We have just returned from our first whole week away in our tent and our 3 month old fridge refused to cool anything down. Now I know it was hot, but we couldn't get it below 12 degrees and overnight, when you would imagine it would have the best chance to cool down, it actually got hotter (upto 22 degrees)
I have spoken to the retailer and will be exchanging it for a new unit tomorrow, but just wondered if anyone else has had this problem?
We have used it for 2 weekends away and it was fantastic, once it even froze the milk!
its probably just an expensive compressorless fridge ,these only cool to 18deg below ambient temperature and if not fitted with a thermostat will if the nightime temp drops to 12deg freeze milk (or anything else)
if the temp is 30 then it will hover around 12deg (probably the cooling effect is quoted using lab conditions) so probably more.
only a fridge using a compressor will cool properly and even they need a cool place to work efficiantly as the heat transfer rad on the back needs cooling.
in reality theres little difference in any of them as most at the low/middle end use exactly the same gubbins inside.
the 3 way fridges are expensive not because they work any better than 2 way but merely because there 3 way.a cheap compressor fridge will out cool an expensive absorbsion one anytime and cheap coolers using peltier devices not cooling at all in comparison.
fridges using gas must be completely level for the gas flame to work but at night it certainly should function well.
if it has a heating function dependant on polarity perhaps the electric strangely changed polarity at night on the site ,not noticable using most electrical items but certainly noticable in the fridge.
golly, you know your stuff - but I am left feeling a bit fuzzy headed
it appears to be absorption after looking on a website, but it says 25 degress below ambient. however this doesn't explain it getting hotter i suppose, it was more like 12 degrees above!
We made sure it was completley level and that it had as much air as possible around it. It doesn't have a heating function.
if it doesent need to be plugged in then it isnt a compressor fridge.
if it uses a flame (using gas) check the little chimney (directly above the flame) isnt blocked our camper one had a spiders egg ball in it blocking it off and stopping it working! does it work ok using electric?.
youl find 18 deg is the norm for all of them the stated difference is probably a one off in a lab something to do with physics
you can get greater cooling using stacked peltiers (the boxes that have fans in) but these do suffer from thermal runaway and hugely increase the electric needed to run them.
if it works fine using electric its down to the gas side ,if it doesent it probably has died having lost its coolent gas or a crushed pipe stopping it circulating.
most "quotes" have the get out clause's "up to" "can" etc in reality this means "rarely" or "it did on one test" etc
The usual trick when a CombiCool won`t cool is to try turning it upside down for 12 hours or so. The coolant can sometimes cease to circulate freely and the upside down trick can get it going again.
Must say though, there`s been a spate of problems reported recently on here about CombiCools not cooling properly. Yup, of course it`s been very hot recently, but lots of folk have taken their CombiCools abroad in past years to very hot places, and I don`t recall many complaints before. Where did you buy your`s? The thought "possible faulty batch" does spring to mind.
Quote: Originally posted by Valk_scot on 30/7/2006
The usual trick when a CombiCool won`t cool is to try turning it upside down for 12 hours or so. The coolant can sometimes cease to circulate freely and the upside down trick can get it going again.
Must say though, there`s been a spate of problems reported recently on here about CombiCools not cooling properly. Yup, of course it`s been very hot recently, but lots of folk have taken their CombiCools abroad in past years to very hot places, and I don`t recall many complaints before. Where did you buy your`s? The thought "possible faulty batch" does spring to mind.
that is worth knowing. It did work before we left on mains electric and 12v, so I think it did seem to work initially on gas for a couple of days, so I think it has properley broken.
We didn't expect it to be freezing things in the recent heat, but the heating up at night time was certainly odd! gaining up to 10 degrees while the outside temp was dropping!!!
Got it from Leisure Fayre in Southampton who I rang yesterday and they are quite happy to exchange it. so hopefully it was a one off. Interesting to hear there have been a few recent cases.
have just exchanged it and have got a different make (they didn't have the others) it is an Esetil, seems to be a bit larger than the Combicool, 42l and has built in spirit level plus a light to tell you it is working.
Hopefully it will work more like a cooler and less like a cooker than the last one
I am thinking maybe you're using scare tactics to get everyone to buy a proper fridge. (do you work for hotpoint maybe?). You sound very knowledgeable, but if you read up on combicools (as above) it suggests that this one is broken and not merely 'just an expensive compressorless fridge? as the article states it cools to 30 degrees below. Surely it's price reflects it's ability to do this? Are you thinking of a 12v cool box, that only cools to 18deg below ambient?
I don't wish to appear rude or cause offence as I am a total lay person where these things are concerned and all I know is what I've read on different websites.
It's great that we all offer appropriate and correct help and advice to each other and give our opinions, so we all learn and improve our knowledge.
when I cut there are not this many // in it yet when I paste they magically appear. sorry. It's www.mobilecoolbox.co.uk maybe you can find it from that. Click on the picture and then click for further info.
Hi
I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago getting hot and found to my cost it was something as simple as putting the switch in the other way as mine does heats / cold.
Quote: Originally posted by Dobiesmon on 30/7/2006
Hi I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago getting hot and found to my cost it was something as simple as putting the switch in the other way as mine does heats / cold.
Oh dear!!! Mine was only supposed to be cold luckily!
Thanks for the link - we got there in the end! My replacement is the Exetil EZ 4000 which seems to work OK so far!
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Topic: Combi-cool issues
