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kwhitton
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2011
Posts: 10
Location: Edmonton, Alberta Canada
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 Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:30 pm Post subject: Eurovan fridge |
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| Hi, I have a 1992 Eurovan and I'm having problems with the fridge in that it won't cool. I can here it trying to run. Sounds like a fan there there is a faint beep and the blower stops. Then it will go thru the same cycle over and over but no cold. Does this sound familiar to anyone? We are hoping to go camping in a week and would really love to have a fridge. Thanks |
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DenverB
Samba Member
Joined: July 23, 2012
Posts: 704
Location: Denver, Colorado
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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Who makes the fridge and what model is it? If you're in Canada I'm assuming your full Eurovan camper is actually a Westfalia and not a winnebago conversion -- so you probably don't have the Norcold fridge that most of us U.S. full Eurovan camper people have. But in case you do have a Norcold (which I can speak to):
Can you get a flame at all? If no, your system is probably dirty and clogged. You can clean it out and probably get a flame.There's a good writeup here: http://1705.net/archives/329
If you can get a flame but it does not stay lit after letting off on the manual shutoff override (red button) then it is either the the relighter board or thermocouple.
You (generally) can determine which by jumping the leads that connect to the thermocouple (two white wires) with aligator clips (or a paper clip, for that matter) and releasing the manual shutoff override button. if when jumped the green light stays on (your burner stays lit) then it's your thermocouple. If the green light shuts off, it's the relighter board.
Likely it's the board as they tend to fail in Norcolds. I've replaced three relighter boards in the last four days. *edit: add the swapping of a thermocouple on a fourth fridge late last night. ugh.
_________________
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'77 Transporter/camper (Bussy - Reef Blue/Pastel White)
'67 bug (Santos - VW Blue)
'84 Vanagon Westfalia (Pink Flamingo - Pastel White/Pink)
'88 Vanagon GL Westfalia (Frankie Says - Wolfram Gray)
'02 Eurovan Weekender (Green Apple)
'95-'03 Eurovan full campers and weekenders (rental fleet)
'84 -'91 Vanagon full campers and weekenders (rental fleet)
'72 Porsche 914 (Greta - RIP)
www.RockyMountainCampervans.com
Last edited by DenverB on Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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kwhitton
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2011
Posts: 10
Location: Edmonton, Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 5:08 pm Post subject: Eurovan Fridge |
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| Hi, thanks for your prompt reply. Mine is a Westfalia. 1992. I know they were introduced in Canada in 92 and in the US in 93. Says RC1140 in the Fridge box. Can't seem to find any info. As i mentioned, I can hear a fan motor on and off and a beep in between - no cold. |
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DenverB
Samba Member
Joined: July 23, 2012
Posts: 704
Location: Denver, Colorado
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:39 am Post subject: |
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Gotcha, well we didn't get full Westfalia campers down here so I've actually never seen or worked on the fridge you're asking about. Sorry.
But some more details may help someone else:
you are talking about a fridge, not the underseat cooler right?
If so, can you get it to work in any of the three functions (gas, shore power or battery?) or do all functions not work?
_________________
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'77 Transporter/camper (Bussy - Reef Blue/Pastel White)
'67 bug (Santos - VW Blue)
'84 Vanagon Westfalia (Pink Flamingo - Pastel White/Pink)
'88 Vanagon GL Westfalia (Frankie Says - Wolfram Gray)
'02 Eurovan Weekender (Green Apple)
'95-'03 Eurovan full campers and weekenders (rental fleet)
'84 -'91 Vanagon full campers and weekenders (rental fleet)
'72 Porsche 914 (Greta - RIP)
www.RockyMountainCampervans.com |
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kwhitton
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2011
Posts: 10
Location: Edmonton, Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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| It's t he fridge, left of the stove. Works via the auxiliary batteries or electric plug-in. I can hear it trying to run. may be an elictrical issue somewhere. |
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jmranger
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Joined: January 14, 2010
Posts: 701
Location: Quebec
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DLJ
Samba Member
Joined: August 05, 2008
Posts: 554
Location: North California
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:35 am Post subject: refrigerator |
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I've worked on several euro-van refrigerators and basically they are all the same principal as the well known Dometic found on westfalias.
Brand name that I 've seen are all Norcold. They are all 3 way operation,
110-12v-and propane. They do not make any noise when running so your comment that you can hear it trying to start doenst make sense to me.
I do know that there is a110v 12v Norcold model that has a compressor and if this is what you have, then hearing it trying to start makes sense.
Sorry but I don't know much about compressor models but in comparison they are a lot more user friendly than the three way models.
Do you get the start up noise is all modes? IE 110v 12V.
Finally if you could post the brand name and maybe a picture Imay be able to help you further. |
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kwhitton
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2011
Posts: 10
Location: Edmonton, Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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Hi, thanks for your help so far. I posted some pics of the fridge on the gallery under Eurovan Fridge. I hope you can access them. I'm still new to thisi forum but I really want to get that fridge fixed!! we leave Friday morning for a 5 day camping trip.
Moderator edit: Photos added to post. |
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65Tops
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: San Diego, California, USA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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Those are Dometic Top load refrigerators. They use a compressor and control board like newer models. Check this article. It's a common problem with them.
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-179654.html
_________________
89 Vanagon 2.1 WBX Westy Camper "Spanky" |
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65Tops
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Joined: March 22, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: San Diego, California, USA
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kwhitton
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2011
Posts: 10
Location: Edmonton, Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:26 pm Post subject: Eurovan fridge |
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Thanks again. I'm going to try and get a friend over who is an electrician. I know squat. honestly. I couldn't tell you where the compressor is and what 4 pin whit wire one guy spoke of. still trying to comprehend the info. That link you gave me is a long one. Had a stroke in Feb so workin a little slower these days in processing stuff. Of th epis i sent are you able to teel me what the compressor is and the white wire and reference the replacemrnt part they referred to? where it goes and where i might ob5tain one rather quickly?
thanks again. |
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djkeev
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Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32609
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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andersonandsons
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2015
Posts: 1
Location: Calgary, AB
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| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 5:51 pm Post subject: Eurovan Fridge |
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Not sure if this one was solved, but here is my experience.....
I have a 94 Eurovan Westfalia CV and the fridge quit on our last road trip, the fridge wouldn't cool and the snowflake would just flash on the overhead control panel. I determine that the 15 amp fuse was blown (fuse block behind the drivers seat, very bottom position), and when I replaced the fuse it immediately would blow. Once we got home I opened the black box under the fridge box and disconnected the the Danfoss controller and removed it from the panel and the compressor. I used an ohm meter and tested across the +/- poles on the unit and the meter went to infinity, to me this meant that the circuitry was closed and there was a problem on the board itself. Without any power to it there should be no connection between the + and - terminals. To diagnose further I actually opened the Danfoss unit and found that there was a burt electrical smell and some black carbon on the board itself.
I ordered a new Frigoboat 12V controller (~$500 CAD, yikes!!) from an online distributor, hooked up the wiring and turned the fridge on, bingo, back in action, fridge worked like a charm. I had to add connectors on the +/- wires and the black wire that goes to the control console I left disconnected (I determined that its used to indicate a problem, and the snowflake will flash, the new unit has a red LED right on the side to indicate a problem)
New Controller was from: http://www.go2marine.com/product/384614F/frigoboat...ssors.html |
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thebeachmonkey
Samba Member
Joined: November 02, 2016
Posts: 3
Location: Minneapolis
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:48 pm Post subject: Re: Eurovan fridge |
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I'm having the 24 second fan sound, followed by a steady 1-second beep. Replaced my aux battery (which was old and dried out), fridge hasn't been used in at least 8 years, maybe longer...
I did find this guide to troubleshooting the controller unit, I'm going to try this this weekend. It's pretty thorough and user friendly! Beats buying a new one without checking out the components.
https://www.coastalclimatecontrol.com/images/PDF/danfoss_4_pin_controller_testing.pdf
1992 VW Eurovan Westy
Everything works except the fridge.  |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22653
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 4:11 am Post subject: Re: Eurovan fridge |
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It looks to me like that is an inverter to a line voltage compressor ...horribly inefficient implementation but I think that was the best you could do in 1992
Check your refrigerant pressure before you sink money into this. If that's kaput it's not going to be cost effective to repair unless you are an AC tech
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John Thorp
Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2018
Posts: 1
Location: BC
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| Posted: Wed May 02, 2018 8:51 pm Post subject: Re: Eurovan fridge |
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| This info may come too late for the original post but going forward I am very happy to say that I have solved my fridge problem in my 1994 Westfalia CV. After installing a new Veco controller and having no joy I searched for a new thermistor but the OEM part is now obsolete. Thanks to Rod at https://www.snip-the-tip.com/Danfoss.html there is now a thermistor available for folks like us. My fridge runs great after who knows how many years. |
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goffro
Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2018
Posts: 23
Location: Lake Tahoe, California
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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| DenverB wrote: |
If you can get a flame but it does not stay lit after letting off on the manual shutoff override (red button) then it is either the the relighter board or thermocouple.
You (generally) can determine which by jumping the leads that connect to the thermocouple (two white wires) with aligator clips (or a paper clip, for that matter) and releasing the manual shutoff override button. if when jumped the green light stays on (your burner stays lit) then it's your thermocouple. If the green light shuts off, it's the relighter board.
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I've got a Norcold 3163 fridge which was working fine in all modes (LP/AC/DC) then after a couple of days, whe operating in LP GAS mode, the green light turns off shortly after releasing the red button. At this point, sometimes I can get it to stay green, sometimes not. Suspecting the thermocouple, I came to this thread looking for help.
I would like to try the test above to determine whether it's the relighter board or the thermocouple, but I'm not super good with electronics so I wanted to make sure I understand what DenverB mentions above by "jumping the leads that connect to the thermocouple" without getting a shock or blowing myself up.
Does this mean:
0) Disconnect the two white wires from the pilot light (?) assembly (see green arrow in picture)
1) Switch to GAS mode
2) Turn dial to Start position (12 o'colock)
3) Push and hold red button for 10 seconds per normal lighting instructions
4) Physically bridge the two white wire ends (female spade connectors?) together with alligator clip / paper clip / whatever
5) Release the red button
6) Observe green light -- if it stays on, replace thermocouple; if it shuts off, replace relighter board
Thanks for the clarification!
ALSO - The fridge was apparently serviced 4 or 5 years ago. Not sure what all they did. When I push the red button in, it binds up slightly on the opening of the black trim panel, such that it stays 5/6ths of the way in, unless I kind of tweak it to the left with a fingernail so that the friction is relieved and it can slide all the way out. On occasion, we had not noticed that the button was left 5/6ths engaged for many hours while operating the fridge successfully in LP GAS mode. Has this perhaps damaged something? I will try to sand down the trim panel opening to prevent this in the future.
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tds3pete
Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2004
Posts: 914
Location: Seattle, WA
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| goffro wrote: |
On occasion, we had not noticed that the button was left 5/6ths engaged for many hours while operating the fridge successfully in LP GAS mode. Has this perhaps damaged something? I will try to sand down the trim panel opening to prevent this in the future.
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Definately fix this! If you have an obstruction holding the red button in, you are holding the gas valve permanently open. You fridge will run without damage in gas mode, but if the flame goes out the gas will just keep coming.....a very bad thing. The red button is there to open the gas valve manually during lighting only...it must pop back out at all other times.
If you choose not to fix this, I would suggest dropping a note to Kim Jong Un. He is looking for something that will go BOOM in the U.S. and your van would be a good candidate!
_________________
'58 Westy camper-come and gone
'73 Westy-bought new in Holland,now gone
'86 Syncro weekender-come and gone
'79 Westy...Oscar
'95 Eurovan Camper/5 spd...Marsha Mellow |
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goffro
Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2018
Posts: 23
Location: Lake Tahoe, California
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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| tds3pete wrote: |
| If you choose not to fix this, I would suggest dropping a note to Kim Jong Un. He is looking for something that will go BOOM |
Hmm I think I'd prefer Tigra and Bunny! |
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goffro
Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2018
Posts: 23
Location: Lake Tahoe, California
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| Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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| goffro wrote: |
| DenverB wrote: |
If you can get a flame but it does not stay lit after letting off on the manual shutoff override (red button) then it is either the the relighter board or thermocouple.
You (generally) can determine which by jumping the leads that connect to the thermocouple (two white wires) with aligator clips (or a paper clip, for that matter) and releasing the manual shutoff override button. if when jumped the green light stays on (your burner stays lit) then it's your thermocouple. If the green light shuts off, it's the relighter board.
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I've got a Norcold 3163 fridge which was working fine in all modes (LP/AC/DC) then after a couple of days, whe operating in LP GAS mode, the green light turns off shortly after releasing the red button. At this point, sometimes I can get it to stay green, sometimes not. Suspecting the thermocouple, I came to this thread looking for help.
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I wanted to follow up on my older post in case it helps anyone else in the same situation. As indicated in my older post, in LP Gas mode, the Norcold 3163 fridge would always light successfully .. I could hear and see the pilot as i held down the red button, and then hear the "pffoof!" of the burner kicking on, green light comes on, and I could hear the burner exhausting vapor out the exhaust port on the side of the van ... but once lighted, the burner & green light would then only stay lighted/on for minutes, or sometimes hours, before the green light (and burner) would go off and I would hear "click-click-click-click..."
First thing I did was take the fridge out and clean out the burner box, per a writeup. There was a small amount of ash in the box, and the thermocouple and burner had some char on the parts that come in contact with the flame, but the burner wasn't totally charred up and plugged shut, and things didn't look too bad. Problem persisted. So next I tested that the thermocouple was producing the expected millivoltage when exposed to flame, as follows: I got out the multimeter. Pushing and holding in the red safety valve button (and hearing “froomph!” of the pilot light igniting), and simultaneously testing the voltage between the thermocouple’s copper casing and the upper terminal on the interruptor, it quickly climbed to about 15 mV within 15 seconds, and around 18 mV after 30 seconds. From this I assume the thermocouple is good, and it’s positioned correctly over the flame.
Brian at Seek Adventure LLC / The Norcold Guy recommended replacing the relighter board for $160. We did so, and once everything was reconnected, the green light wouldn't stay on and we were very sad! But then we realized that the aux battery was very low, so we plugged it AC power overnight to charge the aux battery and tried again, and the fridge worked great and has been working solidly ever since. Phew. |
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