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fallsrider's avatar
fallsrider
Explorer
Nov 09, 2015

Fridge - insufficient cooling on gas

Oh, the joys of owning an older trailer. I wrote on this forum about my converter issues and how it died over the weekend on a last of '15 camping trip.

After I killed the breaker to the converter, I turned on the battery and the fridge automatically transferred to gas because my 120v heater in the fridge is on the same circuit as the converter. I noticed over time that the fridge temp (monitored with my wireless outdoor thermometer) steadily rose. Temp setting was on 3 of 5. I increased to 5, and the inside temp leveled off around 50.

I checked the flame, and it was a nice blue. We just lived with it for the remainder of our trip, and so I now get to try and troubleshoot why gas isn't cooling as well. Looking in the manual, I probably need to clean the burner, check the gas pressure, clean the flue pipe, etc. If you've done this before and can offer any advice as most likely culprit, etc., how to get to the flue pipe, etc., I won't ignore it! Thanks!

This morning, I plugged my fridge into an extension cord, and it started cooling down on a/c rather nicely. I switched to gas and it started slowly warming back up. Again, nice blue flame. Looks like I have some tinkering to do this weekend.

33 Replies

  • enblethen wrote:
    Your stack may need to be cleaned. It is right above the flame of the burner. You maybe able to use a flexible piece of wire to go up into the stack to knock loose rust and carbon build up.


    I agree with this . But, I'm just guessing, I'm no expert just another TT owner like you. Mine cools down faster on gas then it does on electric. I've noticed no difference between the two in how they work once they get cold. But, I usually camp in the shade .
  • if that doesn't work ,
    I took this from a site I use, http://bryantrv.com/refcontrols.html
    maybe it will help.

    ***If a refrigerator works fine on 120 volt ac power, but doesn't cool on gas, I generally work backwards from my electric troubleshooting- making only a rough test of the LP supply first- by simply lighting three or four burners on the range and visually "guestimating" whether the LP pressure is good by seeing if the range burner flames look good, and do not decrease in size when all burners are lit. Note that this is not the "book" way- but it is the first thing that I do.

    After doing a rough test on the LP supply, I do a visual inspection of the flame. If the flame will not ignite, I will light it manually by having a helper hold the safety valve (on most refrigerators you need someone on the inside to engage the safety, while you light the flame- but not all). If the flame lights and burns well, you know that the problem is in the ignition system. Troubleshooting these is usually fairly straight forward- if it is a push button system which snaps when you push it, it is a piezo electric system. These are really very reliable, and if they still "snap", the problems will usually be either in the spark probe/ gap, or in the spark cable itself. Problems in the spark probe or gap are generally confined to an improper gap or rust flakes shorting out the gap, or a broken porcelain insulator around the probe. Problems with the spark cable are generally caused by the cable having been damaged in some way- either burned or cut. Many times these can be found by waiting until dark, and having a helper push the sparker button while you look at the cable- just like a spark plug cable in an auto, you will usually be able to see where the cable is shorted. For electronic ignitors, a simple test of 12 volt power going to the electronic ignition module will be first- if that is good, then inspect the cable, probe and gap as above- if these test good, the module is probably bad.

    Good luck,
    Bob
  • Your stack may need to be cleaned. It is right above the flame of the burner. You maybe able to use a flexible piece of wire to go up into the stack to knock loose rust and carbon build up.