Fridge issues

[Lucan]

Hi All,

Wondered if anyone can help.

I switched the fridge on yesterday (whilst on hook up). I’ve come to it today and the red light was flashing once and the fridge was not cool. I started the van and the fridge appeared to work as normal with no flashing light.

I’ve now switched the van off and with it plugged into the hook up still, it appears to be struggling.

Could this be the leisure battery needed to be changed? I’m not sure why when it’s on hook up it’s doing this as it shouldn’t really affect it but I’m not at all electrically minded

Any advice is gratefully received

 

[DXX]

There’s a steady stream of fridge / battery problems, it’s nearly always the battery and occasionally wiring.
I suggest you Google for a specialist battery shop and get them to load test it, just having 12v isn’t an indication of a healthy battery.

 

[Pete C]

Do you have a way of measuring your leisure battery voltage, and how is it charged when you are on hookup i.e. What sort of mains charger do you have ?

Pete

 

[True Romance]

EHU will usually just give you 240v plugs. The fridge will more than likely still be powder from the leisure battery. This will need a mains changer connected to keep it topped up.

What set up do you have? As above what (of any) battery charger do you have fitted?

 

[Lucan]

I think this shows my naivety and utter stupidity. I assumed hooking up the EHU would charge it, what a nob. And the answers above now help things to make sense why being on hookup is making no difference to the operation of the fridge.

I’m currently away but as soon as I’m back I will measure the battery but I think I already have my answer.

Could anyone advise what is a good charger to get please . Kicking myself

 

[Pete C]

Before you go and buy something, do a check to see what you have, and post some pictures here.
You may have a charger, but it’s not turned on.

Pete

 

[4WheelsFromCanvas]

Don’t feel bad - I too had assumed my EHU would charge the leisure battery and then I found there actually wasn’t a charger installed and that, as above, my EHU was only giving me mains power to my 240v sockets.

We did however have a dedicated rectifier (converts 240v to 12v to feed the dometic fridge directly when on hookup) from a 240v socket hidden in a cupboard. Worth a search to see if there’s anything like that in your setup. Looks like this black ribbed box :




Sometimes when fridge power switches from leisure battery to rectifier (and back again) we suffered the renowned flashing orange light issue. Eventually found good advice here that taking the blade fuse out and replacing it helped the fridge reset and then orange light would switch back to blue and the compressor would start. Making assumptions on what your fridge is but this tip is worth a try.

Ultimately it’s all to do with power and voltage which is frankly witchcraft to me but I’m learning with help from the community here!

 

[Paul Sussex]

Really helpful information as I thought the same that plugging into EHU would power the fridge automatically instead of the leisure battery.

So I need to leave the charger switched on all the time when I’m on EHU - is that correct or is that not a good idea?

I have a solar panel and assume that will continually charged the leisure battery without switching anything on?

 

[TallPaul_S]

Really helpful information as I thought the same that plugging into EHU would power the fridge automatically instead of the leisure battery.

So I need to leave the charger switched on all the time when I’m on EHU - is that correct or is that not a good idea?

I have a solar panel and assume that will continually charged the leisure battery without switching anything on?

Yep, leaving the charger on when on EHU is perfectly fine. In fact, it's no different to solar charging a battery all day long in the sun - they'll both have similar charging stages and will keep the battery at 100% so long as your power draw doesn't exceed the charge going in (via solar or EHU). The charge controllers are designed to deal with a battery that's full but has a slight load on it.

 

[Paul Sussex]

Great, thank you TallPaul_S

 

[Paul Sussex]

So first day on site in my new to me van.

Plugged into electric and charger switched on.

10 minutes later The control panel (top right light) started flashing and beeping so switched of charger and stopped.

The 240v plugs inside work without charger switched on so maybe I don’t need the charger on.

Any ideas?

 

[TallPaul_S]

I'd watch this video which explains how that unit works

The "V" button is for the vehicle battery, IE starter battery. I'm not sure if it switches to charging this when you press the button, as I've not used the sargent systems at all. But a beep and red LED indicates low voltage. Maybe @Dellmassive has more experience with these

240v plugs working independently of the charger is correct, you'll have a 240v feed going to an RCD & MCB, with one feed for the charger, and one for the sockets. Without the charger on, well you won't be charging the leisure battery.

 

[Paul Sussex]

Thanks again TallPaul_S.

The display shows both batteries fully charged

Everything is working in the van i.e fridge and electrics 13v and 240v (just ran an air fryer).

So still a mystery why the alarm - was a bit scary as first time in the van so wondered what we had done.

 

[roadtripper]

Possibly if you had a heavy load on the battery it could drop the voltage low enough to trigger the alarm.

If it happens again see what's switched on at the time.

With these all in one systems make sure they are using the leisure battery, it can be very easy to flip over to check the vehicle battery level and then get distracted leaving the camping electrics draining the starter battery and not your leisure battery...

 

[Paul Sussex]

Thank roadtripper - the only thing on was the fridge - there is a solar panel too - and I charged the leisure battery for a couple of days before going away) - defo on the leisure battery setting.

Just purchased the van and it had a new habitation check.

 

[roadtripper]

Is the van new or just new to you? Another possibility is that the leisure battery isn't holding charge well if it's getting on a bit, keep an eye on the voltages while you are away.

 

[Paul Sussex]

Hi, the van is new to me. It’s a 2017 but not sure how old the battery is think from memory a couple of years old, but not got the paperwork with me.

The habitation check showed it as fine think 14v and ticked the drop test box.

Will keep an eye on it - especially as still under warranty.

 

[Paul Sussex]

charger back on and no noises yet. This is what the app shows and panel when press the battery button.

 

[roadtripper]

So the Victron charger isn't the charger that works from the EHU/240v - that one is built into the Sargent unit.

The Victron Orion is your DC-DC charger that chargers your leisure battery from the van - you can tell this as it's currently telling you it's not charging as the input voltage isn't high enough - it knows the van isn't running.

You'll want to leave the Victron Orion on all the time and let it look after your leisure battery when you drive, as you can see it knows if the van is running or not.

 

[Paul Sussex]

Thank you, have taken some photos of all the electric boxes as not sure what one does what.

There (1) EC155 a big fuse box thing that looks like a charger and has fuses (2) Epever MPPT Tracer (3) Orion TR smart (3) Victron blue smart charger- oh and a big battery.

Away in the van and internet rubbish so can’t sent pictures.

So the fridge runs off the battery what charges that (solar panel, battery, ehu)?