Eagle Cap 1160 Refrigerator Problem

[gpascazio]

Hello All

Wondering if anyone else has had a problem with their refrigerator located in the slide. Went camping this past weekend and could not get the refrigerator to cool properly the refrigerator part only cooled slightly and the freezer part cooled close to what the refrigerator should have been cooling to. I think I have narrowed the problem down to the LP hose that is under the slide. The hose has kink in it and the farther I open the slide the more the hose gets restricted. So my question is. Is there a way to take the kink out without replacing the entire hose. If the hose has to be replaced where can a replacement hose be bought? I have searhed the internet and I am coming up with nothing that looks close to the hose that is currently installed. Any help is a greatly appreciated.

[dougrainer]

gpascazio wrote:
bphusmc,

Did you ever take a photo of your fix. What kind of hard pipe did you use? With our camper it is the opposite of yours the refrigerator works fine when it is closed and works poorly in the fully open position. I am afraid that if I use the wrong fix the kink is just going to move somewhere else.

You can use a PVC pipe that is slightly larger than the hose at the kink. Cut the PVC in half length wise and then use hose clamps to secure over the existing kink. You may have to reroute the hose system to prevent a kink in the area it happened. Doug

[GeoBoy]

On my 2016 AF 990 the refer is in the slide and has the side vent. I had the refer set a 5 just like my TT's but the side vent just doesn't get rid of the heat like a top vent refer. I now set the temp at 7 or 8 depending on the outside temp. I would also replace the propane hose that is kinking.
Good luck.

[gpascazio]

bphusmc,

Did you ever take a photo of your fix. What kind of hard pipe did you use? With our camper it is the opposite of yours the refrigerator works fine when it is closed and works poorly in the fully open position. I am afraid that if I use the wrong fix the kink is just going to move somewhere else.

[bphusmc]

I had the same camper, the refer would work if the slide was open but when closed it wasn't getting enough gas. Take the skirt off in front of the dinette. Have someone slowly close the slide and you will see it kink. I taped a piece of hard pipe to the kink area and it cleared up the problem. It about drove me nuts figuring it out. I even stopped at a RV dealer in Montana and they said the refer was defective!

[AnEv942]

If you have a fan, mirror or camera to see it. Ours is about in the middle of wall.
I didn't know we had one till a few years back and accidentally discovered looking down & taking a picture for someone showing flue...To my knowledge fan has never come on. Our factory thermo disk is 158°, its mounted to fins but at outer side- I jumped thermo to verify fan working- it does and its loud.

But as to the 'kink', may or may not be issue with fridge, unlikely- however if its actually pinching hose needs to be addressed.

Cant imagine that perfect kink to restrict gas so flame still lights but inadequate to heat? Stranger stuff has happened, easily checked. Light fridge with slide in, and compare with slide out. But such a small flame agree, unlikly -.

[dougrainer]

Usually, if the hose has any kink, you need to fix the kink. It will get worse. The kink usually is bad when the slide is retracted as that is where the hoses have to bend. You either reroute the hose to prevent the kink, or if the kink is so ingrained in the rubber(memory), that it will not stay open, you replace it. When you replace you can find any type large coil spring to slide over the area where the kink is formed to prevent the hose from smashing up and kinking. If the hose cannot flatten itself, it will not kink. Doug

[gpascazio]

Thank you for the info all. I am going to go check on that fan. How far up is the fan? I have taken both doors off and can't see it, so far.

[Boatycall]

Chris Bryant wrote:
Normally, a kink in a hose it would either work or not- the refrigerator uses so little LP that the hose can be 90% blocked, but still work fine .
The most common problem with units in a slide are the back cooling fans stop working- these are critical for proper cooling.

I have your exact same TC.

X2 on the hose, not it. In addition to that, if the hose were kinked, your fridge would error out and not light up, and you'd have the "Check" light come on.

I had this exact same problem on a toyhauler I owned where the fridge was also on a slide. Freezer would get to 40, fridge 58.

Since the fridge is on the slide and not the side wall, we do not have a roof vent, we have upper and lower side vents, with a fan forcing air through the upper vent. That fan had quit, causing the coils to never cool down. Problem was traced to a bad thermister - the little thermal switch that turns the fan on and off.

Fire up your fridge and after about an hour, go out and see if the fan is coming on. Also, check to see that critters did not get up in there and make a new home in there.

[Chris_Bryant]

Normally, a kink in a hose it would either work or not- the refrigerator uses so little LP that the hose can be 90% blocked, but still work fine .
The most common problem with units in a slide are the back cooling fans stop working- these are critical for proper cooling.

[Bill_T]

You may shop around for shops that fabricate hydraulic hoses. Many of them also make flexible propane hoses as well.