Engel fridge not cold

So what was the end result Bacchus ?

Gday Gary

No joy I am afraid $685 total compressor replacement but should be good for another 25 plus years.

Cheers

I have an Engel upright bar type fridge in our 2007 Hilux Winnebago and the temperature in the fridge goes a few degrees higher up to 8 degrees C when the outside temperature goes over 30 degrees C. We bought it when it was three years old.

I did ask at a auto electrician/agent and said that was normal. He said I could regas it but would be taking money under false pretences.

I must ring Engel tomorrow and see if that is correct.

As we are going around Australia next week anyone know if the above is correct and the Engel can not keep things cold enough when over 30 degrees C outside.

Thanks

Col

Doesn't sound right. Our Engel works very well even when up in Broom and Kunanurra for weeks at a time. Better get it checked, I reckon.
Jaros

Firepower,

you don't enlighten us with the size and model, but if it has a freezer with ice cube tray, it needs to freeze to make ice! You cannot drink beer at 8C, its a health hazard (beer should be at least 2.8C max).
link to Engel models, with PDF data sheets
http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/products_category.asp?pid=24

Regards Ian

Thanks Jaros and belladonna.

It is a 12v/240v fridge freezer and looks like it comes in the four bottom models on the list.

ST68E
SR65E
ST90E
SR90E



Searching on that website the ST68E comes up only as the smaller model.

SR65E comes up with nothing.

ST90E looks like it and SR90E looks close to it Need to put www. in front of the following as I can not post links yet.

engelaustralia.com.au/2products_details.asp?pid=0&productid=21513

Mine would not have a case around it being a built in one.

Thanks

Col

I have bought three large computer fans and have been going to put them in the top vent at the rear wall of the fridge to suck air past the evaporator.

Here is a video of the fridge but you will need to put www. in front of the following as I can not post youtube links yet.
youtube.com/watch?v=c-KXMDpCijk&feature=youtu.be

My Engel stopped on 12V 2 days ago, it works on 240V, so till I get home (prospecting at the mo) thought I'd plug my 150W inverter to the auxiliary 100AH and run on 240.

Thoughts?

and, yes there is 12 v at the power socket that plugs to the Engel

Firepower,

Is the problem occurring on 12volt or the 240 volt or both?
Can you feel warm air blowing out of the vents from the fridge when standing outside the van? this will tell you the fan is working.
Thermostat, is it set correctly, knob is not spinning on the shaft by any chance ( seen this happen before).
Have not been able to find an install manual in this box of lights for your fridge.

I had a look at the install manual for the fridge (Thetford brand ) in our van. It states in the fault finding section the following:-

The refrigerator does not cool correctly on AC, DC or propane gas.

Check:-
- That the refrigerator vents are unobstructed and remove any obstructions.
- That the vehicle is level within 3 from side to side and 6 from front to back.

Regards,

Ian.

Ian

It is the same on 12v and 240v (not a gas fridge as you would realise). It is only a small PC size fan so can not feel anything from outside over the noise of the motor.

Anyway the fan is not working on 12v or 240v. There is no voltage going to the plug of the fan but it is freezing cold outside. I wonder if it is on a thermostat. I'll check it tomorrow and I am sure I checked the fan recently and it was spinning.

Also it is a 24v 130ma fan. I did replace the fan years ago but I would have gotten the exact same voltage etc. I understand the fridge also works on 24v so when I get a fan working I'll check the voltage and I suspect it would only be putting 12v to the fan. If that is the case I will get a 12 volt fan and maybe with a bit more power but still only a small fan.

The thermostat knob is not just spinning.

There are no obstructions and have tested it when level.

From the noise I guess it is a compressor type but having the motor totally enclosed does not seem too good when it is under the fridge which suppose to be cold. Then again I might have just seen in google where the motor is on the top.

I'll check out the fan tomorrow but I have had this problem all along when the fan was definitely working.

Col

The fan in the rear is dead but I still had the problem of the fridge not staying cold enough when the outside temperature is over 30 degrees and when the fan was working properly.

After checking the voltage to the fan is 21volts and the fan replacement I'll get tomorrow. I put a 12v fan on and it runs well, plenty of wind but it may not last long. Then I tried two 12 volt fans in series but that does not turn the fans much at all.

I just rang Engel in Perth and they said the fridge should stay cold if the outside temperature gets to 35 degrees.

They said it would not need regassing.

They said poor wiring is a main cause why the fridge does not work properly but seeing it works the same on 240 volts that should eliminate the wiring. I will still try and check the 12 volt voltage at the fridge if I can.

The thermostat is another big cause of problems but if our motor is running most of the time in hot weather, would that rule out the thermostat?

Anyway I have increased my battery power from 75ah to 130ah with the addition of an extra 55ah AGM battery in parallel.

So at least I will be able to keep the fridge on full on the hot days so I'll see how that goes. But I do not think I have fixed the problem of the fridge not staying cold enough on hot days.

I have had a similar issue with my engle and it ended up being voltage drop due to corrosion on the connections where the 12V plugs into the fridge. Easy to clean it up and now works fine

Firepower, don't connect dissimilar batteries in parallel, you'll stuff the batteries. They should be of the same size, same type and same age, otherwise the older weaker battery will bugger the newer bigger one real quick.

condor22 said:

Firepower, don't connect dissimilar batteries in parallel, you'll stuff the batteries. They should be of the same size, same type and same age, otherwise the older weaker battery will bugger the newer bigger one real quick.

Click to expand...

I have had good advice from various places, I hope, both are new batteries but was unable to get the same brand in the timeframe.

Apparently there is no problem putting a 75ah 12v AGM with a 55ah 12v AGM but I would have preferred the same brand. They are both in now and finished.

That is not how you understand it.

I guess the only bad thing that can happen is the batteries will not last as long as they would normally.

Shep said:

I have had a similar issue with my engle and it ended up being voltage drop due to corrosion on the connections where the 12V plugs into the fridge. Easy to clean it up and now works fine

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Mine is probably like that also. Looks like I'll have to pull the fridge right out to get at my connection or pull it out quite a distance to get at the rear.

I also need to check the voltage in the wires as soon as possible.

But I was thinking if it is the same on 240v the problem would not be in the 12v wiring. Am I wrong on that?

The Engel Sawafuji is an AC 240V compressor, when on 12VDC it is inverted internally to 240VAC.

Mine currently works on 240VAC but not on 12VDC. However if it is not staying cold or behaves the same on 12 or 240V then I would suggest thermostat or gas. Notwithstanding the above re ventilation.

Thanks. We have been on the road for a week and have been free camping without 240 volts and the fridge has been perfect on 3.5 degrees all the time.

Until now the weather has been quite cool but we will be on the road for three months so should hit warm weather when we get to Darwin. Then we will see how the fridge goes.

Today is the first day we have not driven far so we will see tonight and the next two nights how good the solar panel charges. We will be in Longreach for three days.

So in the next few weeks we'll see how good the fridge is seeing we should have quite a bit of power with the extra battery. As a result I should be able to keep the fridge near high in the hot weather as there should be enough power to do that.

condor22 said:

The Engel Sawafuji is an AC 240V compressor, when on 12VDC it is inverted internally to 240VAC.

Mine currently works on 240VAC but not on 12VDC. However if it is not staying cold or behaves the same on 12 or 240V then I would suggest thermostat or gas. Notwithstanding the above re ventilation.

Click to expand...

So yours may be what Shep mentioned recently. That was the connection where the 12 v goes in the fridge is corroded or loss of power along the 12 v wires.

But I suspect you have checked this?

Firepower said:

condor22 said:

The Engel Sawafuji is an AC 240V compressor, when on 12VDC it is inverted internally to 240VAC.

Mine currently works on 240VAC but not on 12VDC. However if it is not staying cold or behaves the same on 12 or 240V then I would suggest thermostat or gas. Notwithstanding the above re ventilation.

Click to expand...

So yours may be what Shep mentioned recently. That was the connection where the 12 v goes in the fridge is corroded or loss of power along the 12 v wires.

But I suspect you have checked this?

Click to expand...

I got home this arvo, tomorrow and next days, after sorting the van and detector gear as well as going to Minelab as my 5000 battery audio is cactus, I'll get to the fridge later in the week.

I think I have a spare 12V cable in the shed, so first thing will be to connect with a stable power source (no fuses). I'll connect direct to the battery (which I know is good) and the Engel. If it works then I'll problem solve the wiring in the 4by, if it doesn't I'll unbolt the Engel, get it on the bench and start disassembling to see what I can check at home.

Last resort will be to pay for a fix lol. Couldn't do much whilst in the goldfields. When I know, I'll advise on here...lol