fridge in bushtracker

Submitted: Monday, Jul 25, 2005 at 02:09
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As we are new owners of a Bushtracker we are finding that the fridge is either not cold enough or things freeze would welcome coments or hints.
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Reply By: Tellem Bugrem - Monday, Jul 25, 2005 at 03:48

Monday, Jul 25, 2005 at 03:48
G'day happy travellers,

Be carefull how you pack things around the area of the thermostat control...things do move around and adjust the control by themselves. Have you tried using Chemist type trays on the shelves to stop things moving about. You can get them at K-mart or Go-Lo type stores.

Cheers.............Rob and Liz
AnswerID: 566793

Reply By: Noosa Fox - Monday, Jul 25, 2005 at 03:51

Monday, Jul 25, 2005 at 03:51
It is probably a faulty thermostat.

If you have the fridge set on say 1 and when it is not running turn the dial up to 2 or 3, and within 1 minute the compressor should start. Many service agents recommended by Waeco don't appear to test the fridge properly. We had 3 check ours before the man in Derby (4th) isolated the faulty thermostat a fixed the problem.

Another thing you can do yourself is check the voltage at the compressor with a multimeter. It should be very close to what the regulator is showing. While you have had the fridge turned off take the cover off at rear of fridge, and check the voltage at the fridge on the Compressor terminals. Get your partner to turn the fridge on and again it should start within 1 minute. As it is starting check the voltage drop at the compressor.

Our first fridge had a big voltage drop for a short time while the compressor started. When the batteries were on anything below 12.2 volts the on fridge start up the voltage at the compressor dropped below 10.5 volts and because of this, the low battery isolator turned the compressor off. Only the fan would run for the next minute and then it would try to start again. It is easy to check on solar regulator if only fan is running (about 0.2 volts) compaired to about (5 amps) when both compressor and fan are operating.

The Waeco fridges can run on both 12 volt and 24 volts.
I put in a 240 volt Waeco transformer and this reduced the voltage to 27 volts, so when there is 240 volt power available the fridge will run on that. When the batteries were just over 12 volt, I turned the inverter on and ran it via 240 volts.

Eventually the door hinging packed it in and I changed to a new Waeco fridge. The new fridge works perfectly and we have had no problems at all with it, and does not have the same voltage drop that the first one did.

Brian
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AnswerID: 566794

Reply By: Flipp'n Lorry - Monday, Jul 25, 2005 at 04:38

Monday, Jul 25, 2005 at 04:38
I used to worry a lot about my fridge, becuase it seemed to either run a real lot or sometimes not at all for long periods.

Another BOGGER recommended that I buy a digital themometer from Dick Smith (this has a lead with sensor inside the fridge and a digitial readout on the outside of the fridge) - it is more productive to review the temperature, rather than worrying constantly about whether the fridge is running or not - my fridge is now set to just over 2, and the thermometer gives me the assurance I need that everything is ok, even though the fridge may appear to run erratically.

Phil
AnswerID: 566795

Reply By: F Troop - Tuesday, Jul 26, 2005 at 03:51

Tuesday, Jul 26, 2005 at 03:51
We also have a thermometer with a digital readout so that we can teel at a quick glance if everything is okay. Another trick we use is a lump of 'Blutack' on the control dial to stop it moving if anything hits it.
Jan
AnswerID: 566796

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