has, you first need to hook up (at home) press the blue button back in and then move the two black switches into the upright position.
Always press the blue button to trip the switch after first hooking up. This way you will know if power is coming from the mains power supply. If it doesn't trip the mains may have tripped and you need to tell the campsite staff, so they can re-set their trip switch.
I hope this helps.

[AdrianC]

Any ideas with this fridge problem anyone? The fridge works on gas and 12v, but not on electric hook-up. Is there a fuse or anything I should be looking at? I'm not very technically minded, so any help to point me in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Probably just needs a new element. Assuming, of course, the plug hasn't been knocked (in the cupboard under the sink).

[Lefty]

well I know I have power going to the van as the buzzing black box is working, and the plug socket in the van has power to it. I have also just checked the plug socket under the sink, and power is getting to that as I have just plugged something else into the socket and it works fine. what is this element you are referring to Adrian?

[keith]

12 volt element....and 240 volt element.

Both heat up the gas that drives the cooling gas......or the gas flame as the third source of heat

Your 240 v one seems suspect.

About 35 quid from a place called ashbridge ? Domestics....

[Lefty]

thanks for the suggestion Keith. Is this job easy to do?

[keith]

I think the first time you take the fridge out it takes two hours..the second time takes half an hour...so it's one of those.once it's out its a five minute swop over

[Ralf85]

If your van is a westie (is it?) there is also a small black fuse box. If you open the left hand (driver's door) it is just to the right of the driver's seat. Mine has two bullet type fuses in it. Originally there were two aluminium fuses in there that corroded causing a break in the circuits so the fridge stopped working. Give these a twist to see if this helps. If they are ali fuses replace them with copper ones when you get a chance. May not fix the problem, but doesn't cost anything to try.

[Hacksawbob]

If your van is a westie (is it?) there is also a small black fuse box....

Those fuses only effect 12 volt operation.

[AdrianC]

If your van is a westie (is it?) there is also a small black fuse box.

<looks at subject line of thread>

Those fuses are 12v only, though.

[Lefty]

right, the fridge is out (struggled getting the exhaust pipe out of it's hole) and it does not look as though it has been shifted since it was installed. Can't say I know how to check it, but the fan looks knackered (covered in muck), and to be honest, I don't ever recall it in operation. Over time I have noticed that the cooling efficiency has got steadily worse, and I do recall a time in France a couple of years back when I heard funny noises from the fridge which I now suspect was the fan packing up!!

Right - on top of the fridge is a small grey relay/switch (or something like that - haven't the foggiest!!) and as you can see from the photo, one of the connections appears to have burnt out at some point. Any idea what this is? Could this be one of the causes of my problems? Help!!!! thinking about taking this to a bloody caravan service place to be honest.....

[keith]

there are some great threads on how to service / check / repair a westy fridge.

think many are on the Brickyard.

[scoobert]

The relay's for the 12V, take it you have the early RM182? Simple thing to check if electric side's not great, slide the cover and insulation for the heater upwards and check the elements are correctly seated and well screwed in this makes a huge difference. You can check if the mains element is working if you have an extension lead. I checked my 12V element by disconnecting from relay and simply connecting briefly to leisure battery posts. It will get hot very quickly. Be careful!

[Lefty]

thanks scoobert. I can now see the 12v and 240v elements having removed the cover, they were correctly seated, but when plugged in, no heat from the 240v, so it seems to be at fault. 12v was running fine before I took the fridge apart, so I'll leave that element be. Have ordered a new 240v element and 12v pc fan and will fit these when they arrive this week. Let's hope that solves the problem.

[scoobert]

Nice one! Hopefully, you'll have it sorted for the weekend.