Dometic Waeco TropiCool Series Questions & Answers

Hi there,

No I don't believe there is any reset.

If it's not working under any power source, it may be a fuse issue before the pcb or and issue with the on off switch.

Hope this helps

Cheers Steve.

Thanks mate

Iv had the exact same problem. Did you have any luck fixing it ?

It's supposed to.
Internal power supply has two low voltage components I believe. 1 x 5v & 1 x 10. Or something in that range. How those fans are connected up to those power supplies I do not know. Maybe a case of no power to one of the fans or a seized fan. If it's just a fan I used to salvage one of similar voltage from an old computer and screw them into place. These days it's even easier. You just look up the dimensions of the fan on mebay or amazon and source one with the appropriate voltage. All this is presuming you're Peltier unit is still operational....

Thanks mate. I have been down and purchased a new internal fan and hooked it up with no joy.
Will keep looking.

Claudia
As the cooling system is mainly solid state electronics with a cooling fan on a heat sink I imagine that it should be ok. It should be like operating a notebook pc on its side.

Shouldn't make a scrap of difference, other than thermal leakage as cold air which will flow downhill, leaks out the lid seals.
Unlike conventional fridges, there are no moving parts other than fans so issues such as hydraulic lock, caused by lubrication oil getting past compressors when you tip fridges on their side, is not a problem.

Put an ammeter on it and measure the current in the 10 amp range. Might have to go to an auto electrician to do this as a hobby type ammeter will probably deliver an 'out of range error' if it's working properly.
If, however, your $10 multimeter indicates a current draw is minimal, like 600ma or something in the range of what a larger brushless computer fan would draw, then the Peltier device won't be working. If that's the case it will be a 'pull it apart' scenario to see if perhaps a wire has fused a connection.

I have the same probleme, do you resolved this ?

Refer to answer above for DIY testing of the Peltier unit.

Under the unit it say's 4 amps @ 12 volts, that is provided you put cold items in to start with,these units only MAINTAINS items at the temp they were when they were put in to the unit,hope this helps.

I have same problem

Yes I have this very same problem, I’m unsure about weather it does it while at temperature or trying to get there buts it’s disturbing my sleep and I need to get to the bottom of it

Easy check - take a flashlight and a phone camera. Stick them in the box, close the lid and you should see the fan come on in the recording. If it does, cool! (har har), if not:

Remove the front panel. There are two connections on the circuit board labelled 'fan'. The one on the right is the external fan, the one on the left is the internal fan. VERY CAREFULLY (so as not to short your power supply) supply 12V to the one on the left (black negative, red positive) and watch/listen to see if the fan comes on. You don't need the lid on for this one because you are bypassing the switch. If the fan still does not come on, go to '1'. If it does come on go to '2'.

1) You need a new fan. The internal bit of plastic seems to be purpose-designed to be non-serviceable. You will have to cut the plastic down each side and pry it open. The will give you access to the fan, and once the fan is removed also to the three screws that secure the bit of plastic in place. Undo the screws, cut away the centre portion of the plastic at the bottom and now you have a removable cover that is secured in place by the plastic tabs at the top and the plastic tabs at the bottom, just not screwed in. You'll have to glue the side bits back on. Incidentally mine was really nasty inside that bit of plastic. Its crazy that Weico haven't made it possible to remove the piece for cleaning. Remove the fan, pulling a piece of fishing line through from the circuit board side so that you can re-lead the wires on a new fan. Buy a new fan from a computer shop for not-very-much money and install it.

2) If the fan DOES come on when you give it power directly then the problem must lie in the circuitry or the lid switch or something. Easiest solution I can come up with is to wire it in with the external fan so that it is always on. You'll lose a bit of efficiency because it will blow cold air out every time you lift the lid but it's better than nothing and provided the box is pretty full (of cold stuff) it shouldn't be too big a current draw. The fan itself only draws 0.22A which should be manageable.

Disclaimer: I'm not an electrician, a Weico aficionado or in any way technically or officially qualified to do this stuff in any way. I'm just a dude with a cool box that isn't working armed with a multimeter, a battery and some bits of old wire trying to bumble my way to a solution

Good luck. Hope this is useful to somebody else.

I dunno. More useful tips than the Waeco service division by all accounts.

I'd imagine it possible as in transit or storage to sales outlet they'd be in all sorts of positions...

If it is just an electronic cooler a d not a compressor version it should be ok

Yes, if it's thermoelectric.