Fridge issue on brand new van

[Jeaniethecali]

Hello and thanks for the add.
We are novices to campervaning and took delivery of our new Cali earlier this month. We love the van, but last week came across an issue during our first trip to Scotland. The fridge doesn’t work! You can hear the compressor start up and the fridge light illuminates on the control panel, but the temperature inside the box actually goes up. At one point it went up to 14 degrees when the outside temperature was around 8 degreesTried to book the van in at the nearest van centre that deals with Cali’s, but the soonest they can look at it is 22nd May. A full two months away, which for me is ridiculous.
has anybody else had a similar issue?

 

[2into1]

Not heard of this one before, but I hope someone comes along soon who can help.
If we can't solve it, vw main dealer certainly won't, so I hope they order in a replacement ahead of your appointment as their only strategy will be to swap it.

 

[Hawthorn37]

To me it sounds like either the fridge has no (or insufficient) refrigerant in the system, or a non return valve has been installed in the wrong direction. You say it’s a new van, so have you checked with the supplying dealer? This should have been checked prior to handover.

 

[yossarian]

I'd expect you will wind up with a new fridge. The fault is likely to be some sort of misassembly of the fridge. I'm pretty sure the fridge is a single FRU from VW's point of view.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Sorry to hear about your miss treatment, that is absolutely terrible service. Is there someone else you can take it?
It sounds as if your fridge pump is almost working in reverse, or no refrigerant (more likely) no quick fix I think.

 

[WelshGas]

Hello and thanks for the add.
We are novices to campervaning and took delivery of our new Cali earlier this month. We love the van, but last week came across an issue during our first trip to Scotland. The fridge doesn’t work! You can hear the compressor start up and the fridge light illuminates on the control panel, but the temperature inside the box actually goes up. At one point it went up to 14 degrees when the outside temperature was around 8 degreesTried to book the van in at the nearest van centre that deals with Cali’s, but the soonest they can look at it is 22nd May. A full two months away, which for me is ridiculous.
has anybody else had a similar issue?

One question. What Level was the fridge set at?

 

[calibusje]

Perhaps the level of your refrigerators is indeed too high. Or something else is going on.
Got nothing to do with your refrigerator so just for information a table to know how much is left in your gas bottle; this is possible with a simple luggage scale.

I have one for the diesel heater also but in a small camper with barely any insulation, it is rather the perceived temperature that counts instead of the degrees Celsius that correspond to the number of the level.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

One question. What Level was the fridge set at?

Hi, I’ve tried it on all levels… same result.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

Not heard of this one before, but I hope someone comes along soon who can help.
If we can't solve it, vw main dealer certainly won't, so I hope they order in a replacement ahead of your appointment as their only strategy will be to swap it.

I spoke at length with one of the few main dealers that will touch it, and they won’t order a replacement refrigerator until they’ve diagnosed what the problem is. My concern is I’ll have a 2 month wait for them to see the van and diagnose that it needs a new fridge, then wait god knows how long for the new fridge to arrive… probably from German.

 

[owen_h]

The controllers that are used in most compressor fridges come from Danfoss/Secop and have built in error detection. Usually this error detection is displayed by means of a flashing LED where the number of flashes over a set period indicates the code. Hopefully in an Ocean these error codes are available in the control panel or readable in some way by the dealer. If not then the dealer could connect a LED direct to the fridge controller. Not sure how accessible the fridge electronics are on an Ocean.

Penguine Frigo have useful advice on their website.

Troubleshooting Videos - Penguin Refrigeration

12 volt or 24 volt compressor fridge troubleshooting videos. Created by the UK marine refrigeration experts to solve many common refrigeration issues

penguinfrigo.co.uk

Frequently Asked Questions - Penguin Refrigeration

12 Volt & 24 Volt DC Marine Fridge Troubleshooting FAQs. Advice and support from the UK marine refrigeration experts

penguinfrigo.co.uk

One point in the Faq is to be sure its the compressor you can hear and not the cooling fan. On initial startup the compressor often does a bit of a 'shudder'.

Hope it gets sorted quickly.

 

[yossarian]

Since your fridge is heating there is really only one likely cause: the coolant travelling in the wrong direction through the coolant loop.

You could confirm this by checking that the radiator is cooler than ambient temperature.

Two root causes spring to mind: compressor rotating the wrong direction due to incorrect wiring or the compressor input and output connected the wrong way.

If I had to wait 2+ months to get it repaired I would have a look and see if it could be easily repaired without leaving any warranty invalidating traces.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Since your fridge is heating there is really only one likely cause: the coolant travelling in the wrong direction through the coolant loop.

You could confirm this by checking that the radiator is cooler than ambient temperature.

Two root causes spring to mind: compressor rotating the wrong direction due to incorrect wiring or the compressor input and output connected the wrong way.

If I had to wait 2+ months to get it repaired I would have a look and see if it could be easily repaired without leaving any warranty invalidating traces.

If this was the cause then the behind/below of the fridge would be very cold when it was running.

However if there was no refrigerant the compressor would still heat up the air inside the pipes but the throttler would never cool it down as there wouldn’t be enough of a pressure drop.

 

[yossarian]

So have a feel around, is there somewhere that is cooling down on the outside rear of the fridge?

 

[Jeaniethecali]

The controllers that are used in most compressor fridges come from Danfoss/Secop and have built in error detection. Usually this error detection is displayed by means of a flashing LED where the number of flashes over a set period indicates the code. Hopefully in an Ocean these error codes are available in the control panel or readable in some way by the dealer. If not then the dealer could connect a LED direct to the fridge controller. Not sure how accessible the fridge electronics are on an Ocean.

Penguine Frigo have useful advice on their website.

Troubleshooting Videos - Penguin Refrigeration

12 volt or 24 volt compressor fridge troubleshooting videos. Created by the UK marine refrigeration experts to solve many common refrigeration issues

penguinfrigo.co.uk

Frequently Asked Questions - Penguin Refrigeration

12 Volt & 24 Volt DC Marine Fridge Troubleshooting FAQs. Advice and support from the UK marine refrigeration experts

penguinfrigo.co.uk

One point in the Faq is to be sure its the compressor you can hear and not the cooling fan. On initial startup the compressor often does a bit of a 'shudder'.

Hope it gets sorted quickly.

The compressor is definitely running, I can feel it vibrating. Yes I believe the snowflake symbol on the control panel should flash if there were any errors detected, but mine is a constant amber which indicates the fridge is on.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

So have a feel around, is there somewhere that is cooling down on the outside rear of the fridge?

So have a feel around, is there somewhere that is cooling down on the outside rear of the fridge?

Access is restricted so I can really get in to feel around. I have tried the fridge again today, and in the space of an hour the temperature inside went up by 4 degrees!

 

[Jeaniethecali]

So a quick update. After putting on social media how bad VW after sales/customer services have been, I was contacted by one of their customer services employee’s today. They have been in touch with the service centre and managed to get the van booked in on 13th April. Better than the 22nd May, but still another three weeks off. hopefully they can fix it quickly. Thanks to everyone who gave advice.

 

[2into1]

Anyone with a nearly new 6.1 Ocean in Cheshire that could pop around and help @Jeaniethecali to just rule out operator error and compare how they are setting things up? I'm localish but have a very different control panel in my 06 Cali.
Once operator error is ruled out, I'd be threatening to reject the Cali as not fit for purpose. Naming the dealer here may encourage them to speed up their service. Literally all they will do is confirm it's not working then order a new one. What's that going to take? 10 mins? The workshop cat could do what needs doing.

 

[WelshGas]

So a quick update. After putting on social media how bad VW after sales/customer services have been, I was contacted by one of their customer services employee’s today. They have been in touch with the service centre and managed to get the van booked in on 13th April. Better than the 22nd May, but still another three weeks off. hopefully they can fix it quickly. Thanks to everyone who gave advice.

When you take the vehicle into the Dealership have the fridge running, so they will have absolutely no reason to delay making a Diagnostic and insist on a courtesy vehicle if they wish to keep it.
Diagnosis would take no more than 10 minutes with the fridge running.
As it is under warranty they won’t undertake any deep diagnosis and repair. Replacement should take no longer than 2 hrs if they have read the “ correct book “.
Insisting on a courtesy vehicle gives you the upper hand.

 

[CaliforniaPhil]

We got our first California T6.1 Ocean last week (demonstrator). We have been on a steep learning curve, the book is a bit confusing at times. This forum is great.

I have not powered the fridge up yet, this is what I did.

Quick temp check before I powered the fridge up, might have changed a bit if I had waited longer.
14⁰c in van
7⁰c bottom of fridge

On front display with the ignition off, no electric hook up.
Refrig. Box cooling on max
Constant Amber snow flake on screen
You can hear the compressor running.
You can also hear a lower shimmering sound every few seconds. (Hard to describe)
After 15-20 minutes, temp was down to 1⁰c at the bottom of the fridge.

Hope this helps to see what should be going on.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

Anyone with a nearly new 6.1 Ocean in Cheshire that could pop around and help @Jeaniethecali to just rule out operator error and compare how they are setting things up? I'm localish but have a very different control panel in my 06 Cali.
Once operator error is ruled out, I'd be threatening to reject the Cali as not fit for purpose. Naming the dealer here may encourage them to speed up their service. Literally all they will do is confirm it's not working then order a new one. What's that going to take? 10 mins? The workshop cat could do what needs doing.

Thanks but I’m pretty sure it’s the fridge that’s at fault. Switching it on puts the temperature up by 2-4 degrees. Yesterday it went up from 10 degrees to 14 within an hour of being switched on.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

When you take the vehicle into the Dealership have the fridge running, so they will have absolutely no reason to delay making a Diagnostic and insist on a courtesy vehicle if they wish to keep it.
Diagnosis would take no more than 10 minutes with the fridge running.
As it is under warranty they won’t undertake any deep diagnosis and repair. Replacement should take no longer than 2 hrs if they have read the “ correct book “.
Insisting on a courtesy vehicle gives you the upper hand.

Good idea. I’ll do that. I’ve insisted on a courtesy vehicle for when I drop mine off with them. Could manage without one, but like you say they’ll want it back as soon as possible so will hopefully get on and fix mine.