Fridge quits while on gas when driving in strong crosswind

[INBellbuoy]

I've noticed the last two times my refrigerator has stopped working while on the road during very strong crosswinds. Anyone else experience this? How did you fix it?

[doxiemom11]

I think the wind blew out the flame, your system tried to relight it 3X and then the safety kept it from trying to light further, sensing what it thought was a problem. That is how it is supposed to work and it is for your safety that the propane doesn't keep flowing. High cross winds - we don't drive when it's windy, and the frig will stay below 40 for at least 6 hours without even running the frig as long as you don't keep opening the door. Save propane - shut it off when you travel. You can always start and run it when you stop for lunch and then shut off again when you hit the road.

[mena661]

popeyemth wrote:
My fridge operation manual says set the thermostat on MAX while towing to help prevent flame blow-out.
Good Luck, Mike

Maybe this is why ours has never blown out. I've driven in 60 mph wind gusts too.

[Peg_Leg]

Don't worry if it only happens every now and then. The thermocouple will shut off the gas flow, just check it each time you stop.

[popeyemth]

My fridge operation manual says set the thermostat on MAX while towing to help prevent flame blow-out.
Good Luck, Mike

[sum1]

It happened a lot to me in a previous MH. I solved the problem by fashioning an additional baffle out of a beer can with a pair of scissors. It did not reduce the amount of air available but it isolated the flame from gusts. It was quite secure, but removable without tools. The thing should have been made that way to begin with.

[Almot]

RV fridges 6 cu.ft and over are mostly 2-way only - LP and 120V. Which makes sense, considering horrible amount of power it would draw from the battery. Our rigs are not designed to be towed or driven anywhere - they are designed to be plugged in the shore power 🙂 ...

OP - don't want to be obvious, but the flame in the fridge needs air. With this air comes the wind through the same slots in the access cover. This air is also needed to cool the condenser down. You can't separate wind from the air. If you block the wind, you will block the incoming air. You may try and block some of the air like one poster did, it may help with the wind, but it will reduce the air inflow, and if you reduce it too much, then later the fridge will suffer in a calm weather.

[NRALIFR]

Since you've got a truck camper, you could do what a few of us on the TC forum have done: upgrade your 12v circuit between the truck alternator and the camper so it can support the amperage requirements of a small inverter, and run your fricge on 120v AC while on the road. I've been doing it for several years and am very happy with the results. I used 6 gauge wire on my system and it will allow the truck to keep up with the drain of the inverter, but some have used much larger wire and gotten impressive results.

:):)

[profdant139]

This has happened to us once in a while. On my old trailer, I put window screen material inside the vent to baffle the wind. That worked well. My new trailer has electronic ignition -- so if the flame blows out, it re-lights. So I have no way to know if it ever blows out -- by the time we stop, it has re-ignited.

We tried running the fridge on 12 volt power while driving -- it worked very poorly. That's why we use propane while driving -- there is no real choice.

[robatthelake]

I only ever experienced this while driving over a really high pass . The Gas Detector sounded the alarm.

[2oldman]

I'll attempt answering the question.

No, I've not experienced that... that I'm aware of. I assume it would attempt to relight several times and I sure wouldn't know it.

Most of us refrain from driving in strong winds, and imho they would have to be pretty strong to extinguish the flame.

[bob_nestor]

Almot wrote:
Never fix something that should not be fixed. Turn it off when on the road.

*laughing* Yeah, those damn idiot engineers created the 3-way fridge only so Marketing could raise the price. Having the ability to run it on 12v has no practical application in the real world.

But on the serious sideI totally agree with not fixing what isn't broken. I run 12v on the road with propane turned off. Run 120v when I'm in a campground with hookups and run on propane otherwise. But I'm an engineer so by definition I'm an idiot.

[Almot]

Never fix something that should not be fixed. Turn it off when on the road.