WAECO COOLMATIC RPD-215 12 VOLT COMPRESSOR FRIDGE

HarryG · Member

WAECO COOLMATIC RPD-215 12 VOLT COMPRESSOR FRIDGE

Weedpharma · Veteran Member

Was the contents frozen while the cycling was happening? Or was it in the process of freezing? Was the fridge contents cool?

After what on time is this happening?

Weedpharma

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

An over full freezer will place extra load on the unit, as will any ice build up on the evaporator.
What is "14mm wire" ????

Cheers,
Peter

oldtrack123 · Guru

HarryG wrote:
Hi all

I have the above mentioned fridge and am having a problem with it cycling off and on - seems to stay on most of the time. The fridge has 14mm wire running from the fridge to the battery. I have 3 x 120 amp batteries and 600w of solar power. The freezer is very full, so that should cool it down, but it does not seem to matter. Has anyone had the same problem?

HI It should cycle on& off once it is down to the set temperature

But if the freezer is very full of warm goods it will take longer to cool & may run for some time .stop for a short time then repeat until all in the freezer is down to the set temp

But after ,that should be after running for some time & then being OFF for some time

Are you saying it cycles on & off ,each for a very short time ?

If that is what you mean ,what are the run time compared to the Off time??

If both a quite short, it could be due a bad connection giving excess voltage drop

Do you have a multi meter & know how to check Dc voltage with it??

More details really are needed smile

-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Saturday 10th of September 2016 10:49:35 PM

iana · Guru

I have the same fridge in my van. We had a couple of problems with it, one was we thought the fridge was cycling too much, and put it down to poor sealing of the doors. The seller made "adjustments" during service, I say that tongue in cheek because there doesn't appear to be any adjustments on the doors or seals. Check that the doors are sealing well, moisture or ice build up around the seals is a sign.
The second problem we had, which I fixed, was it was blowing fuses. These fridges are only 12v, but come with a 240v to 12v converter (MP550), that senses when 240 is supplied, and then cuts off the house battery.
Sounds good, but our van was already fitted with this device, as yours probably is, so it is a redundant device adding more useless connections. My fridge now only has wires running direct from the van unit. Somehow there was a conflict between the two units, so once removed the fuse doesn't blow anymore.

The fridge will tolerate a fair amount of voltage drop, and auto disconnects if the voltage is too low for it to run properly. I would be having a good look at the door sealing.

macka17 · Guru

If you freezing it down from fresh or fridge temp's.
It'll take a while. also depends where you are.

If loaded frozen. You got a problem.Check voltage at fridge ends.

If you just have a Jayco etc with their wiring.
I'd run another length of wire under van from battery to hole in floor under fridge and double the line capacity.
I do that with most vans.

woolman · Guru

I greatly improved the efficiency of the same fridge by packing insullation batts on sides and top. Used building sisal over batts to enable me to push in fridge. Knocked about 40 amp hrs each day in power consumption. Neil

iana · Guru

I thought the insulation around the sides was a bit on the light side, adding more wouldn't hurt, but the fridge is removed from the front, if you don't have access from the rear it may be a bit hard to do.

HarryG · Member

Hi Peter

Yes, the freezer is over full, and the evaporator was forming ice drops on it and not running down. I defrosted the evaporator but this just reformed and did not make much difference. There is not much in the fridge part at the moment and we are in 30 degree temps.

HarryG · Member

Thanks I have a multi metre and will check the volt drop. The freezer is full of frozen goods and the fridge will cycle on for several hours, and then cycle off for 15 mins and then go back on for more hours.

HarryG · Member

Hi Neil

I have insulation that I put in (fibreglass batts) and I put a scoop on the top to allow for the hot air to come out at the top of the back of the fridge. Thanks

iana · Guru

Evaporator...... Condenser, if you were to say the condenser is freezing up, and its 30 degrees outside, I think your fridge is low on gas.

banjo · Senior Member

We have the RPD175, same fridge slightly smaller, similar long run times when we first had it but was advised to fit a small computer fan inside the fridge itself, mine is hanging down from the top shelf using cable ties, it is powered from the 12v supply and runs constantly but uses very minimal power milliamps only.

It completely cured the long run times, and now just cycles normally.

I think the answer is the movement of cold air around the thermostat, so it "see's" the temperature better in the cabinet.

Another item to watch is the rear fan can and does get dirty with dust and the small evaporator behind it gets dust clogged too, a good blow out with an air compressor soon clears it out.

Our Waeco is now 4 1/2 years old, full time use and has been in 47C extremes and still out performs any 3 way out there.

woolman · Guru

iana wrote:
I thought the insulation around the sides was a bit on the light side, adding more wouldn't hurt, but the fridge is removed from the front, if you don't have access from the rear it may be a bit hard to do

I used the sisalation, stapled on the front edge, over the pink batts so fridge can be pushed in. first couple of tries was too tight so took out some of the batts.

Neil