Hi All, I am hoping someone might have some idea as to what the problem with my fridge might be, and how to fix it. I have a 2018 60th Troll. Its been parked up on hard standing and on EHU since last September. Everything working fine. However last night I noticed my beers are not as cold. I felt the vents outside and notice there is no heat being given off. It transpires that the fridge is not working. The interior light works fine. I then tried it on the gas and it sprung back to life. So I emptied it out and have mopped up all the melted ice from the small freezer unit at the top. This did happen once before about 18m ago. I took it back to AL and they had to remove the fridge and “shake” it. Apparently thats an actual thing with Dometic fridges. Any help or ideas on how I might spring it back into life would be much appreciated. Many thanks, Robbie

We met someone a couple of weeks ago with an immaculate 2009 Familia. Their fridge had failed and someone had told him to take it out, turn it over and leave it upside down for 24 hours. He did that, put it back in and it has worked perfectly ever since...

The shaking/upside down thing is a thing that has grown way above it's actually useful utility. Lots of people suggest it, either not having done it or understood the reasons for doing it.

In some absorption fridges at some times the refrigerant fluid/gas interaction that generates the cooling effect can stop working. Effectively the refrigerant stops circulating. This can be caused by the fridge not being level, or swarf in the refrigerant tubes blocking the pipe or the refrigerant clustering and blocking.

It has nothing to do with either the electrical elements or the gas burner that generates the heat that drives the refrigerant around the system.

So, if there is no heat from the vents when on 240V but there is when on gas and the fridge chills on gas then it's absolutely nothing to do with refrigerant circulation. It actually means that either a 240V fuse has blown and/or a 240V connection has broken, or, most likely the 240V heating element has gone u/s and requires replacement. As to the internal light and the fridge control display, that runs on 12V from the leisure battery no matter which form of energy you're using.

Think about it. You're off grid and want to run on gas. You need to ignite the gas, see inside the fridge and see the display/controls, of course it has to run on 12V. Effectively, if you have no 12V the fridge won't run on gas or 240V.

Thanks for all that info and advice SDA. Any ideas on how to get the Fridge out. I can see there are 4 plastic caps/screws - 2 either side on the inside of the fridge. I guess these fix it to the housing unit. I also guess that the electric and gas supplies are on flexible hoses to allow it to be pulled forward of the housing unit ? Thanks again, Robbie.

Yes, remove the 4 caps to access the securing screws.

The screws may not come out completely so make sure they're clear of the furniture side panels by running a thin blade between fridge and panel to prevent damaging the panels when you pull the fridge out.

The gas supply is via 8mm preformed steel tube (flexible gas pipes are never used to connect appliances).

The gas connection is made to the rear of the gas control valve on the right hand side which means the fridge needs to be pulled out a few inches to gain access.

Electrical connections are to the top left hand side behind the energy selector switch.

The fridge will need to be removed completely to replace either the 12V or 230V elements.

A gas tightness test must be carried out after reconnection.

I've just recently replaced the 240v heating element but now it glows red hot. This is obviously not correct and I'm thinking that maybe the thermostat has failed. Would this be a correct assumption?

I think you may have either replaced it with a 12V element or you've cocked up the connections.

Neither of your suggestions I've done wrong but thanks for your input.

Thanks SDA. So if I remove, shake, reinstall and the fridge springs back into life I guess I can assume that both 240v and 12v electrics are fine and it was the refrigeration tubes that where blocked. I think I will try this and keep my fingers crossed. If no luck then I will replace the 240v heater unit. Thanks again, Robbie.

No!
If the fridge is working on gas, then there is absolutely no point in shaking/upturning/dancing a rhumba with it or anything else. The problem will be in the 240V system, not the refrigerant circulation system. If it doesn't chill on either 240V or gas then it might be a circulation problem. If there is heat from the top vent when run on 240V then the 240V element is working. If it's cold then the element or a connection to it/fuse is u/s. If you run on gas you will also feel the heat at the vent. If the vent air gets warm on both energy sources but the fridge doesn't chill, then there's a possible circulation issue.

You need to be logical with these things.

If you have a light in your fridge, if it's working then you have 12V supply. If it's not working you either have a failed bulb or no 12V. If no 12V then the fridge won't run on anything - gas, 240V or 12V from the car.
If you have 12V then test 240V. If the top vent is cold when running on 240V then switch to gas. If the fridge fails to chill with gas running then you may have a circulation issue.

Thanks again SDA. Just testing now. I have unplugged the 240v EHU and switch the dial to battery. The purple light inside is on and I’m just waiting to see if heat starts to come out of the top vent. Interestingly the purple inside light also came on when I switch it to 240v on the dial, but had the EHU lead unplugged.

OK my minds blown SDA. There is no heat from the top vent with the fridge set to 240v or 12v, but there is when I switch to gas. Surly its not possible for both the 12v and 240v elements to blow at the same time (is it?). I guess it can’t be a 12v or 240v fuse as the internal light comes on with the fridge set to either 240v or 12v. What do you think ?? Many thanks, Robbie

Firstly the 12V element only runs when the car is attached to the van and its engine is running. So the vent will be be cold until that happens. The battery sign that's used for 12V is misleading as the power comes from the car's alternator on wiring that goes direct to the fridge and doesn't have any contact with any other van wiring.
The 12V that runs the fridge controls, display and internal light comes from the van's leisure battery. It has to be so as if you're off grid and wanting to use gas you need power to spark and ignite the gas, plus controls, display and an internal light.
So in your case you have 12V to run the internal light, which means the 12V control system is OK. You haven't tested the 12V chilling system as you've not run the car. Hopefully you've run on gas and the fridge chills, therefore the refrigerant gas/liquid chilling system is working. That leaves the 240V, where there is no warmth from the top vent. That strongly suggest the fault is in the 240V supply, either a fuse, a connection or an element that's failed. The latter is fairly common, especially after a few years.
Shaking/upturning a fridge only helps in the few cases where there's a refrigerant gas/liquid internal blockage and the fridge doesn't chill at all on any energy form. Even then it might not be a blockage but could be that the vehicle isn't properly level.