Fridge exorbitant costs

[Brianandjoy]

Our fridge stopped working in Spain 2 days ago,the fridge light comes on for 5 seconds then goes out. It was working brilliantly. We tried turning the controls panel off and leaving it before turning on again with no result. We’ve been on electric hookup in Spain so the battery is hundred percent. Vw dealership are quoting£2000 to replace the fridge plus fitting! which seems to be the end result with fridge problems.The van is registered in 2016. Would it be better To cut our losses and trade it in for a newer model? ButI’ve heard that there can be problems with the roof sides letting in rain with newer models and that the materials used for the roof sides of our van were better quality. I would be grateful for any advice.

 

[WelshGas]

Our fridge stopped working in Spain 2 days ago,the fridge light comes on for 5 seconds then goes out. It was working brilliantly. We tried turning the controls panel off and leaving it before turning on again with no result. We’ve been on electric hookup in Spain so the battery is hundred percent. Vw dealership are quoting£2000 to replace the fridge plus fitting! which seems to be the end result with fridge problems.The van is registered in 2016. Would it be better To cut our losses and trade it in for a newer model? ButI’ve heard that there can be problems with the roof sides letting in rain with newer models and that the materials used for the roof sides of our van were better quality. I would be grateful for any advice.

VW will only replace, they won't repair.
There is very little to go wrong with the fridge that cannot be repaired at a lot less than £2000.
Firstly, have you checked the Diagnostic codes on the Control Panel?

For those of you who don't know, if you ever get any problems with roof stuck or any other error say with the heater or fridge, you are able to access the hidden menu in your control panel as used by the VW Engineers.


Access as follows:

1. Hold down the centre of the rotary button together with the menu button (button below with the squares on it)
2. You will get the hidden menu.
3. Rotate the rotary button to get to "VW diagnose" and select this by pressing on the centre of the rotary button.
4. If no errors are present it will display "no errors"
5. If Errors are present then a list of errors will appear . Make a note of the Errors
6. Press the centre of the rotary button again to delete all the errors
7. Repeat process above just to check that errors have dissapeared!
8. Re-configure the time and date if neccesary.


Any problems should be resolved assuming these are Electronic and not Mechanical.

Error Codes from Control Panel.

1 = 1 = Pop-up roof

2 = 2 = Plumbing Heating

3 = 3 = Cool box Cooler

4 = 4 = Sewage wastewater

5 = 5 = Fresh water

6 = 6 = Outside temperature

7 = 7 = Battery


Error Code Defect Fault


1010 1010 Short-circuit to (earth) roof
1001 1001 Fuse / short circuit to (plus+) roof
1100 1100 Short-circuit output Roof "on"
1101 1101 Fuse roof "to"
1110 1110 Short-circuit output Roof "to"
1111 1111 Fuse starting Roof "to"
2100 2100 Short-circuit output heating on / off
2101 2101 Fuse output heating on / off
2001 2001 Interrupt input heating 30
3100 3100 Short-circuit output coolbox
3101 3101 Fuse interrupt output coolbox
3001 3001-J698-cooler input error "Active"
3010 3010 Short-circuit input icebox "actual temperature"
3011 3011 Interrupt or fuse input icebox "actual temperature"
4000 4000 Short-circuit to ground water level sensor
4001 4001 Fuse circuit to plus water level sensor failure
5000 5000 Short-circuit to ground water level sensor
5001 5001 Short circuit to plus water level sensor failure
6000 6000 Short-circuit to ground temperature sensor or for outdoor temperature
6001 6001 Fuse / short circuit to plus two temperature sensors for outside temperature
7001 7001 interrupt input interrupt input D +

 

[vbk1975]

Our fridge stopped working in Spain 2 days ago,the fridge light comes on for 5 seconds then goes out. It was working brilliantly. We tried turning the controls panel off and leaving it before turning on again with no result. We’ve been on electric hookup in Spain so the battery is hundred percent. Vw dealership are quoting£2000 to replace the fridge plus fitting! which seems to be the end result with fridge problems.The van is registered in 2016. Would it be better To cut our losses and trade it in for a newer model? ButI’ve heard that there can be problems with the roof sides letting in rain with newer models and that the materials used for the roof sides of our van were better quality. I would be grateful for any advice.

Read this whole thread before you go down replacement route.

Fridge behaving strange

Hello, I am new here, own an Ocean T6 registered 2020, fabulous car so far, but I experience some strange fridge behaviour: - It does not work for more than a couple of minutes off grid (so without engine running or connected to external 230V), and only after repeatedly pressing the fridge...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Lots of things to try and check including relay that is easy and cheap to replace, also controller this is £200s and easy to replace.

Follow the whole thread as a start

 

[owen_h]

Find a better dealer would be my first suggestion! One that investigates issues rather than swapping parts out.
Even better go to a specialist in refrigeration for boats/motorhomes. In the south I can recommend https://penguin-kuranda.co.uk/
The Cali fridge is a compressor type and probably has standard parts common across many leisure fridges. My guess would be a controller failure . Genuine Secop one ~ £230. But a decent company will do some diagnostic first to identify the underlying problem. Might even find that fault codes are stored in the control panel?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brianandjoy]

VW will only replace, they won't repair.
There is very little to go wrong with the fridge that cannot be repaired at a lot less than £2000.
Firstly, have you checked the Diagnostic codes on the Control Panel?

For those of you who don't know, if you ever get any problems with roof stuck or any other error say with the heater or fridge, you are able to access the hidden menu in your control panel as used by the VW Engineers.


Access as follows:

1. Hold down the centre of the rotary button together with the menu button (button below with the squares on it)
2. You will get the hidden menu.
3. Rotate the rotary button to get to "VW diagnose" and select this by pressing on the centre of the rotary button.
4. If no errors are present it will display "no errors"
5. If Errors are present then a list of errors will appear . Make a note of the Errors
6. Press the centre of the rotary button again to delete all the errors
7. Repeat process above just to check that errors have dissapeared!
8. Re-configure the time and date if neccesary.


Any problems should be resolved assuming these are Electronic and not Mechanical.

Error Codes from Control Panel.

1 = 1 = Pop-up roof

2 = 2 = Plumbing Heating

3 = 3 = Cool box Cooler

4 = 4 = Sewage wastewater

5 = 5 = Fresh water

6 = 6 = Outside temperature

7 = 7 = Battery


Error Code Defect Fault


1010 1010 Short-circuit to (earth) roof
1001 1001 Fuse / short circuit to (plus+) roof
1100 1100 Short-circuit output Roof "on"
1101 1101 Fuse roof "to"
1110 1110 Short-circuit output Roof "to"
1111 1111 Fuse starting Roof "to"
2100 2100 Short-circuit output heating on / off
2101 2101 Fuse output heating on / off
2001 2001 Interrupt input heating 30
3100 3100 Short-circuit output coolbox
3101 3101 Fuse interrupt output coolbox
3001 3001-J698-cooler input error "Active"
3010 3010 Short-circuit input icebox "actual temperature"
3011 3011 Interrupt or fuse input icebox "actual temperature"
4000 4000 Short-circuit to ground water level sensor
4001 4001 Fuse circuit to plus water level sensor failure
5000 5000 Short-circuit to ground water level sensor
5001 5001 Short circuit to plus water level sensor failure
6000 6000 Short-circuit to ground temperature sensor or for outdoor temperature
6001 6001 Fuse / short circuit to plus two temperature sensors for outside temperature
7001 7001 interrupt input interrupt input D +

VW will only replace, they won't repair.
There is very little to go wrong with the fridge that cannot be repaired at a lot less than £2000.
Firstly, have you checked the Diagnostic codes on the Control Panel?

For those of you who don't know, if you ever get any problems with roof stuck or any other error say with the heater or fridge, you are able to access the hidden menu in your control panel as used by the VW Engineers.


Access as follows:

1. Hold down the centre of the rotary button together with the menu button (button below with the squares on it)
2. You will get the hidden menu.
3. Rotate the rotary button to get to "VW diagnose" and select this by pressing on the centre of the rotary button.
4. If no errors are present it will display "no errors"
5. If Errors are present then a list of errors will appear . Make a note of the Errors
6. Press the centre of the rotary button again to delete all the errors
7. Repeat process above just to check that errors have dissapeared!
8. Re-configure the time and date if neccesary.


Any problems should be resolved assuming these are Electronic and not Mechanical.

Error Codes from Control Panel.

1 = 1 = Pop-up roof

2 = 2 = Plumbing Heating

3 = 3 = Cool box Cooler

4 = 4 = Sewage wastewater

5 = 5 = Fresh water

6 = 6 = Outside temperature

7 = 7 = Battery


Error Code Defect Fault


1010 1010 Short-circuit to (earth) roof
1001 1001 Fuse / short circuit to (plus+) roof
1100 1100 Short-circuit output Roof "on"
1101 1101 Fuse roof "to"
1110 1110 Short-circuit output Roof "to"
1111 1111 Fuse starting Roof "to"
2100 2100 Short-circuit output heating on / off
2101 2101 Fuse output heating on / off
2001 2001 Interrupt input heating 30
3100 3100 Short-circuit output coolbox
3101 3101 Fuse interrupt output coolbox
3001 3001-J698-cooler input error "Active"
3010 3010 Short-circuit input icebox "actual temperature"
3011 3011 Interrupt or fuse input icebox "actual temperature"
4000 4000 Short-circuit to ground water level sensor
4001 4001 Fuse circuit to plus water level sensor failure
5000 5000 Short-circuit to ground water level sensor
5001 5001 Short circuit to plus water level sensor failure
6000 6000 Short-circuit to ground temperature sensor or for outdoor temperature
6001 6001 Fuse / short circuit to plus two temperature sensors for outside temperature
7001 7001 interrupt input interrupt input D +

It said no errors

 

[temporarysecretary]

What voltage is showing on the control panel?

Can you see the hook up sign when plugged in to make sure it is 100% charging?

 

[WelshGas]

It said no errors

Have you tried the fridge since?
What investigations did the Dealership undertake?
Did they check the fuse and electrical continuity?

If nothing shows on the Control Panel Diagnostics then the problem is probably something simple and certainly does not warrant a fridge replacement straight off.

As regards swapping to a newer vehicle, whoever buys is going to offer a lot less with a non working fridge. You couldn’t morally sell without disclosing a non working fridge and any buyer would factor in a replacement and then repair for a fraction of the cost.

 

[reserves]

You could buy something like this to get you through your trip https://amzn.eu/d/0iyxhIR1

Fix your fridge when you’re back. As stated, not much to go wrong with them.

 

[Philly]

I changed the controller hidden in the round access panel in the cupboard beside the fridge. Very fiddly.. my wife’s smaller hands helped getting the connector that attaches the controller to the compressor.
My fuse to the fridge ( under the front passenger seat) kept blowing. So didn’t get any error codes. Until disconnected the fridge from the controller. Penguin really helpful. Some useful YouTube videos to help diagnose. They shipped the replacement controller . Slightly different part number but after fitting all works great.

 

[Jef4130]

I had this same symptom in my 2009 Cali van a couple of years ago. Fridge turns on then switches itself off after a few seconds. It turned out that the leisure batteries were due for replacement. Fitted 2 new batteries, fridge now works perfectly

 

[reserves]

The point I didn’t make clearly enough earlier.

This is rarely (if ever) the actual fridge.

I had fridge issues and went deep on research.

Fridge issues are usually one of these:

Fuse
Compressor
Relay
Leisure batteries
Earth shunt (early vehicles only)

Not the actual fridge!

 

[Dave+]

Is there a way to get to the hidden menu in the T6.1 control panel?

 

[vicalu]

We had a similar problem when we first got our Cali in 2019. The issue was that the thermostat wasn't working properly, even freezing at level 3, followed by a shutdown that prevented it from turning on for more than a few seconds. The problem was that the thermal safety fuse was tripping. The problem was repaired under warranty. I would check with a Dometic service center to see if the thermostat and thermal fuse, which are inexpensive replacement parts, are working correctly. Good luck.

 

[WelshGas]

Is there a way to get to the hidden menu in the T6.1 control panel?

Unfortunately not. You need some diagnostic software like VCDS unlike the earlier Control Panels which were standalone units.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Our vans have a fridge, heater and electric roof. VW dealers will not be much help diagnosing or repairing any of these. They will just suggest replacement. Less effort, more money.

I don’t think there are more than a couple left who have much inclination to help.

This is what owning a campervan is now like. It’s not a Polo unfortunately. Once out of warranty you’re on your own. TBH they are pretty hopeless either way. I’ve owned mine since 2009 and slowly tried to work out how to repair things.

It’s best to start to look at it as a hobby rather than a hassle!

 

[owen_h]

Not California specific but there are lots of troubleshooting tips and guidance for 12V compressor fridges here:

Penguin Kuranda | 12 Volt & 24 Volt DC Fridge Troubleshooting Frequently Asked Questions

penguin-kuranda.co.uk

If you can get access to the (Danfoss/Seecop) controller then with the addition of an led on a wire you can get fault codes based on the number of flashes in a certain period. Details here:

https://penguin-images.breez.biz/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/3-Support-BD35-BD50-Fault-Diagnosis.pdf

(only applies for compressor issues)