Should my fridge work this way?

[tuttiweb]

Hi all,

Firstly, I have a Zig CF9 alongside a Vitrifrigo C42L fridge system installed in the van, and my fridge works.

But, should the fridge work all of the time, even when the 12v rocker switch on the Zig is set to the off position?

I only discovered this was happening when I recently returned form a trip, remembered to switch the 12v off, but didn't rotate the knob inside the fridge off and I ended up with flat leisure and vehicle batteries.

When everything was recharged, I tested the 12v switch was working (the light has always come on when in the on position) by turning on an internal 12v light and then switching off the 12v rocker switch. The light went out, as expected, but the fridge remained on.

With all of this, the other rocker switch on the Zig is always set to "Caravan battery".

Is it likely a wiring issue or is this intentional, and I need to remember to switch the fridge itself off?

Thanks all.

[g8dhe]

Here is the User Manual for the CF9, it ought not to be possible to flatten BOTH batteries, unless either a fault exists or somewhere along the line some one switched from Car to Van working in which case then they may have been flattened sequentially.

http://www.g8dhe.net/bongo_images/Zig/Z ... nual-1.pdf

[tuttiweb]

Thank you.

As I thought then, what happened, shouldn't have been able to happen and it's likely that my fridge is incorrectly wired.

[LordBongoOfBanbury]

Hi Tuttiweb,

Did you ever resolve this issue?

I have just bought a 2002 Bongo myself. The advert said that the fridge was faulty, and that the likely problem was a faulty compressor that needed replacing.

I've taken it to a specialist today who, after 2 hours of his time, has managed to get the fridge working (clearly the compressor wasn't the issue!) but has not been able to completely resolve the situation. I had the identical issue you've described, and the only way to stop the fridge was working now is to turn the thermostat off.

The mechanic suspects that either/both of the Zig unit or the wiring connecting the unit to the leisure battery is faulty. Ideally, I don't want to have to replace the Zig unit if there's a cheaper fix. Fingers crossed!

Can anyone shed any light on this for me?!

Matt.

[g8dhe]

If it was a personal conversion by someone then I would suspect some form of wiring problem, I've seen several vehicles which I basically wouldn't want to carry out any serious work on! Often some one has used just one colour for all the wiring, if they were labelled then the labels have fallen off and your left with a dozen wires disappearing in all directions, which means the only way is to disconnect and buzz out every wire to find out where they go - possibly several hours work!
There really isn't any excuse not to use different colours for each circuit and to draw up a labelled diagram which can be left with the vehicle.

[tuttiweb]

Hi Tuttiweb,

Did you ever resolve this issue?

I have just bought a 2002 Bongo myself. The advert said that the fridge was faulty, and that the likely problem was a faulty compressor that needed replacing.

I've taken it to a specialist today who, after 2 hours of his time, has managed to get the fridge working (clearly the compressor wasn't the issue!) but has not been able to completely resolve the situation. I had the identical issue you've described, and the only way to stop the fridge was working now is to turn the thermostat off.

The mechanic suspects that either/both of the Zig unit or the wiring connecting the unit to the leisure battery is faulty. Ideally, I don't want to have to replace the Zig unit if there's a cheaper fix. Fingers crossed!

Can anyone shed any light on this for me?!

Matt.

Sorry for late reply.

I've had another look at this over the last few days.

If my fridge is on, it will work if either battery is connected. To test this, I disconnected each battery in turn and the fridge remained functional.

I think I now have 2 problems.

• The fridge power isn't controlled by the Zig at all

• I can't use the Zig to isolate/protect the starter battery from going flat when on site

I will need help!!

[tuttiweb]

More investigation reporting:

I don't have the problems I thought it did.

The Zig car/caravan battery switch ONLY comes into play when the right-most Charger setting is set to On-site. If this is left in the Towing position, both batteries are in play, I'm guessing since it keeps the split charger connection active, which leaves you unable to isolate either battery.

My testing found that my issues were caused by my batteries, NOT the Zig. An in-line fuse had blown on my Leisure battery connection, meaning the split charger wasn't charging it, and my Starter battery doesn't hold any charge and needs replacing...probably because using the fridge with the wrong settings had caused it to discharge too low, too often.

If any experts have any more experience or anything to correct/add, I'm all ears. I'm ordering a new starter battery today and will be monitoring the Leisure battery in-line fuse.

Could have been worse.

[g8dhe]

You should find that there are TWO fuses accompanying the Split Charge Relay, one fuse close to each battery connected to the relay.
When one fuse blows the other fuse will also have been about to blow as well the two are in series so it is important that BOTH fuses are replaced otherwise the other one will fail at a later time maybe minutes or weeks later leaving you back in the original situation.
The fuses protect the wiring coming from each battery (or any other power source) from damage, but when the LB goes flat then the surge of current will cause both to be damaged and one alone blows leaving the other one seemingly working but damaged and waiting to fail usually at the most inopportune time. So always keep TWO spare fuses in the van to handle a future problem.

[tuttiweb]

You should find that there are TWO fuses accompanying the Split Charge Relay, one fuse close to each battery connected to the relay.
When one fuse blows the other fuse will also have been about to blow as well the two are in series so it is important that BOTH fuses are replaced otherwise the other one will fail at a later time maybe minutes or weeks later leaving you back in the original situation.
The fuses protect the wiring coming from each battery (or any other power source) from damage, but when the LB goes flat then the surge of current will cause both to be damaged and one alone blows leaving the other one seemingly working but damaged and waiting to fail usually at the most inopportune time. So always keep TWO spare fuses in the van to handle a future problem.

Sounds like good advice.

My Starter and Leisure batteries look to have different fuse types fitted.

Starter (100W I think) looks like this:

Leisure looks like this (40W fitted):

[g8dhe]

The fuses you show look like the normal vehicle fuses, the two used for feeding the relay will have been added normally in-line fuses in there own holders close to the batteries where the wires feeding the relay are terminated.