I have a Waeco Coolfun CK40 and it has stopped getting cold. It has a compressor which seems to be running fine, it should go to several degrees below zero if on full but the compartment is merely cool. Looking through the grill at the top I can see ice forming on a copper tube which looks like it goes into the main compartment.
My first thoughts are that it's lost most of its refrigerant. What diameter is the frosting pipe roughly? Is there any warmth coming from the condenser? Is it on R134a refrigerant? And finally, how old is it?
It will say on a label somewhere. R134a has a nasty habit of leaking out and you can never find the leak.
It's a 1/4" pipe frosting then. Is there any frost on the evaporator inside? Or just condensation? Or nothing? Check all the evaporator carefully, look at where the tiny capillary tube goes in, you can see it's kind of crimped in at the factory.
Does it have a static condenser on the back like a domestic fridge? If so is it warm in the top and middle? Stone cold = no refrigerant.
The compressor will be hot, they rely to some extent on cool vapour coming back from the evaporator to keep them cool, so it will be too hot to touch if it's been running a while.
If it's a fan assisted condenser inside, you would just get cold air blowing out of the vents in the side if the refrigerant has gone.
Yep fleck2, the OP has now confirmed that it is the old model, so I am guessing it must be around 10 years old, unless bought more recently than that as old stock, either way that model must be from around 10 years back at least.
That's not to say that it's dead just yet, but like you fleck2 I am guessing that the refrigerant is the issue, probably worth a phone call to a Dometic service centre, although being out of warranty it could well be beyond economic repair.
Good luck with getting it going OP, as that is a brilliant camping fridge when working, I have the Mobicool C40 which is almost the exact same unit, got that back in 2013 so it is still a baby!
Looking on Google images it looks like the embedded type evaporator so it won't give up as many clues as to what is wrong, also the condenser is inside so that is out of the way too... If it's old bin it lol
The frosting pipe happens because the last remnants of refrigerant are exposed to a lower than normal back pressure (compressor inlet pressure) and a lower pressure lowers the evaporating temperature of the refrigerant as pressure and temperature are always relative. It will be a hard frost that you can't just remove with your fingers.
It was quite confusing with regards the Waeco CoolFun CK40 as back in 2008 some dealers were selling the digital version, and some were selling the older analogue model obviously the analogue would have been EOL stock.
The only difference was the model numbers CK40 and CK40D, then to confusion matters even worse the introduced the Hybrid model as well and that was the CK40D Hybrid.
I can remember going into the Riversway camping shop in Preston back in 2009 and they had a whole stack of dead Waeco CK40's and Mobicool C40's not sure what they were going to do with them.
In fact that memory stuck with me when I bought my Mobicool C40, wondering how long it is likely to last.
I just hoped that they had improved the design from previous model learnings, wishful thinking maybe!
Well none of that sounds good :( I've only had it about 3 years, the place that sold me it had it as a CK40D on their website and I couldn't be bothered sending it back so he knocked 30 quid off. I was too busy to argue at that time. I'm a bit hacked off if it is actually really old stock :(
It is on R134a (43g). Sometimes you can regas them and it never leaks out again. If you bring it me in November I'll have a look at it/leak test/regas it etc. Won't charge a fellow camper :-)
I'm away for a while though now.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Waeco fridge problem
