4062026 - 4072026 There is a lot to say about this emergency project, but most of all it made me really consider what needs to be refrigerated. The morning after I got home I took out the refrigerator that was not working and prepped to install the new one. I purchased a BODEGA COOLER 12 Volt Refrigerator 65L(2.3cu.ft.). It is smaller than the old one but has a bigger freezer and a bigger salad cooler drawer. I wanted to make sure it was smaller so I do not have to modify the cabinet. So I waited for it to be delivered. Time to troubleshoot the 110V issue.
I first inspected all the wiring but I didn’t find anything loose or disconnected. The issue is all the GFIs, 3 each, will not reset. There is one on the right side of the cabinet, labeled “Heater” and 2 on the left, the front one is labeled “Cooktop” and the back one is labeled “GFI”. GFI has 4 outlets in the line after the GFI outlet. This one was blinking red on the reset button.
I was able to verify that there is power to all of them by testing the wiring at the back of the outlet before the GFI. I was able to talk to Camping World Electrical support, but they just said that the GFIs need to be replaced if they will not reset and they have power to them. They recommended that I take it in to get looked at. This means I would have to leave Vannie for who knows how long. Oh and by the way my warranty expired at the end of March!
Before I hung up with tech support I told them I will need to fix this on my own. But they would not help any further. So I sat and considered that it was something simple and it is unlikely that all three GFIs would go bad all at once, It just needs to be reset. I thought about disconnecting the batteries but before I do that I decided to connect it to shore power.
I have a 20A outlet at my bench in the workshop, so I connected it to the shore power. Immediately I was able to reset the heater and cooktop outlets, but the GFI outlet would not reset, but it did go solid red and buzzed when trying to reset it. I asked Ai and the results were that the plug is likely bad. So I went to ACE hardware and bought a new GFI, installed it but it would not reset until I hooked the van up to shore power, then it reset and had a green light. So they all work on shore power and on battery.
The next day, I stayed out of the van until the new refrigerator was delivered. It showed up at 1330. Plenty of time to get it installed. The hardest part was tearing off the plastic on the front. I was able to connect it using the existing 15A fused wiring, just connect positive and neutral wires using water proof heat shrink straight connectors. This unit has an app that can be used to set the temperatures. Next thing I knew, it was getting cool and it was ready to be loaded. Super easy to install.
Follow up. I have been using the Bodega and new GFI for about 2 weeks with no issues. The old one had a crack inside on the shelving and I reported it to Thor Motor Coaches before my March 31st warranty deadline and they said they will send me a new one. I called them before I left and they said the replacement has just been ordered and they have no idea when it will be shipped. They told me to call back in a couple weeks.
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