Crafter fridge hard-wired

[T21wgs]

Hi folks

I'm new to the forum today so my apologies if this isn't posted in the most appropriate place!
Recently bought a newly converted 65 plate crafter Lwb. The fridge is hard wired in so the only way to cut the power is to remove the fuse. The fridge we have doesn't have a vent feature so my husband has suggested leaving it open to prevent it smelling when it is switched off, however that then leaves the fridge light on and i'm bothered about this then constantly draining the battery.

Any tips? Someone suggested finding the switch within the door frame for the light and taping over it but this seems a bit of a crap solution imo.

We are looking at having some mods undertaken like installation of an inverter and solars, so is there something that could be done wiring-wise at the same time?

Photo of the van attached!

 

[airhoguk]

I fitted a 50 amp isolator to ours I the power feed line so that it could be powered down when not needed. Whilst ours can be switched ‘off’ ours also needs to have the door open to breathe when not in use. Ours is a Dometic fridge, what make is yours?

 

[rod_vw]

Hi folks

I'm new to the forum today so my apologies if this isn't posted in the most appropriate place!
Recently bought a newly converted 65 plate crafter Lwb. The fridge is hard wired in so the only way to cut the power is to remove the fuse. The fridge we have doesn't have a vent feature so my husband has suggested leaving it open to prevent it smelling when it is switched off, however that then leaves the fridge light on and i'm bothered about this then constantly draining the battery.

Any tips? Someone suggested finding the switch within the door frame for the light and taping over it but this seems a bit of a crap solution imo.

We are looking at having some mods undertaken like installation of an inverter and solars, so is there something that could be done wiring-wise at the same time?

Photo of the van attached!

View attachment 718

I'm interested to know what make & model your fridge is? Most can have the door propped slightly open to vent when not in use and can be turned off by selecting a position on the temperature setting device, either press buttons or a turn knob. Lots of pictures would be good then maybe someone on here can help.

PS please don't be frightened off but we are mainly a forum for 2017 onwards VW Crafter / MAN TGE models but we always want to help our friends who own earlier vehicles.

 

[T21wgs]

Cheers for replying so quickly guys, I'll take some photos of the fridge this afternoon and post here. I also have a 4 month old baby so busy is an understatement

@rod_vw I thought that when I found the site but the info already available seemed very relevant and it seemed a good sized community of owners hence why I joined! Thanks for your messages so far

 

[airhoguk]

T21wgs don’t worry about the model of van all are welcome especially when your question might also help someone else out in the future. If you post some interior pictures of your van it may inspire others as well. Most importantly it’s a van to create memories in (helps that it is a crafter as well)

 

[T21wgs]

So the fridge is a shield autocare. Photos attached. Looks like the button for the light is actually a long panel on the upper inside of the door frame so taping it wouldn't work as you have to apply quite a bit of pressure to turn the light off.

The buttons on the outside control the actual fridge/freezer and when off, the fridge is completely off so it is just the light I'm bothered about!

 

[airhoguk]

So looking at the manual (it’s also known as an Alpicool CR65) if you have switched off at the top panel by pressing the power button then that’s it switched off but if the light still comes on then it looks like the only way is to isolate the power to the fridge. I’ve attached a manual from one of the suppliers of the Alpicool

https://store-fkhd5nhp.mybigcommerce.com/content/pdf/Adventurer_Fridges/CR65%20CR130_manual.pdf

The only reference it makes to not using for periods of time is to leave the door ajar like you want to but also remove the power supply. When you switch the fridge off I wonder if holding the power button in for a couple of seconds will stop the light coming on. Alternatively not the best solution but are the fuses easy to reach or is there a 12 volt isolator fitted?

 

[T21wgs]

Thanks for the research. No joy when holding in the off button. The fuses are located under the sofa seats so we have removed previously. I will enquire about an isolator switch though as we'd not thought of that and it's going in to have other mods done too