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Old 11-13-2020, 10:39 AM   #1
Newbees
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Refrigerator not working on a/c

Hi guys! We've recently moved into the camper and had a couple mice who made a home in the fridge vent in back. I've cleaned it up and noticed a couple of wires chewed. Repaired the obvious ones but there's a blue wire that I am unsure about it's origins. It's a Domestic and has been running fine on propane but not on auto. Any help would be appreciated! I took some photos and there's a diagram but not color code for the wires. Have a great day!
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Old 11-13-2020, 11:50 AM   #2
FlyingAroundRV
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If you have a volt/ohm meter and know how to use it, the following should give you some ideas about the fridge.
Disconnect the fridge fro AC power, either by unplugging the fridge at the socket or unplugging the whole trailer. MOST IMPORTANT
The two wires that go to the heating chimney are the AC heating element. They are the black ones with the angled connectors. Pull those off the board and measure the ohms between them. It should read around 40 ohms, give or take a bit. If you get no ohms reading on any scale, the element is blown.
With the trailer plugged in to the AC service, and the fridge unpluggedfrom its socket, use the meter ON AC VOLTS range to measure what is coming from the fridge socket. If it reads around 110-120V that is good.
Next is to check the DC power to the controller board with the meter ON DC VOLTS. You should see something in the range of 12-14 volts depending on your batteries state and your converter working or not.
Next is the thermal fuse on the heating stack. Look for an object attached to the side of the heating chimney with two wires coming out of it. That is the overtemp fuse. If you can disconnect those wires from the controller, measure the resistance between them ON OHMS range. You should see a very low resistance between them. If it reads open circuit, the fuse is toast and needs to be replaced.
Next, with the fridge unplugged from AC power, pull the fuse off the controller board and check it with the ohm meter. If it shows open circuit, replace it. Actually, this step probably should be done first.
If everything so far checks out, your fridge controller board may be bad. Camping World sell replacements, but they are expensive.
Good luck. Please get back to us and let us know how you go with it.
Finally, I'm pretty sure the blue wire is a test lead. I don't know what it is used for.
And from the pics, it kind of looks like the ground (black) 12 lead may not be attached. The lead that has the red wire going to the board also has a black wire coming out of it. Follow that and see if it is connected. It may be going to the thermal fuse, but I'm not sure of that.
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Old 11-13-2020, 03:04 PM   #3
Bill-2020
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I have the same loose blue wire. I also believe it's a factory test wire because it's insulated on the terminal end, but a probe or mating pin can be connected to it.
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Old 11-13-2020, 04:27 PM   #4
JRTJH
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The blue wire is a "test point" and is not connected to anything. It's not used in normal operation of the refrigerator.

Here's a schematic of the refrigerator wiring. Note the upper center of the schematic, there's a blue wire marked "T".
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Old 12-10-2020, 07:58 AM   #5
Newbees
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Thumbs up It works!

Thank you so much! Turns out it was the AC heating element. I had a friend with a voltmeter, and it was a very easy fix. Just had to wait a while for the part. My fridge works better than it does on propane. I appreciate the help, saved me a bunch of money.


Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyingAroundRV View Post
If you have a volt/ohm meter and know how to use it, the following should give you some ideas about the fridge.
Disconnect the fridge fro AC power, either by unplugging the fridge at the socket or unplugging the whole trailer. MOST IMPORTANT
The two wires that go to the heating chimney are the AC heating element. They are the black ones with the angled connectors. Pull those off the board and measure the ohms between them. It should read around 40 ohms, give or take a bit. If you get no ohms reading on any scale, the element is blown.
With the trailer plugged in to the AC service, and the fridge unpluggedfrom its socket, use the meter ON AC VOLTS range to measure what is coming from the fridge socket. If it reads around 110-120V that is good.
Next is to check the DC power to the controller board with the meter ON DC VOLTS. You should see something in the range of 12-14 volts depending on your batteries state and your converter working or not.
Next is the thermal fuse on the heating stack. Look for an object attached to the side of the heating chimney with two wires coming out of it. That is the overtemp fuse. If you can disconnect those wires from the controller, measure the resistance between them ON OHMS range. You should see a very low resistance between them. If it reads open circuit, the fuse is toast and needs to be replaced.
Next, with the fridge unplugged from AC power, pull the fuse off the controller board and check it with the ohm meter. If it shows open circuit, replace it. Actually, this step probably should be done first.
If everything so far checks out, your fridge controller board may be bad. Camping World sell replacements, but they are expensive.
Good luck. Please get back to us and let us know how you go with it.
Finally, I'm pretty sure the blue wire is a test lead. I don't know what it is used for.
And from the pics, it kind of looks like the ground (black) 12 lead may not be attached. The lead that has the red wire going to the board also has a black wire coming out of it. Follow that and see if it is connected. It may be going to the thermal fuse, but I'm not sure of that.
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Old 12-10-2020, 11:50 AM   #6
FlyingAroundRV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Newbees View Post
Thank you so much! Turns out it was the AC heating element. I had a friend with a voltmeter, and it was a very easy fix. Just had to wait a while for the part. My fridge works better than it does on propane. I appreciate the help, saved me a bunch of money.
Well, we'll call that a win!
Well done you...
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