Dometic/Waeco cr80 & cr110 fridges

[terrya]

I have recently found out that the cr110 fridge fitted to our AOR Eclipse may have a problem in cold weather. The fridge is rated for ambient temps in the 16 - 48 degrees range. If the van temp gets down to about 10-12 degrees the fridge turns off and won't start again until the van temp warms up again. Dometic have produced a "winter kit" (which I have purchased) to overcome this problem. It costs $99 and is a very simple fit. Two screws to remove the whole thermostat and interior light housing and replace with a a complete new housing. The new housing has a rocker switch with the instruction to turn on if the temp drops to 10 degrees. The agent who supplied my part said it would be OK to leave it on up to about 20 degrees. I know of one failure in an AOR Matrix. Has anyone else had problems? Cheers Terry

[Shaker]

Dometic were fixing these fridges free of charge.
They have no right to charge the end user to fix their failures.
The fridges are supplied knowing full well the climate in which they will be be used, & as supplied they are not suitable.

[KevKathQld]

Similar problem with our Waeco CR110
Its fine here in Qld but when we went down to Batlow for the national meet last year we found the freezer had defrosted on a night where the temp dropped below 0 outside. The fridge was fine. The thermostat apparently measures the fridge temperature rather than the freezer temp.
I have been in contact with Waeco and they want the $99 to supply the new thermostat. Can't see why its not free as the fridge is under warranty but...I have not got it yet but will have to so before Glenn Innis I think.
Waeco say its not their problem but it is in my opinion...

[Shaker]

Similar problem with our Waeco CR110
Its fine here in Qld but when we went down to Batlow for the national meet last year we found the freezer had defrosted on a night where the temp dropped below 0 outside. The fridge was fine. The thermostat apparently measures the fridge temperature rather than the freezer temp.
I have been in contact with Waeco and they want the $99 to supply the new thermostat. Can't see why its not free as the fridge is under warranty but...I have not got it yet but will have to so before Glenn Innis I think.
Waeco say its not their problem but it is in my opinion...

Why would they say it's not their problem? Of course it is, Dometic have fixed some free of charge, that in itself is an admission of liability!
See what happens when somebody gets very ill from food poisoning!

[ljsroslyn]

We too have the Waeco 110 fridge with the same problems and have recently replaced the thermostat with good results and yes we paid for it. There isnt actually a problem with the fridge itself in its original form as it is made to work more efficiently in hot weather than cold. I just wish we had been told that by the camper manufacturer......but they themselves did not fully understand how the fridge works either I am sure. Just a shame we werent fully informed either but I must admit it works a treat in hot weather where hopefully most of our camping will be in the future.

[terrya]

Australian Off Road are now fitting the new thermostat to all their trailers after I highlighted the problem. They are also compensating me for the cost of the new thermostat, so I am pretty happy. We have just completed a 3 week trip with temps ranging from 0 degrees to mid 20 degrees. It was a bit of a pain trying to work out when to turn the switch on and when to leave it off. After we got home I spoke to a tech at Dometic and asked was it OK to leave it on all the time when temps are in that range. I also asked and did it consume more power. He advised that it would be fine, just check the element at the back of the fridge for icing up and if so just turn it off for a day. Apparently the new thermostat changes the way the cyclic defrost works. The fridge will also use a bit more power as there is a constant drain to the new thermostat but he me assured it is minimal. I have measured it at about .15 amps. That's not much. Its a bit like leaving a 2 watt light globe on in the fridge. I'll see how it goes from here. We are off again mid July so it will get another test.

[robcaz]

Hi Terry,

Pleased to hear you have had a result.