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Is it bad news if an Engel stops working on 12v

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 10:46 pm
by trains
Hi chaps.

Looking at a few engels.
One only works on 240v, but not on 12v.

Is this a common problem, and easily fixed, or is it a major hassle??

I thought the compressors were 12v.

cheers

Trains

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 10:49 pm
by j-top paj
the compressors are 12v, so id say its a wiring problem.
have you checked the thermal fuse in the plug?
is power getting to the fridge? is there anyting wrong with the cable??

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 10:55 pm
by Madmac
i repair domestic fridges for a living and have successfully repaired a couple of engels for mates. they usually die the other way around (wont run 240 but will run on 12V) usually caused by running them on cheap generators. your problem may just be a bad connection, possibly even a crook lead, id test the lead for continuity first. hard to say without seeing it. it may be a problem with the circuit board, if the circuit board is crook it will expensive, the last one i got for a mates engel was nearly $300, and that was trade price.retail is closer to $400. i dont claim to be an expert on engels, ive only fixed a couple, its hard to diagnose a fault without having the unit in front of me. start by testing the power lead with an ohm meter. you could buy it and run it through an invertor. it would need to be a good quality invertor of 800w + though, not real cost effective unless you already own an invertor

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 11:27 pm
by trains
Thanks chaps.
Ive waded thru pages and pages of searches here and googled.

Madmac, if its the circut board, do they actually physically break, or is it a failure somewhere on the board, thus a throw away.

I will check the lead for continuity, and also the Volts too incase its breaking down under load, ie bad connect, and possibly the fuse, is it easily checked, or is it take the unit apart for that??
Re the thermal fuse in the lead, ive not looked at them before

I appreciate your thoughts, and I understand the difficulty in online diagnosis :?

Trains

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 10:12 am
by 4runner2.8
if you give them the wrong polarity it burns the control box out and will still work on 240 volt, i have one at home that had this happen, from memory a new control unit is 300 bucks.