I hope I've got enough information to allow you to help me.
We went away with daughter for her shake down trip. Everything worked perfectly with her van. I've commented so many times how lucky she was. She's planning to go away tomorrow with two other families. She plugged in her van into 240 yesterday so she could pack the fridge. This morning it wasn't cold. She turned it up but it's still not cold AT ALL. She has just put it on gas, only been on an hour.
She has a 2017 jayco Starcraft outback with large 3 way Fridge. As I said it worked perfectly three weeks ago. We have compressor fridge so we have not got a clue how to help her.
What could have gone wrong? Your thoughts please. I did just think then, van is in her drive on a slope, could that be it?
If the fridge works OK on gas, the problem is with the electric element. A new heating element will cost about $120, plus fitting. To fit it, you have to remove the fridge from its hole and carefully dismantle the metal casing which holds the insulation around the heated area of the refrigerant circuit. The you slide the element out and replace it.
If the fridge doesn't work o gas either, it has lost its refrigerant. You can get it regassed, but it is a bit of a gamble. If it leaked once, it can probably leak again. That will cost about $700 from what I was told. I finished up buying a new fridge (a smaller one that your daughter's - 90 l) and that cost me just under $1200, the majority of the prices were nearer $1500. It is not cheap. Possible she could check if the fridge is still under warranty - probably not, knowing Jayco and its warranty service.
Turn the fridge on to 240 V and leave it for about 2 hours. Then put your hand near the top outside vent and see if you can feel any heat coming from it. If you can feel it warmer than the outside air, the element is working and the fridge has probably lost its gas.
You can easily check the 240 V side of the fridge by unplugging the power lead and getting a meter to measure the resistance across the pins - the tapered pins. It should be about 500 ohms, but if the element is blown it will read infinity or an extremely large number. From here on, it is a case of getting the fridge out and unplugging the 240 V wiring from the loom at the top of the fridge. Again, measure the resistance - if it is low (around 500 ohms) the element is OK. If it is very high - over 10000 ohms, the element is stuffed.
The thermostat may also be faulty. Check this by winding the knob around from one extreme to the other, whilst checking the resistance at the plug pins. If the resistance changes, you still have a good heating element. You should hopefully be able to hear when the thermostat clicks in, but since the fridge is not cold, it has probably already called for the fridge to start cooling, and the resistance should be around 500 ohms. It is either low (500 ohms) or high (well over 10000 ohms) - there is no half way with the thermostat, it is either on or off. You can check the thermostat by measuring the resistance across the 240 V contacts. It should be zero at room temperature, and when it is cold enough, it should read very high (over 10000 ohms).
As daughter is a several 100kms away it's hard to help. But elliemike I hope it's that easy. And it could be possible because she has been made aware there is under seat storage, she may have utilised that space and dislodge it. Thanks I'll get her to check.
If the fridge was working perfectly 3 weeks ago and not now, I would think that there is nothing seriously wrong with it. Try the simple things first berore the more expensive options. Make sure the van is level in both directions. 3 Way fridges need to be reasonably level for them to work properly. All powerpoints plugged in correctly and switched on, look for hidden powerpoints, safety switch is on, is 240 volt power available to the rest of the van, ie stove, microwave etc? Remember lighting will be 12 volt from the battery not 240 volt. Is gas available to the fridge? There may be a valve closed somewhere in the system. Check gas is available to the stove, if not the gas regulator could be faulty or blocked, gas bottle empty?. 3 way fridges take a while to cool down and it may take a few hours to detect if it is working properly. As erad said, feel the temperature at the top and bottom vents, if the fridge is working you feel the heat emitting from the top vent. If all this fails to fix the fridge then I suggest you get proffesional help. Hope it works out gor you.
I will report back when they have it checked out. daughter checked the obvious things, thankfully fridge worked on gas. They tried it on 240 at their CPark but it didn't work, so have used gas. Thankfully they had that choice.
As the lights were on the fridge it seemed as though the power was connected.
They have limited phone service where they are and she's busy 'holidaying' so I don't know much else. They do plan to have it checked on return home.
I hope I've got enough information to allow you to help me.
We went away with daughter for her shake down trip. Everything worked perfectly with her van. I've commented so many times how lucky she was. She's planning to go away tomorrow with two other families. She plugged in her van into 240 yesterday so she could pack the fridge. This morning it wasn't cold. She turned it up but it's still not cold AT ALL. She has just put it on gas, only been on an hour.
She has a 2017 jayco Starcraft outback with large 3 way Fridge. As I said it worked perfectly three weeks ago. We have compressor fridge so we have not got a clue how to help her.
What could have gone wrong? Your thoughts please. I did just think then, van is in her drive on a slope, could that be it?
Thanks Dianne
Hi
It always helps if you give details of the FRIDGE brand &model number Then you are more likely to get relevant information. It is unwise to run any 3way fridge out of level ,it will not cool efficiently & it can cause permanent damage to the system no matter what heat source is used.
If it works ok gas, but not on 240v ,it could be a burnt out 240V element ,further testing would be required to confirm that
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Thursday 8th of November 2018 07:27:14 PM
Thanks everyone, I will absolutely get back to you when our daughter gets an answer.
Her dad wonders if she should get the fridge manual out and see if she set it correctly?
But you know the younger generation. The fridge worked on gas for their break now it's in the drive and they are back to work. I wouldn't mind guessing they won't check it out until the next trip! Ahhhh not a care in the world, kids!
You came up with the answer to the problem in the first post. If the fridge isn't perfectly level it won't work at its best. The further out of level, the worse it will be. Leave it running out of level for too long and it will kill it because it will cause scale build up in the refrigerant lines and that will move through the system once it's level again and block critical passages.
Compressor fridges don't suffer this problem near as bad, it is near impossible to walk around inside when the out of level is bad enough to cause a problem with a compressor fridge.
This is why all the very early vans had the round site bubble on the fridge, that was the part that was critical, the rest of the van is simply a comfort thing.
T1 Terry
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For those following this call for help, an update of sorts.
Visited daughter in weeked. As previously reported van is back in drive after their holiday. They haven't tried the fridge since. Dad got the fridge manual out, it was easy reading. Daughter hasn't read manual but hopefully will now. Dad highlighted important parts to read. (Shouldn't have to but did).
Couldnt check the fridge as van is parked in the drive on a slope. But dads bet is that the fridge wasn't turned on correctly, (as per manual) . It seems to need to be reset to auto so that it picks the power source required. Eg gas or 240. Then leave it 8 hrs to cool (as per manual)
The van wont be used again now until January so I will update then, thanks again.
