RitaL Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Can anyone offer some advice - it would be greatly received. We have a 2014 Sprite with Thetford fridge (N3000). On a recent trip we thought we would try to cool the fridge whilst towing. So with the manual in hand, we started the car, and tried to set the fridge accordingly. However all that happened was the control panel lights flashed and wouldn't accept the settings I was inputting. As you can image the manual was next to useless in solving this problem! In the end we gave up & left it flashing. At the campsite on the EHU all was fine - fridge working perfectly. Obviously it was receiving power for the lights to be on. Any ideas? Cheers, Rita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brecon Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 What tow car and does it have car specific wiring to the towing socket/s and was that specified to be fully wired? Most European made cars do not have battery charging or fridge supplies as standard and you have to specify FULLY wired. Also the control panel on the fridge has a permanent 12v supply for the electronics from the leisure battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g7eor Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 My Yeti had to have extra wiring fitted and a voltage sensitive relay to get the fridge to work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reluctant Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 A quick trip with the tow car to a reputable towbar fitter and he will be able to check the car electrics to the van. As above I would guess that the fridge and leisure battery charging circuits are not connected. You will need new relays fitting, should be about £100. Quote Trevor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js10 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Hi RitaL I have the 2013 Sprite Major and had the same problem as you, but found out with trial and error that after you select the battery icon to run off the car it will flash until the car is running and giving the correct voltage output and if you have air con on the fridge wont come on until the engine revs are increased hope this helps Rgds. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamdrivenandy Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 The fridge control circuit is separate from the fridge 12volt motor circuit. So whilst the control panel will operate the actual fridge motor might not. I managed to drag the cable on my van and wipe out most of the 13 pin connections. The power supply fried, but even after replacement the fridge wouldn't work on 12 volt. I had the car wiring checked and a new little box thing fitted as the original had fried, but still the fridge wouldn't work on 12 volt. A few weeks back the van went in for a service and as I suspected they found a fridge printed circuit had burnt out too. So at last after nearly a year we're back with a fully functioning fridge. I hope. Quote I've got nothing to do on this hot afternoon but to settle down and write you a line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagan Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Hi RitaL I have the 2013 Sprite Major and had the same problem as you, but found out with trial and error that after you select the battery icon to run off the car it will flash until the car is running and giving the correct voltage output and if you have air con on the fridge wont come on until the engine revs are increased hope this helps Rgds. John. Same here. You have to have the engine running for the fridge to work whilst being towed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamdrivenandy Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 As others have suggested the car motor has to run for a bit (30 seconds or so) before the electrics kick over and start powering the fridge. If they don't then I believe the fridge control panel throws up an image and a code number which the manual will clarify. In my case it was the image of a spanner and the code '10', which if I recall correctly the manual said no 12 volt from the car was getting through. Then it was up to the techies to trace the problem. Quote I've got nothing to do on this hot afternoon but to settle down and write you a line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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