Problem with fridge

[Johnston97]

Hi all, i posted a little while ago about an issue with our Dometic CRE fridge compressor light flashing orange. We were told that this could be a wiring/amp issue so we paid to get the wiring redone. Things we have done: had a thicker wire installed, upgraded the fuse from 7.5 to 20 amp fuse. All of the above was advised to us from dometic. In addition to this we have also had the health of our leisure battery checked.

We go away in a couple of weeks to Europe, does anyone have any other ideas? We still have an orange flashing light and no fridge working! Thanks all

 

[dcpen43]

Hi all, i posted a little while ago about an issue with our Dometic CRE fridge compressor light flashing orange. We were told that this could be a wiring/amp issue so we paid to get the wiring redone. Things we have done: had a thicker wire installed, upgraded the fuse from 7.5 to 20 amp fuse. All of the above was advised to us from dometic. In addition to this we have also had the health of our leisure battery checked.

We go away in a couple of weeks to Europe, does anyone have any other ideas? We still have an orange flashing light and no fridge working! Thanks all

View attachment 232330

used to get it all the time and was advised to do a reset by disconnecting the 12v power from the fridge and reconnecting it. That worked most of the time but not always.

 

[Johnston97]

Thank you for replying. We tried this before and it started working but this time it won’t fix it.

 

[dcpen43]

Thank you for replying. We tried this before and it started working but this time it won’t fix it.

it was irritating for me too as i believe the compressor does not kick into action when the orange light comes on. For me it was caused by either current or voltage fluctuation when on EHU so could have an issue with my Sargent 155 Pwr Mgmt unit.

i have swapped mine out for a Alpicool T50 chest fridge because i was more fed up with things spilling out the upright fridge than with the orange light. Best of luck finding a permanent fix

 

[Lubrown]

Still haven’t got ours working either. Had the flashing orange light two times in a row, after the second time the thing packed in completely. I’ve checked all fuses for continuity with a multimeter- all good.
Trying to work out where the 12v feed comes from as we have no wiring diagram and non of the wires are marked.
At the back of the fridge the black and red wires disappear into the carpeted panel behind the units and seem to go under the floor - at least that is where the rest of the wires pop out at the cab end.
I’ve narrowed it down to two that go to the vehicle battery so need to remove lower dash and twin swivel to visually check them. Tried continuity test but no joy so I assume broken wire somewhere (but would have thought that might have blown a fuse?).
It’d be easier to remove the current feed and put new wires, surface mounted, but I don’t like the idea of leaving old wires around or just not knowing what wire goes where.

Would wiring it up to a 12v plug that goes into the cigarette lighter socket work as a test? Not sure what fuse/wire rating the socket has?

 

[Bynxy]

Still haven’t got ours working either. Had the flashing orange light two times in a row, after the second time the thing packed in completely. I’ve checked all fuses for continuity with a multimeter- all good.
Trying to work out where the 12v feed comes from as we have no wiring diagram and non of the wires are marked.
At the back of the fridge the black and red wires disappear into the carpeted panel behind the units and seem to go under the floor - at least that is where the rest of the wires pop out at the cab end.
I’ve narrowed it down to two that go to the vehicle battery so need to remove lower dash and twin swivel to visually check them. Tried continuity test but no joy so I assume broken wire somewhere (but would have thought that might have blown a fuse?).
It’d be easier to remove the current feed and put new wires, surface mounted, but I don’t like the idea of leaving old wires around or just not knowing what wire goes where.

Would wiring it up to a 12v plug that goes into the cigarette lighter socket work as a test? Not sure what fuse/wire rating the socket has?

any luck sorting out your fridge as mine does the same draws power and cuts out because the battery drops too low then as it recovers from the solar charge it works for a short while then goes through the whole cycle again

 

[Scottish Scrutineer]

any luck sorting out your fridge as mine does the same draws power and cuts out because the battery drops too low then as it recovers from the solar charge it works for a short while then goes through the whole cycle again

Have you tested the battery to check that it is not failing?

 

[Lubrown]

any luck sorting out your fridge as mine does the same draws power and cuts out because the battery drops too low then as it recovers from the solar charge it works for a short while then goes through the whole cycle again

Rewired with a new fused lead to the leisure battery and it works as it should now. Conversion company seems to have had a thing for cheap connectors, using them where they aren’t needed and using too thin a wire.

 

[Bynxy]

Rewired with a new fused lead to the leisure battery and it works as it should now. Conversion company seems to have had a thing for cheap connectors, using them where they aren’t needed and using too thin a wire.

What connectors and fuse lead did you use in the end

 

[Bynxy]

Have you tested the battery to check that it is not failing?

That seams fine as when the fridge is turned off it holds the charge ok and can turn all the LEd lights on and run tap as well as charge phones that sort of thing

 

[Lubrown]

What connectors and fuse lead did you use in the end

spade connectors direct to the terminals on the rear of the fridge, an inline splash proof blade fuse holder and ring connectors to the clamps on the leisure battery. Just fairly basic stuff and kept it wired how it was originally, but with less joints so less points of failure. Used one solder and heat shrink type joint for the fly lead off the fuse holder - previously it was wired with 4 inline joints (for no obvious reason but lots of the wiring is like that in this conversion). Less potential point of failure the better in my mind.

By the way I don’t consider myself anywhere near expert in car electrics.

 

[Scottish Scrutineer]

That seams fine as when the fridge is turned off it holds the charge ok and can turn all the LEd lights on and run tap as well as charge phones that sort of thing

The fridge will draw much more power than the led lights, pump or phones.
What voltage is the battery when fully charged and after 24hrs?

 

[Bynxy]

The fridge will draw much more power than the led lights, pump or phones.
What voltage is the battery when fully charged and after 24hrs?

Sits happily at 12.5 v with nothing on

This image shows what happy when the fridge kicks in the power drops and then the fridge cuts out and get the flashing light in the fridge and the voltage goes back up for the battery and the cycle starts over again

 

[Scottish Scrutineer]

I'd be suspecting the battery is failing. If you disconnect the solar and repeat, I think you'd see the battery voltage is dropping as soon as there is any load on it. How old is the LB?

 

[roadtripper]

Those voltage dips are pretty severe. As a lead acid battery ages two things happen, the usable capacity drops and the ability to deliver current drops as the plates age.

High power compressor fridges are very sensitive to battery health.

 

[Rachel B]

Hi all,
I have read many threads about a dometic fridge with orange light flashing… i have the same unresolved issue. I am not very good at all this stuff but i do know that i have disconnected the fridge (which is directly wired to the LB). It has not fixed it.

I am concerned that my LB is failing/low on charge?

If so, by plugging in to EHU, does this bypass the LB and therefore should the fridge work? I don’t undrrstand!

If i think the LB is low on charge, can i recharge using a trickle charger - is that a thing? Or should plugging in to EHU be good enough to charge the battery?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[roadtripper]

Welcome to the forum @Rachel B

The issue tends to be not so much the level of charge in the leisure battery but the health of the LB and how well it copes with the sudden surge of current that a fridge compressor motor starting causes.

Add some pictures of your current setup and batteries and folks can advise.

Generally part of your EHU will be a 240v charger - that doesn't bypass the leisure battery but it does support it. For light loads like lighting and phone chargers most mains chargers will have ample capacity to supply the current for those and still have current spare to charge the LB. For compressor fridges though the startup surge will normally be beyond the sort of energy the charger can supply and relies on the battery to quickly supply that kick of energy - so when the battery ages and it can no longer supply that sudden kick you will get issues even if the EHU 240v charger is running.

 

[roadtripper]

To give folks some numbers...

Motor startup calculations are complex but for small DC motors a good rule of thumb is to expect a 2-3 times running current as a startup surge.

So a compressor fridge tends to pull 5A when running and has a 14-15A startup surge assuming 80% efficiency (hence why they tend to have supply cable and fuse rated at 15A).

That doesn't sound like a huge amount but it has to be supplied instantly or the voltage drops which makes the current demand rise and there is a spiralling loop of dropping voltage and rising current until the controller gives up trying to start the motor.

 

[4WheelsFromCanvas]

I have (had! - my solution below) been plagued with the orange flashing light on my CRE50 from the start of my ownership (bought 2nd hand from a private seller).

Mine also had a dometic rectifier allowing the fridge to switch over to mains whenever I switch to EHU. Wiring went all over the place from leisure battery to rectifier to fuse board at back of van, and back to fridge. No solid pattern but often switched to orange flashing light. Removing the fuse at the fuse board for 30 secs or so usually rectified. But annoying. Also when all good and left to run when setting off on a journey - annoying to get to destination to a find it at some point had gone back to orange flashing light missing thr oppportuntiy to chill down as I was driving.

Suspected failing lead acid leisure battery sand wanted to upgrade so went for a Fogstar lithium battery. This immediately improved the situation but it wasn’t long before the problem came back.

The solution in the end was to remove the rectifier and all the old wiring and replace with one of these directly to the leisure battery.designed specifically for the job by Magnum Mororhomes. It’s fused and even has its own isolation switch which I’ve cut into the cabinetry. Thicker cabling able to handle the initial draw to fire the fridge up.
I liked the idea of the rectifier but felt that just complicated the wiring. So on EHU I still power the fridge from the leisure battery but have inserted a mains charger into the mix to top the battery up.

12v Supply Cable For Waeco CRX Fridges With Switch - Magnum Motorhomes

Custom made for us at Magnum’s This is loom designed specifically to connect Waeco CRX fridges to your leisure battery Suitable for use with CRE, CRP40, CRX50, CRX65, CRX80 & CRX110 There are a lot of issues with voltage drop on Waeco fridges and sometimes it can take months before the error...

magnummotorhomes.co.uk

Hope this helps.

 

[Bynxy]

I have (had! - my solution below) been plagued with the orange flashing light on my CRE50 from the start of my ownership (bought 2nd hand from a private seller).

Mine also had a dometic rectifier allowing the fridge to switch over to mains whenever I switch to EHU. Wiring went all over the place from leisure battery to rectifier to fuse board at back of van, and back to fridge. No solid pattern but often switched to orange flashing light. Removing the fuse at the fuse board for 30 secs or so usually rectified. But annoying. Also when all good and left to run when setting off on a journey - annoying to get to destination to a find it at some point had gone back to orange flashing light missing thr oppportuntiy to chill down as I was driving.

Suspected failing lead acid leisure battery sand wanted to upgrade so went for a Fogstar lithium battery. This immediately improved the situation but it wasn’t long before the problem came back.

The solution in the end was to remove the rectifier and all the old wiring and replace with one of these directly to the leisure battery.designed specifically for the job by Magnum Mororhomes. It’s fused and even has its own isolation switch which I’ve cut into the cabinetry. Thicker cabling able to handle the initial draw to fire the fridge up.
I liked the idea of the rectifier but felt that just complicated the wiring. So on EHU I still power the fridge from the leisure battery but have inserted a mains charger into the mix to top the battery up.

12v Supply Cable For Waeco CRX Fridges With Switch - Magnum Motorhomes

Custom made for us at Magnum’s This is loom designed specifically to connect Waeco CRX fridges to your leisure battery Suitable for use with CRE, CRP40, CRX50, CRX65, CRX80 & CRX110 There are a lot of issues with voltage drop on Waeco fridges and sometimes it can take months before the error...

magnummotorhomes.co.uk

Hope this helps.

I have just ordered some wire to make the same unit up to test the fridge before I go down the expense of a LifePO4