Fridge

bongowight · Post by **bongowight** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:17 pm

First weekend away in the bongo and had a bit of an issue with the fridge, according to the notes I got with the van the fridge runs of 12v or 240v if plugged in. It also says the switch over to 12v battery is automatic? Anyway arrived at site and as it didn't have electric hook up we turned the fridge on, an hour later and not a thing the fridge was humming but not getting cold at all, the gauge for the 12v battery was on the bottom light almost immediately. The first night I left the fridge on all night but it did not get and cooler at all, at night I could hear a motor turning over every 5 mins or so. Everything else 12v ie lights and water pump worked fine all weekend. Before setting off this afternoon I turned the fridge on to see if I had any luck but still not working, I forgot to turn the fridge off and by the time I got home (about 2 hr driving) I opened the fridge to find the bottom half completely frozen! I'm thinking logically the leisure battery doesn't have enough juice to get the fridge going on its own ? Or perhaps something should have been switched over? Anyone got any ideas. One benefit was that the warm beers I left in there were lovely and icy when I got home tonight!!

scanner · Post by **scanner** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:32 pm

The 12v should only work if the engine is running. If you try to run it just off the battery the battery will be flat (and dead) in no time.

What make is it? Does it have a gas setting as well?

Most do and are known as "3 way" fridges.

Post by **Simon Jones** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:38 pm

Do you know what make / type of fridge you have? It sounds like it may be a compressor fridge (Waeco, etc) and the fan starting up and then stopping is a sign of low voltage which is preventing the compressor from kicking in. Might be worth getting the leisure battery checked out as it may be passed its prime. You can get similar symptoms if the wiring is not rated high enough for the current thr fridge is trying to draw.

Ideally for next time you know you will be away from electric hookup, switch the fridge on when you set off and and as you have found out on your return journey, it'll be nice and cold which should keep the beers cool for a day or so.

.

scanner · Post by **scanner** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 12:16 am

Simon Jones wrote:Do you know what make / type of fridge you have? It sounds like it may be a compressor fridge (Waeco, etc)

I thought maybe that at first, but didn't think they were usually dual voltage except when used with an 240v/12v adaptor.

Post by **Simon Jones** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 12:54 pm

Hopefully we'll find out presently

928uk · Post by **928uk** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:27 pm

I've gone down the solar route, 160 watts & a 120 ah leisure battery, Waeco fridge is now left on 12volts 24/7. Only hooking up if we need a heater

(once I get round to fitting the Mikuni heater, I'll be dropping off grid proper)
For info, the Waeco interior light flashes 5 in a row when the power supply drops lower than a certain figure.
Good luck

bongowight · Post by **bongowight** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 6:25 pm

As far as I can see its a coolmatic make? It is a rear conversion and the fridge is a top loader style, looking in the rear cupboards a wire and a gas type pipe run across the rear to behind the gas cupboard where the fridge compressor is situated, the is no gas to connect from any gas canister, in my old van (albeit not a bongo) the fridge could run off 12v, 240v or gas cans, the notes I got with the van say if you want to run off 240v switch the fuses under the fridge, underneath the fridge is a consumer unit with 3 rcd's on it, none are labelled and all are switched on and have been since I got the van, assuming one could be for the two plug sockets in the rear of the van, one could be for the fridge but that would still leave a mystery wire (unless that charges leisure battery?) could it be that as that fuse is on it is trying to draw from 240v which isn't connected and if turned off will it revert to 12v.
Think I will go solar eventually but got a lot of other bits I'm spending out on for the van first, think for weekends a good freeze up whilst driving will last the weekend but guess I would just like how to make it work the way I think it should

Rod

scanner · Post by **scanner** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:43 pm

If it has a compressor that answers the question and it should work on 12v from the leisure battery at the very least.

It certainly won't work off gas.

You now need to check what electrical connections it has, whether they are working and what circumstances they work under.

bongowight · Post by **bongowight** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:17 pm

In the front cab there is a 12v tester which was on 100% while driving as soon as I'd camped up it was on the second bottom light so I'm guessing the problem lays with the leisure battery which maybe has enough juice to turn the little LED lights and the water pump but to enough for the fridge? Maybe I'll try taking the leisure battery out giving it a full charge and then try the fridge and see if that makes any difference

Rocketscientist123 · Post by **Rocketscientist123** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:53 pm

Hi,

I have a Vitrifrigo C42L 2-way (12/240v) fridge mounted in a removable wooden cabinet in the back of the Bongo, and the controller automatically switches to the 240v supply if present. I have a leisure battery in the vehicle, and had an auto electrician wire up the accessory sockets, and radio to run off the LB. I recently tried to get the fridge running off the LB via the rear socket with no luck. i tried the same from the front socket. The fridge would appear to chug away but not get cold. i checked the volts at the fridge end and it was 12.4v which i thought should be OK, and it only draws 3A when running.......I rang Vitrifrigo, and their tech told me that they recommend a minimum of 1mm2 wire per metre of wire run to minimise the voltage drop in the cable, and almost certainly the original bongo wiring would not be that thick.
So, i bought some 6mm2 wire from ECS on the web (6m long, for a fly lead to run the fridge in the awning from the LB), wired her up, and it's all good........

Now i just need to work out how to wire up the LB through the bulkhead to the socket at the rear of the vehicle via permanent connection, or a fly lead so i can move it to power the fridge in the awning......

Good luck!

graham

Dodgey · Post by **Dodgey** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:59 pm

Some things that are certain with compressor fridge:

1) they are the most efficient fridge you can get.
2) they usually have low voltage protection. When they try and spin up the pump they check the voltage and if its too low they quit and try again in a minute or less. When they spin up they draw a fair bit more than 5 amps and anything lower than 16amp wire will cause a significant voltage drop momentarily. If you have a cable run longer than a couple of metres you should use 28+amp wire for decent efficiency.
3) standard cig socket wiring is NOT enough for them. You will trigger the fridge low voltage protection way earlier than you should.
4) the thicker the wire the better. Sent be fooled by the fact the fridge runs on 4 amps. The startup current is a lot more and this is what counts.

I tested a fridge with a 3 metre run of 16amp cable (2mm sq I think) on a moderately OK battery. It ran for 24 hours. I then doubled up the cable and it ran for nearly 48 hours before triggering the low voltage protection.

cookies · Post by **cookies** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:50 pm

hello, looking to buy a 3 way fridge any recommendations and tips on how to run it on gas while in the van please

Dodgey · Post by **Dodgey** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:48 pm

With a 3 way you are going to need to cut a large hole in the side of your van to accomodate a gas flue.

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