I have a Norcold Fridge model 6035 (I think that's it anyway. 5.5 CI) I had a new cooling unit installed in it. Now I can't get the fridge to stay lit up on propane. It's not the igniter everything is working like it should ( I put a new dinosaur igniter board in is some years back and a bran new igniter a few days ago) It's like there is air in the system but, there can't be. The furnace is right below it and it works fine as does the stove and the water heater. It just keeps popping until finally it goes out. Pop, pop,, poof, poof, And finally it pops enough until the flame goes out. It will try and successfully relight a few times but, eventually it goes out enough times that the board shuts it down completely. It almost seems to get worse the longer it runs. I'm completely stumped. It always worked fine before. It's such a simple system. I cant imagine what could be wrong.

Have you cleaned the orifice and burner tube?

enblethen wrote:Have you cleaned the orifice and burner tube?I have cleaned the burner tube. I'm taking it to the repair place on Monday and I will suggest to them to clean the orifice. To do that effectively you have to remove it and some of the line from the back of the fridge. I'm thinking that maybe the orifice got damaged when they put the cooling unit on it because you have to remove it to do that.

I am not familiar with that unit, but my experience with various propane/natural gas appliances over the years has convinced me that the two most common points of failure on all of them are crud/dead bugs in the burner assembly and the thermocouple that keeps the gas flowing after light up. Everything else is pretty much bullet-proof. It has to be from a strictly safety standpoint. From your description of symptoms, I think you have a failed thermocouple. These are a designed point of failure, frankly, and the last one I bought cost $5 and took me 15 minutes to replace. Given the low cost and ease of replacement, I'd throw a new one in just because and see if that doesn't fix the problem.EDIT: Btw, no need to try to find the exact thermocouple specific to your fridge. You can buy a generic one at Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, etc. That's where I get them.

No thermal couple. It uses a flame sensor.Manual

Mine does the same dance, pop pop poof poof. I replaced the burner tip as it was half gone with a new factory stainless steel burner. Excellent solution since the old one corroded away, was inferior metal. It now runs smooth as glass.Just want to say these symptoms are typically a clogged or corroded burner. Sometimes just a cleaning will do the trick for 7 years or so, as in my case, eventually had to replace it. It was really great to see the new stainless steel burner. 40 bucks was worth the price.

Fridge won't stay lit | Good Sam Community

enblethen
Nomad
Aug 20, 2022
Have you cleaned the orifice and burner tube?
Caveman_Charlie
Explorer II
Aug 20, 2022
enblethen wrote:
Have you cleaned the orifice and burner tube?

I have cleaned the burner tube. I'm taking it to the repair place on Monday and I will suggest to them to clean the orifice. To do that effectively you have to remove it and some of the line from the back of the fridge. I'm thinking that maybe the orifice got damaged when they put the cooling unit on it because you have to remove it to do that.
naturist
Nomad
Aug 21, 2022
I am not familiar with that unit, but my experience with various propane/natural gas appliances over the years has convinced me that the two most common points of failure on all of them are crud/dead bugs in the burner assembly and the thermocouple that keeps the gas flowing after light up. Everything else is pretty much bullet-proof. It has to be from a strictly safety standpoint.

From your description of symptoms, I think you have a failed thermocouple. These are a designed point of failure, frankly, and the last one I bought cost $5 and took me 15 minutes to replace. Given the low cost and ease of replacement, I'd throw a new one in just because and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

EDIT: Btw, no need to try to find the exact thermocouple specific to your fridge. You can buy a generic one at Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, etc. That's where I get them.
enblethen
Nomad
Aug 21, 2022
No thermal couple. It uses a flame sensor.
Manual
covered_wagon
Explorer
Aug 21, 2022
Mine does the same dance, pop pop poof poof. I replaced the burner tip as it was half gone with a new factory stainless steel burner. Excellent solution since the old one corroded away, was inferior metal. It now runs smooth as glass.

Just want to say these symptoms are typically a clogged or corroded burner. Sometimes just a cleaning will do the trick for 7 years or so, as in my case, eventually had to replace it. It was really great to see the new stainless steel burner. 40 bucks was worth the price.
Gjac
Explorer III
Aug 23, 2022
Check the slots on the burner tube, when they rust out they get wider changing the air to propane ratio. When mine started to pop I noticed that by putting a flat blade screwdriver tip over the rusted slots the popping would cease. So, I made a slider out of sht metal like on a WH burner tube where I could adjust the air to propane volume and that solved the problem. I was in Quartzite when the problem occurred. I changed to a new burner tube when I got home and that fixed it permanently.
StirCrazy
Moderator
Aug 23, 2022
enblethen wrote:
No thermal couple. It uses a flame sensor.
Manual

but then it shows a picture of a thermal couple in the section on flame quality inspection.

but ya check the flame and see what your quality is, and make sure the tube above it is in the flame.
Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Aug 24, 2022
Charlie,

Before you start pulling hair out and definitely before you spend any real money, check the LP system pressure.
You need:
Some clear tubing that can fit over a stove burner jet
A yard stick
Rubber bands - at least 2

Use the rubber bands to hold the tubing to the yard stick. Put some water in the tubing. You just made a manometer to measure low pressures.

Push the tubing onto a burner jet and turn the burner on.

The water should shift. The difference between the two levels should be 11". You can probably adjust this at the regulator. If the regulator is more than 10 years old, consider replacing it.

Matt
dedmiston
Moderator
Aug 24, 2022
Matt_Colie wrote:
You just made a manometer to measure low pressures.

I just learned a new word. I've always loved the word "sphygmomanometer", which is a fancy name for a blood pressure cuff.
Skibane
Explorer II
Aug 25, 2022
naturist wrote:
I am not familiar with that unit, but my experience with various propane/natural gas appliances over the years has convinced me that the two most common points of failure on all of them are crud/dead bugs in the burner assembly and the thermocouple that keeps the gas flowing after light up.

Some kinds of bugs are attracted to the smell of propane (or the odorant in it) - There is nothing in life they like better than crawling into burner orifices.

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