Forum - RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

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Eriba stuff ......FOR THE NEXT 5 CATEGORIES PLEASE BE PRECISE BY GIVING FULL DETAILS OF THE TYPE OF ERIBA/TOW CAR/AWNING YOU HAVE TO HELP US ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. � Anything Eriba-related �

Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

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#16

RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

in Anything Eriba-related Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:05 pm
by hob (deleted)

Zitat
What about the red light, should that be lit when connected to the T5 electrics when running?

Travelling on my own I have never been able to check that.

Thinking about off grid usage ..........If you have a leisure battery (not all do) make sure its fully charged before you go and it should run the lights and water pumps while you are away.......until it runs down.

I'm planning a long weekend away off grid without a battery .............should be interesting

Vauxhall Insignia Sri towing 2006 Triton 430 import

#17

RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

in Anything Eriba-related Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:17 pm
by Pepé Le Pew •

| 2.752 Posts

Quote: 4ndy wrote in post #15
What about the red light, should that be lit when connected to the T5 electrics when running?

Yes, at a fast idle and above.

Anything slower than that and the alternator's output is too low to supply both the charge required by the car's battery and that required to run the fridge.

Once the alternator's output is sufficient - i.e. when the engine is running fast enough - the relay will shunt power to the fridge.

.

Last edited Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:30 pm | Scroll up

#18

RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

in Anything Eriba-related Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:18 pm
by 4ndy (deleted)

To throw a spanner in the works, I was speaking to my brother last night who has a 96 Triton and he has had his fridge fired up just on the battery.

So I am guessing I may have a bug to fix :/

VW T5 Kombi pushed by a Troll GT

You know when your getting old because you and your teeth don't sleep together!

#19

RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

in Anything Eriba-related Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:30 pm
by hob (deleted)

My understanding is that the fridge uses too much electric on battery and runs the battery down too quickly,
so is not connected to run from the battery.

Has your brother had his running for very long?

I always thought it was not possible to run a fridge from the van battery as it is not wired to do that?

Vauxhall Insignia Sri towing 2006 Triton 430 import

#20

RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

in Anything Eriba-related Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:41 pm
by 4ndy (deleted)

Should have said, he turned it on from his Eriba battery. I will ask how long he run it.

His wiring is nothing like mine, ours is bog standard his looks like its had things added over the years.

It makes sense though what you say about draining to quickly.

Hopefully I don't have a bug to fix :)

VW T5 Kombi pushed by a Troll GT

You know when your getting old because you and your teeth don't sleep together!

#21

RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

in Anything Eriba-related Sun Aug 17, 2014 5:02 pm
by Aaron Calder •

| 3.834 Posts

As Pete said in an earlier post, the 12v fridge element should only operate when the caravan is attached to the car and the engine is running at sufficient speed so that the alternator is charging the battery.

Most Eribas with a leisure battery (ie UK spec) will also have a Schaudt booster that increases the charging rate when the van is on tow. The fridge is protected by a relay which switches on only when the car battery is being charged adequately.

P1010013.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

On my (modified) BIP unit, the fridge relay is the blue component sandwiched between the new RCD trip switches and the printed circuit board.

My understanding is that if the fridge were to be connected direct to a battery, the current drawn would flatten it in no time at all. (I may have got this wrong so if anyone knows about electrical circuitry and can advise, perhaps they would kindly check my calculations and amend them as may be necessary?)

From eBay, a replacement Dometic 12V element is rated at 175 Watts.

From the equation Amps x Volts = Watts, then A x 12 = 175.

The amps drawn by the element, therefore = 175/12 = 14.6A (this would seem reasonable as the 12V supply to the fridge is protected by a 15 Amp fuse in the BIP unit after the relay)

The leisure battery in my van (with mover) is 85 Amp/hour rated so if it were to be connected to an element drawing 14.6 Amps without external charging, it would be completely discharged in 85/14.6 = 5.8 hours.

So far as I understand it, that's why you should not be able to run the fridge on 12V supply when the caravan is not being towed.

The 240 Volt element surprisingly is rated at only 125 Watts so, using the same calculation, when on EHU, the fridge draws only 0.52 Amps.

As I said, I'm no expert on electrics so if anyone knows better then please jump in and put me right.

Forum Administrator
2003 Triton 420 and Audi A4 2.0Tfsi S-line SE Cabriolet

#22

RE: Fridge Repair and Running Gear Service

in Anything Eriba-related Sun Aug 17, 2014 8:25 pm
by Pop540 (deleted)

I wondered if the fridge that works off battery, actually is powered by inverter powered from the battery.

going slightly left, some fridges required a certain current before they would switch on. they flattened leisure batterys while in storage if they were not shut down properly. those type of fridges are not fitted to eribas. this info was via a friend of a different make van

Eriba troll 540 likes constant hugs, and buffs and the odd cuppa.