Hi, we have a Rapido Pop-top built in 2000, and the Electrolux fridge is presumably that old too. I know it's not the only caravan fridge to have sulked during the heat waves we've had, but now things are cooler it's still flatly refusing to work either on gas or mains power.
I'm horrified by the price of new 3-way fridges - over £1000 for the nearest equivalent replacement by Dometic, which wouldn't quite fit the same anyway - and also wondering about compressor fridges... they're said to be noisy and I'm a light sleeper in a very small caravan... or considering getting it repaired. Our engineer is very reluctant to take it out for repair, he reckons that at its age it'll be too fragile.
I see there's a company called Greenfields in Surrey who reckon to repair fridges.
Any comments on the virtues of compressors vs absorption fridges, fridge noise, and if you've had experience of Greenfields repairing fridges, all would be most welcome, please. There are currently too many unknowns, and probably some unknown unknowns too, to know which direction to head!
With many thanks.
Compression fridges seem to being more widely used, especially in motorhomes. I think they are considered to be more efficient in high temperatures. As to noise they do hum a little when in operation. It might depend on how close it is to where you sleep.
Quote: Originally posted by David Klyne on 20/8/2026
Compression fridges seem to being more widely used, especially in motorhomes. I think they are considered to be more efficient in high temperatures. As to noise they do hum a little when in operation. It might depend on how close it is to where you sleep.
David
Thanks David. And higher temperatures are undoubtedly going to be a consideration in this country, let alone visits to Europe.
As to the noise - it's a very small van, so while the fridge is at the far end to our heads when in bed, that's still not very far!
Our last & current compressor fridge are pretty quiet. Current one has a night mode to make it quiter. Never bothers us. I know people who sleep very light & turn fridge off at night. If you do that & have ice packs in freezer section you could move them into fridge overnight.
I'm a bit of a fan of the Absorption fridge because of it's versatility, and IMHO the option of gas is invaluable to me. Apart from the Dometic one in my 2016 caravan, I've a portable camping one branded Electrolux which puts it firmly back in pre 2001 era when they were rebranded Dometic (obtained s/h some 12-14 years ago, so no history to date precisely!). Both work impeccably well, even in the recent heat for the caravan one, and in high 30Cs in France for the camping fridge running on gas, as did a second similar fridge belonging to a friend. Not sure why people seem to have so many issues with high ambient temps, couple of weeks back when it was well into 30C temps, I had my caravan fridge running on 240v EHU and on only 2 bars out of the 5 on the thermostat otherwise it froze the fridge contents! - and no mods like fans to improve standard performance. When the van was closed up whilst out, the Carbon Monoxide alarm registered an 'out of operating range' alarm as temp had exceeded 40C inside the van, yet the fridge coped fine!
The principle of Absorption fridges using heat to vaporise the refrigerant rather than a compressor to condense it is inherently reliable and trouble free due to no moving parts and they generally function happily for a VERY long time. Little to go wrong other than 240v and 12v cartridge heaters, and the gas burner, all simple relatively cheap fixes if they do fail. More modern ones have fancier electronic controls and they can be a tad unreliable it has to be said! A rare condition of Absorption fridges is vapour lock, that is a bit of a PITA for fixed fridges as you need to uninstall them, but the fix is simply turn it upside and leave it for an hour or so, then turn it right way up, leave for a while for refrigerant to settle, then chances are it'll work just fine! Sometimes a second attempt needed and a longer inversion, but countless 'dead' fridges recovered this way. Not unknown for a little trip out for the caravan and a bit of bumping around on our wonderful 3rd world roads to have a similar effect and clear an apparent vapour lock!
No doubt compressor fridges can outperform them on both temperatures achieved, speed of chilling down and economy of electric power used, but no gas option, and a degree of noise from the compressor motor (absorption fridges are silent), what's acceptable or otherwise on that score is a very personal thing. I've a portable compressor camping fridge/freezer that I use as a freezer inside the caravan, both the compressor and the cooling fan make a noise and are noticeable, but they don't keep me awake, it's around 10 ft away from the beds.
With regard to replacing an absorption fridge with a compressor one, a few things to consider, fridges in caravans are often fitted over wheel arches, so new fridge needs a matching rear cut out to fit over wheel arch. With both a wheel arch cutout and compressor compartment, it may have noticeably less storage capacity than old fridge! Redundant gas supply needs sealing off safely with a capped pipe, simply turning off any valve in pipeline is not acceptable. And it's not uncommon for fridges to be wider than habitation door frame, then they need to be removed/new inserted through usually the large front window!
If I only ever pitched on EHU pitches, it'd be difficult to argue benefits to a 3-way fridge, but I don't, so I'm a supporter of them and would be very reluctant to loose the 3-way option. Been on sites where the EHU has been troublesome, intermittent, and even failed for unknown reasons, the gas option has saved the day then too! When I bought my compressor camping fridge, I didn't dispose of my old 3-way camping fridge because the gas option was still a valuable asset to me if away from electrical power, and has been used a number of times.
Horses for courses, a fridge is not just 'a fridge', it's tailored to a specific use, so some thought needed in replacing with a different type.
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Aye, fixed our old portable 3 way several times by inverting it. Think modern compressor frides are quieter than old plus compressor only runs for a short time. Light on panel is more of an annoyance than noise but I sleep with my back to it. We dont use EHU since fitting 460ah lifepo4 & our fridge rarely outruns the solar input even in winter (due to being on lowest setting).
Thanks for these replies.
Monty15, I think your Electrolux must have some magical extra ingredient which could sell brilliantly if identified, as I've read comments on another forum from any number of people whose fridges, like ours, just sulk when it gets into the 30's! I'm seriously envious.
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 21/8/2026
. Both work impeccably well, even in the recent heat for the caravan one, and in high 30Cs in France for the camping fridge running on gas, as did a second similar fridge belonging to a friend. Not sure why people seem to have so many issues with high ambient temps, couple of weeks back when it was well into 30C temps, I had my caravan fridge running on 240v EHU and on only 2 bars out of the 5 on the thermostat otherwise it froze the fridge contents!
Currently ours has started working most beautifully again, once it was made properly level - it was only a couple of degrees off - and the weather's cooled, which seems to be the tipping point.
So we're probably sticking with this at least while we research more, but given the high probability of even hotter weather in future are seriously considering a small compressor fridge, as long as it has quiet operation mode available, unless we can extract the magic ingredient from Monty15's!
Several people have mentioned turning them upside down and replacing, to dislodge internal debris...
Reading on various other forums it would appear that fitting an extraction fan or two in behind the upper ventilation grill seriously assists in the fridge's ability to cool.
Specific fans sold for the purpose seem to be expensive whereas fans for computers seem to do the job and are relatively cheap.
I've no idea why my fridges work so well when others seem to have such difficulties, they are both bog standard as manufactured and 'un-enhanced' in any way. - BUT I do take heed of their operating requirements, which may be the secret! My camping fridge must be 30 years old, and my caravan fridge is 10 years old, so neither exactly new and 'unworn' or perhaps in their prime, but both do what's required.
I suspect a lot of people simply don't take account of the peculiarities of absorption fridges, and when highlighted to many they seem surprised, don't think they have ever read the user manual! But they are very quick to unjustly slate them off as inadequate/hopeless etc. Absorption fridges need understanding to get the best out of them.
Two distinct 'features' of absorption fridges are, the exceptionally long time of 8-12 hours it takes them to get down to normal safe operating temp for perishable foods, and their intolerance of being operated 'off-level', IIRC it needs to be within 2-3 degrees of level front to back, and 5-6 degrees side to side to function well, the more off level it is the worse it performs until at limits it just won't work at all! When you see the 'crazy' angles, mostly campers/MHs are pitched at because I suspect they are often short stay and can't be bothered to level it properly, it's no wonder they have difficulties. Other people park their units on sloping driveways at home and complain they can't get the fridge cold before a trip!
Some caravans/MH's are handicapped by idiotic manufacturers making habitation doors open across the external vents, effectively blocking free airflow and compromising performance if people leave the door open to ventilate their unit.
Some people ignore the manufacturer stated ideal ambient operating temp range of 10C - 32C and wonder why they struggle outside of these limits. Below 10C ambient, winter covers should be fitted to external vents to restrict airflow and stabilise performance. Above 32C ambient additional forced cooling may be required. Both solutions seem to restore excellent performance to the fridges.
If operated on gas regularly, the burner/flue should be serviced several times a year to ensure soot and debris free to give good and safe performance.
And as to the utter myth that widely circulates about not cooling and barely only maintaining pre-chilled temps when on car 12v supply, where does that come from, certainly NOT in any user manual I've ever read, and I've read quite a few in the quest to assist peeps on here. Performance will likely, but not necessarily, be compromised by a number of factors outside of ideal, 12v supply often being sub-12v effectively derating the power, operating angle being less than optimum by virtue of usual nose down attitude of a hitched caravan, and the varying camber angles on roads whilst travelling. And what everyone seems to forget, you most likely don't tow long enough to let the fridge chill down properly anyway! How many people tow for 8 hours or more! That's usually compounded by 'wee' breaks (some folks seem to stop an awful lot on journeys!) when the engine is turned off and the fridge is unpowered, double whammy that one, not only is it not chilling down, it's actually warming up!! The power rating on 12v supply is often only slightly lower than 240v rating, so no technical reason why it should not work well, all other things being equal. I regularly do long 7-8 hour trips with only maybe two short 15 min breaks, my fridge chills down from an ambient start very nicely on 12v, not necessarily fully chilled at destination, but a good start to finishing off on 240v or gas.
How much of the above is know to regular fridge users? But none of it is a secret!
Lots more useful comment, thanks good people.
We've certainly learned the value of pre-cooling: our fridge normally gets 48 hours with a succession of frozen cooler blocks from our freezer to get it happy before we set off.
Other forum comments on the effectiveness of fitting computer cooling fans behind absorption fridges in hot weather there are indeed, but our 'van is so small there isn't enough room behind it to do this!
I might just ask our engineer to try the taking out and inverting trick if it plays up again, that's been mentioned a few times now.
But there's little we can do to stop the weather getting hotter beyond 32 degrees in summer, and it's going to, so I'm wondering how long we can keep this one going, assuming it does decide to continue to behave reliably when suitably levelled and everything.
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Topic: Repair or replace Electrolux Fridge?
via mobile 20/8/2026 at 10:10pm
