Isotherm Fridge Problems
Submitted: Saturday, Oct 20, 2018 at 15:09
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John & Helen
Having problems with our Isotherm CR219 fridge that is mounted in the rear of our 16”
Bushtracker (18 month old) that has had high fridge temperatures since new, initially up to 21deg with compressor running non stop (freezer -21)
Put it in for repair, they pulled the fridge out and bench tested it for three weeks and claimed it just needed balancing adjustment between fridge and freezer, which sounded vague to me.
Appeared ok during cooler months.
Current trip through the Gulf and Kimberly, at 30deg+ with the freezer -12 to -15, fridge has not dropped below 10deg, sometimes up to 16deg and the compressor has not stopped for six weeks, which is killing my batteries.
I added a fan on the condenser exhaust with no appreciable change.
We never load the fridge up and even when on power with the air con running (condenser pulls air from inside the van) the freezer gets to -19 and the fridge temp is 10 deg or more in the mornings and the compressor is still running.
Has anyone else had similar problems with this fridge, do other brands cope.
The galling thing is the people we travel with in a Jayco with gas/electric get 6 deg
My concern is that another three weeks off the road, another adjustment and the next trip it will be out of warranty and the problem becomes mine.
Reply By: John & Helen - Saturday, Nov 03, 2018 at 18:02
Saturday, Nov 03, 2018 at 18:02
Finally had some success with the fridge, the fridge mechanic in Broome found two problems, the first being the fan on the condenser had dropped off and was lying in the bottom, however he claimed that the main problem was that the design of the ventilation behind the fridge was like putting a blanket over your car radiator and then wondering why it overheats.
The last time I had it in for the same problem the fridgy said the same thing so I put a fan in the ensuite to help pull the air out however the new guy showed me why that was never going to work.
The current design is five 80mm holes drilled in the rear of the fridge floor and two 90mm holes covered by grilles at the top.
The fridge when pushed into place covers 50% of the holes and as the condenser pulls air from under the fridge towards the back, the cooling air has to come through a tiny grille under the fridge, up through the holes in the floor, over the hot compressor towards the front of the fridge and then do a u turn through the condenser and out the back through the vents at the top which is very inefficient even with my fan helping.
He suggested cutting a hole in the floor under the fridge, in front of the condenser and adding two fans in the door under the fridge to push air through and it has made a huge difference.
He said that once the fridge was removed and bench tested even in 30+ deg heat it worked perfectly.
In the following week I still noticed that the temperature was unstable although far better than it was and after reading a few posts regarding internal circulating fans I cable tied a 90mm fan to a plastic basket in the top rear of the fridge blowing down the ice covered back of the fridge, dropped the thermostat back to 4 and I still got to 3.5 deg, best I have seen in more than a year and that is with 33 deg outside.
When I get home I will tidy it all up and I hope to be in business.
After all this, Stuart from
Bushtracker told me they are looking at ways to improve the ventilation in the rear mount fridges although I don’t know how this will help all the existing customers like me who will be out of pocket to have it fixed and the time and expense to have other people look at it, as
Bushtracker fob off all warranty issues to the manufacturer. The repairs and modifications cost me $450 that I shouldn’t have to be paying.
When picking the fridge up from Kiss Refrigeration, and despite the condenser fan having fallen off and the fridge removal, replacement and testing should have been on warranty, he refused to claim and told me to try getting it out of Webasco myself as he wouldn't waste his time with them.
AnswerID:
621929
Follow Up By: Maximus - Monday, Nov 05, 2018 at 12:29
Monday, Nov 05, 2018 at 12:29
Typical of Bob Kiss. Crancky old bugger. Certainly claim from Webasto. I didn’t have any problems with them.
FollowupID:
894600
Reply By: Turist - Sunday, Nov 04, 2018 at 09:52
Sunday, Nov 04, 2018 at 09:52
This problem with poorly designed fridge installation goes back a long way.
Our first BT in 2000 had fridge problems, never cool enough, running too frequently etc.
After fiddling around with a couple of remote reading thermometers it soon became obvious that ventilation was the issue.
The fridge was vented by 2 louvred vents, one located at the top of the fridge and one lower down.
Problem was that the lower vent was located above the level of the compressor unit.
This allowed the hot air to pool around the compressor and condenser and affect the performance of the fridge.
We were in Broome when things got so bad that Idecided to test my theory.
I removed the fridge and with a hole saw bored a series of holes in the rear of the “floor” where the fridge stood and another series of large holes in the rear of the shelf above the fridge.
The louvred vents to the outside where then sealed
This resulted in a good natural convection flow up the rear of the fridge.
It also prevented dust entry via the vents.
The fridge operated perfectly for the next 3 years until we sold it.
My solution was reported to some bloke at the factory who abused me at length telling me that the fridge would blow up and give him a bad name.
My second van was constructed with internal venting and the fridge has operated without fault.
There is a lot more to this story, regular snide remarks whenever I was at the factory were the least of it.
On one visit to the factory I put a thermometer down the fridge vent of a another van that was parked next to mine with the fridge operating and one at the rear of my fridge.
My fridge was 6 degrees c lower than the factory standard installation.
This result was shown to you know who.
The result, well I have not been back to the factory since and doubt that I ever will
Good luck with your fridge, give it as much air flow as possible and you will be fine.
And a PS.
The installation method used by BT is in direct conflict with the manufactures requirement.
Regards
Bob
AnswerID:
621941