Isotherm Fridge Smart Sensor

[NichBails]

Hi
I suspect that the ASU Smart thermostat is faulty and I would like to bypass it with a mechanical thermostat. I was wondering if anyone has done this? How would I wire the new thermostat and what thermostat should I buy.
Many thanks in advance.
Bruce

[Harry Lissimore]

A few of us have changed the thermostat, mainly because the original one worked on the temperature inside the fridge, and if the ambient room temperature was less than about 4 degrees, then the fridge would turn off. This saved power - no sense running it if the inside and outside temps are less than about 4.  However, with the fridge off, then the freezer wasn't working so things thawed out.  Apparently the Isotherm was made for boats, and the theory was that the ambient temperature never got to lower than 4 degrees so the freezer always stayed frozen.

We have taken our fridges to refrigeration places and they have replaced the thermostat with one that works on the freezer temperature like most fridges do I believe.  It is not an easy job and it cost me $253. Others paid a similar amount.

One Topaz owner had his done a lot cheaper, but the fridge never turned off.  This was because the sensor was measuring the fridge temperature, not the freezer temperature, so the temperature was never attained. Consequently this was fixed, at another cost.

[Rob M]

We have changed the thermostat in our Isotherm fridge.
The Australian agent is Webasto ph 1800244494. Robert is the person you need to speak with. They recognise that there is an issue with the installed thermostat and Webasto have a replacement thermostat available.
Even though our fridge was out of warranty they supplied the thermostat to their nominated agent and we paid the labour cost of having the new thermostat installed.
We found it easier to take the fridge out of the Topaz and then take it to the nominated agent.  Remove the 4 covering caps on side walls of the inside of the fridge and then use an Allen key to remove the screws.

[NichBails]

Thanks very much for the reply. I phoned Robert and he was able to put me onto a repairer which is just what I was after. He suggested that they will probably replace the "smart thermostat" with a mechanical one.

Thank you
Bruce

[Rob M]

It is worthwhile asking him to supply the new thermostat. He did that for us at no cost.

[NichBails]

I ended up finding a local repairer - $230. He fitted an new thermostat and bypassed the Electronic Sensor which was faulty.

[Rob M]

Well done! We had ours replaced but the first replacement was not successful. We failed to give it to give it a good test before we headed off on a trip.  Maybe worth a good try out before the next big trip

[Ningaloo]

Hi Rob, we have a Topaz2 & are wanting to do something about the fridge too.
We noticed that the first time you installed the part that it didn't work, what did you do wrong? with wiring it in.
Or rather still how should we go about wiring one in please. Would appreciate your advice as we'd rather not make an error.
Many Thanks Ningaloo

[Rob M]

We did not install either Thermostat. However, the first one was installed incorrectlly by the Webasto nominated repairer on the Sunshine Coast. The temperature sensor probe was installed at the bottom of the fridge. This meant it was operating as a freezer and everything in the fridge was frozen.
The second thermostat was installed in Darwin by the NT nominated repairer. I think the temperature sensor probe is on or near the freezer. However, not definite.