Frig maint

VTR wrote:
Recently my wife and I started noticing a smell under the sink when we open the cabinet. It smells just like the release vent outside. Should I be worried? Once it was pretty bad, I checked both vents outside clean as a whistle. Also, Could a vent on top of the TT be the cause. We are a little concerned.

Are you smelling a sewer smell or a rotten egg propane smell?

If it's a sewer smell, look for the air admittance valve, a round plastic gizmo roughly the size of a baby food jar stuck on the top of the sewer line. It probably needs replacement. They're readily available at hardware or home improvement stores and not very expensive.

If it's a propane smell, you have a propane leak and that should be taken care of ASAP. Maybe a stove burner isn't turned off all the way, or the oven pilot isn't staying lit, or there's a leaky line or fitting....

My guess is the air admittance valve.

GordonThree wrote:
Just curious, what contacts are you cleaning with sand paper / emery cloth?

If they're electrical contacts, that is a bad idea - the high abrasion is doing more harm to the contacts than good. Look into a burnishing tool, which is kinda like a knife steel, it rearranges the metal molecules rather than grinding them off.

US Navy manual page on maintaining electrical relays:
U.S. Navy Gas Turbine Systems Technician Manual

Cleaning up what I think is called electrode.

Recently my wife and I started noticing a smell under the sink when we open the cabinet. It smells just like the release vent outside. Should I be worried? Once it was pretty bad, I checked both vents outside clean as a whistle. Also, Could a vent on top of the TT be the cause. We are a little concerned.

A substantial gas leak you generally could detect by smelling carefully around the lower vent. A gas leak would more typically lead to a terrific explosion rather than a sustained fire; think more of blowing the RV apart, rather than setting it aflame, or so I've been led to believe (and seen pictures of). Of course, neither a fire nor an explosion is a desirable outcome!

Keeping critters and crud out of the burner and chimney assemblies and keeping the refrigerant inside the refrigerator piping are the main aspects of maintenance, so far as I know. Well, keeping the food storage compartment from getting all smelly and science-fair-project-y is also wise.

Not sure about how to maintain a "frig" but I think we're talking about a "fridge".:B

On my previous trailer, there was a recall and they added some shielding around the ignition area of the fridge (where the flame ignites).

But if flames errupted, I'm wondering if there wasn't a gas leak and there was an accumulation arount the ignitor. Then, when the fridge was started...poof!!

As to maintenance, in addition to keeping everything clean and debris free, I'd check for any gas leaks using a sopy solution or the stuff you can buy that's already to go. Seems to me if there isn't any debris around the ignitor, and there aren't any leaks, the risk of fire is pretty low. But, does anyone know what can happen if the circuit board fails?????

Just curious, what contacts are you cleaning with sand paper / emery cloth?

If they're electrical contacts, that is a bad idea - the high abrasion is doing more harm to the contacts than good. Look into a burnishing tool, which is kinda like a knife steel, it rearranges the metal molecules rather than grinding them off.

US Navy manual page on maintaining electrical relays:
U.S. Navy Gas Turbine Systems Technician Manual