Refrigerator will not turn on with AC.

[Goodair]

I cannot get the Refrigerator to work. I turned the fan on and waited for about a 1/2 hour, nothing,,,check the fuse box to see whether the circuit breaker was tripped, nothing. The main switch in the up position. The frig is lid up and on, with the AC lit. I check the back panel outside, the frig is plugged in. Unplugged it and ran it direct into the house, still nothing. Do you know if I am doing anything wrong?

 

[RichR]

When you switch the fridge to AC you should be able to feel heat, after a few minutes wait, in the back of the fridge inside the rear opening or coming from the upper rear vent. There could be a fuse inline that is bad or the AC heat element could be burned out. The fan switch has nothing to do with the fridge operation. It is thermally controlled and only turns on when the fridge is putting out heat at around 100 degrees or above. Have you checked the troubleshooting guide in the fridge's manual?

 

[Goodair]

When you switch the fridge to AC you should be able to feel heat, after a few minutes wait, in the back of the fridge inside the rear opening or coming from the upper rear vent. There could be a fuse inline that is bad or the AC heat element could be burned out. The fan switch has nothing to do with the fridge operation. It is thermally controlled and only turns on when the fridge is putting out heat at around 100 degrees or above. Have you checked the troubleshooting guide in the fridge's manual?

The ice box is cold to the touch, but the fins are not cold at all...

 

[JIM L-HILO]

HI, Welcome to the forum. On my2805C there is a inline fuse behind the fridg. Remove the outside panel and on the lower part of the fridg where the wiring feeds into the terminal block is where the fuse is. Also on the left side the fridg AC wire has to be plugged into the receptical. Also these fridges take hours to cool down. Most of us turn them on the night before we plan to travel. Have you tried it on gas and DC. You should have two ways to run the fridg and many have three, AC, DC, And gas. Most times when one does not work, one of the others will. If you do not have for the fridg, see if there is one to download here on the forum or go to the fridg manufactures website and get it there. It will have a trubleshooting section. You can also call the manufacture and there tech service dept will help. The phone # will be on there website.

 

[Fireballsocal]

Has the fridge been sitting for a very long time? Like years without being used?

 

[Goodair]

I will leave it plugged in all night to see if that is the problem, I had it on for about an hour only. The manual indicates at least 4 hours, so that might be my problem. The fuse is good, the frig does power up, but just not cold. Thanks for your help...

 

[Papa-HILO]

I will leave it plugged in all night to see if that is the problem, I had it on for about an hour only. The manual indicates at least 4 hours, so that might be my problem. The fuse is good, the frig does power up, but just not cold. Thanks for your help...

Goodair,
I agree with Jim L. I think you'll find it cooling in the morning. I normally turn mine on a couple days before going on a trip. That way it has plenty of time to cool down plus the wife can store any food she wishes in prepararation of the trip.
Let us know what you find.
God Bless
Papa

 

[majordad274]

Hi Goodair,

If you are rushed and want to cool down fast, try puting a couple of 1/2 gal frozen water jugs in the freezer. If the fridge is working the jugs will stay frozen in the freezer as long as the fridge is on.

majordad

2409T

 

[JIM L-HILO]

Goodair, You have not told us if you have a two way or three way fridg and if you have tried the fridg on DC or gas and the results. Much easier to help with the problem with that info.

 

[Goodair]

Jim, I have a 3 way frig, I think my problem was that I didn't leave on long enough. Will try the overnight thing this weekend, thanks for your response...

 

[sting32]

Jim, I have a 3 way frig, I think my problem was that I didn't leave on long enough. Will try the overnight thing this weekend, thanks for your response...

There is a thread where a few of us were trying to work on fridges...

I think there are at few quick things to know, about our amonia based fridge operation, camper models, not home models, they use a pump and freon...

Our Camper 3 way or 2 way types, use an amonia based mixture in the coils behind the fridge, and instead of a pump. To cool the insides the amonia is heated to pretty hot, pressure pushes that mixture and it gets to expand at the cold spots in the fridge. So, there is a heating "pot" at the bottom right rear (if you are standing behind the fridge) of the fridge. And this is where the 2 or 3 way comes in, in 3 way there are 3 ways to heat the pot, 110 a/c which actually probably converts ac to DC which then runs the heating element , dc (battery) directly to that same element, then lastly Propane flames.

The fridges take several hours (in warm regions especially) to cool the area inside the fridge.

Several people bought a d-cell battery powered fridge fan to help circulate the air hopes of cooling better, I had one, cant find the dang thing now after 1st year.

Best results are to freeze any of the food you put into the fridge, and pack it full, and it will get colder quicker. I even buy dry ice and since I dont use the crispers in the bottom of my 2 door fridge, this gets me a big jumpstart on the cooling of the fridge. I would also strongly suggest, hopefully chill any drinks before puttin in there. We use ICE CHESTS for drinks, due to how often you are opening the fridge for a family of pop/adult beverage drinkers, lol.

Running the fridge on DC (battery) uses the battery up quickly, if you have it on for more than an hour, most have reported dead battery, if you are not on shore power, or the tow vehicle isnt charging your camper Battery.
The 6 way plugs on Tow Vehicles do/can supply DC to help keep the battery in camper up, But dead battery or sometimes running fridge, usually blows fuses in Tow Vehicle side.

We've also shared/learned to switch fridge to propane if you stop for very long, on your road trips; IE more than gas fillup or say 45 minutes to an hour...

Some still run propane while towing, but be warned and MINDFULL, technically that is an open flame if/when you goto gas pumps.