Weird gas fridge issue

Question

Hi, we have a 1991 Tioga Montara. DEFINETLY helping us learn about life in an RV. It has the original gas fridge. It gets cold on 110. It was getting cold on gas. On our last trip out this yr, in the middle of the night we ended up turning the gas saftey sensor off so that stopped gas flow ( don't need to get into the reason now but the gas was not the issue). Since then we can not reliably get the fridge to go on using the gas. The weird thing is , first thing in the morning we switched on the furnace and we could then fire up the fridge. But other than then, we can not get it to go on. It just goes to "check". Still works fine when plugged in.  Any ideas?

jplante4 · Answer

Sounds like you're getting air in the propane line to the fridge that the furnace purges when it's running, or the gas flow to the furnace lowers the pressure enough to let your burner operate correctly. Have you pulled the burner and inspected? If you look at the flame when it runs, is it blue or yellow? Blue when the furnace runs, yellow when it kicks off - replace the burner.

A word of caution - be prepared to also replace the tubing to the burner. Chances are you will kink or twist the existing aluminum tubing when you try to detach it from the burner. I replaced mine with copper and new fittings.

ava · Answer

Also check if the burner has bits of rust that fall down from the chimney and plug the openings.  Something that happens to many fridges.  Perhaps just needs to be blown or vacuumed out.

katy19 · Answer

Thanks for the help. I kinda thought air might be the issue. I will check the flame color when we leave on Monday for our next trip. The funky thing is that it only fires up after the very first use of the furnace, early in the morning. If I try lighting it midday when the furnace is on or off it will not light. . I'm bummed because it was fine until I flipped the gas sensor off in the middle of the night, hence cutting off the gas flow.

katy19 · Answer

Ok... it's 8 am, 38 degrees, and the fridge fired right up. Furnace is not on, stove not on, it's just cold out, first thing in the morning. I'm sure if I turn it off, in a few hrs it will not fire up again   Any ideas?...I don't understand why it only fires up when it is very cold. The guy that usually helps working on the RV is out of town. Propane tank is 1/2full.

wnjj · Answer

Maybe the safety valve is not opening all the way and needs cycled a few more times or just replaced.  If the only thing that changed before the problems started was closing that valve that’s where I’d focus.

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Weird gas fridge issue

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