Chescold R400 3 way fridge
Submitted: Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 21:53
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Craig Williams
WeIl I've had the gas on for about 6hrs now and the aluminium unit inside the fridge is cold but not as cold as when on 240v. I've levelled it up, and all should be ok. I can feel a reasonable ammount of heat from the top of the flue, and to top it off, it's a reasonably cool night. I've cleaned the burner and jets out and all seems ok. I even ran a wire coat hanger up the
chimney to make sure it wasn't blocked. Anyone have any ideas? Best regards Craig
Reply By: Member - Brian H (QLD) - Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 22:38
Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 22:38
Thought I answered this post earlier today and find this is a 2nd post. .....PHEW almost got me :).
I have never had to rotate
mine as said above (just lucky I guess) others have found the need. I will say, the jet you have, when you said you put a coat hanger up the spout, I went and checked
mine and it's not one single hole but several smaller holes with a larger center hole like a gas torch. I wonder if you have cleaned the single hole but the outer ring of smaller holes is still blocked?
I did take
mine in for a service a couple of years ago and all they did was clean the jets and she works a real treat.
Mine works better on gas however as indicated in other post I put on for 24 hour before my trip on 240 so far this have worked
well for me.
Brian
AnswerID:
232202
Reply By: Mike Harding - Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 07:48
Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 07:48
Hi Craig
Easier if you stay with the one thread.
If it's working more efficiently on 240V than gas then the problem must be that the gas is not providing enough heat. Go over the gas system again and double
check there are no blockages either in the supply system or the flue.
I assume you have the gas temp. control turned to full? :)
By the way; 3 way fridges always benefit from the addition of a 12V computer fan mounted near the heat exchanger.
Mike Harding
AnswerID:
232223
Reply By: Craig Williams - Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 08:48
Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 08:48
Haven't checked the temperature with a thermometer, going to the
shop to get one today. One thing I was wondering if I have the right gas regulator? Its just the one that was already on my gas bottle, not even sure if there are different types? There does seem to be a good ammount of gas getting through with the jet connected or disconnected. I've tumbled it and like I said there seems to be a decent amount of heat coming from the flue. I stuck a coat hanger down and up the hole, someone told me that there were 5 holes in the flue that could possibly be blocked but can't seem to see them from the top or bottom. As most of our camping will be on powered sites, I am really considering just buying a 240v compressor 240v only model. Even when I was running this on 240v it took hours to pull down and with the kids opening and closing the fridge consatntly as they will I don't think it will do the job. I can see the value of these things when in an isolated area and no other option but don't think this is going to be the one for me.
AnswerID:
232228
Follow Up By: GQ_TUFF - Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 19:00
Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 19:00
Hi Craig,
I am one of those people who cant afford the $1500 or so for a good 12V fridge, So I bought a 40lt Waeco 240v Fridge/freezer (it is badged as ESKY brand) Got it on special from Boots camping for $150. Turned right up on the thermostat it turned a bottle of water from my fridge to ice crystals in 1/2 an hour from a warm start. I also tested this on my Fathers 1500watt inverter in his car and with the same fantastic results. So now I have bought an inverter as
well to run the fridge in the car. Now I am guessing this set up won't handle hundreds of KM'S of rough roads but as I mainly do weekend trips I am hoping I have a good budget set up for around $400 without the hassles of the 3way fridge. The instruction book with my fridge makes no mention of having to Rest the fridge before turning it on so it should be ok in the car. On 240V it draws only 0.5A or around 130watts. So even allowing for a peak start up surge of 7 times that a 1500watt inverter will bleep it in so to speak. Just thought I would let you know for some ideas maybe??
Cheers Stefan
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 20:33
Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 20:33
Keep in mind that 130W plus inverter losses will mean it's taking around 12A from your battery! In turn this means that a 100Ah battery discharged to 50% (which will reduce battery life considerably) will run the fridge for four hours continuous - and if we assume a 25% duty cycle you battery will need a serious recharge after 16 hours of normal operation - that is not good.
Mike Harding
FollowupID:
493202
Follow Up By: GQ_TUFF - Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 21:32
Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 21:32
My sums give me a figure of around 9.9A or lets say 10A. Thats getting down to the decimal points ect. To tell you the truth I don't know exactly what my second battery is as it was in the car when I bought it. Must have a look :)!!! I know my fathers Waceo draws 7-8A on 12V and 0.7 on 240V so for the $1100 saving I think its a fair compromise. For a budget set up its hard to beat.
Stefan
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