Hey All, just jumping in the back of this good fridge thread. I have had it a couple of times (most recently last trip) where the fridge (on 240) temp climbs up after a few days to 10 or so and I really struggle to get anywhere bringing it back down on either 240 or gas. I’m in WA so mid to high 30’s is not uncommon, I have a solar fan kit behind I think I’ll upgrade to a couple of 12v on a switch for better control and to help reduce temp over night if need be. It’s a rm2350 90L
Before I spend the money on new elements is there a way to test them ?
Thanks in advance
Ps have learnt heaps from so many threads on here - thanks to you all
Hi Geoff,
if you are having trouble with the fridge cooling on both 240V AND gas, then it is most unlikely that only the 240V element is faulty.
To test the element you will need a multi-meter. The easiest way to do this is to unplug the fridge from the socket and then measure the resistance across the active and neutral pins of the fridge mains cord. With the selector knob set to OFF it should be Open Circuit, set the thermostat to MAX and the selector knob to 240V, it should measure about 330 Ohms (R = E * E / P where E = 240V and P = 175W, the rating of the 240V heating element in an RM2350).
I have a few questions that may help in determining what might be causing the problem.
What model van do you have?
Is it only during hot days that this problem occurs?
Does the fridge cool down overnight?
Can you post a picture of the solar fan kit and how it is mounted?
Was there much wind about when the fridge was not cooling. I had a strange problem last weekend. 23C outside, lots of wind blowing directly onto the off-side of our Penguin, and the fridge would not cool down on gas after lunch. Drove me nuts trying to figure out what was going on. Ended up that there was so much flow of cold air from the high wind into the bottom vent that the boiler could not heat up the coolant. Put a chair partially over the bottom vent and it cooled down 4C in less than an hour.
cheers
Mike