Gas fridge on the move?

[windhorse]

We have been driving our 1996 Lance Legend truck camper with the Dometic ac/dc/gas refrigerator/freezer on - until today, when, as we got to CO, the fridge started to switch itself from “gas” to “check” (ie off), so we stopped to consult with a technician, who told us some things we did not know:
- yes, altitude can effect the performance of older model gas/electric refrigerators
- yes, it is possible to enhance the performance at higher altitudes of older fridges like the one in our truck camper by having a qualified technician bore to a slightly wider size the hole the gas passes through, to increase the flow of gas and thereby improve the reliability of the gas powered operation of the fridge up in the mountains, though this would be an irreversible modification, resulting in use of more gas than necessary after we returned to lower altitudes, and, thirdly:
- no, you should not drive with the gas-powered fridge on!

This last point came as a surprise for us, as we have been driving with the gas-powered fridge on for thousands of miles… gosh, does this mean we are just lucky not to have had any problem apart from the fridge switching itself from “gas” to “check” today?

Are we the only older (though prefer the term “classic”) truck camper owners with a fridge like this one who drive with it switched on?

[StirCrazy]

time2roll wrote:
I have read adding some fiberglass batting from a home furnace air filter to the inside of the lower vent will reduce wind buffeting when at speed.

thats one thing I am looking at trying in june. I am going to actualy put a furnace filter inside the louvers and see what difference that makes. Some people speculate that it is coming from the top vent down also.. so I have to take a look at that end also.

Steve

[time2roll]

I have read adding some fiberglass batting from a home furnace air filter to the inside of the lower vent will reduce wind buffeting when at speed.

Turn off the propane? Need to see that in the owners manual.

[StirCrazy]

stevenal wrote:
Pilot? How old a fridge are we talking about? Modern RV fridges use electronic spark ignition. When my old Dometic had check light problems, I tried blowing the flame out in an attempt to recreate the problem. It would simply spark and reignite. A Dinosaur replacement board fixed the problem.

the original poster had a 96, mine is a 91. my board will try to relight the piliot 3 times then go into error no DSI componants back then aside from the furnace. when I bought my 2006 Wave that was a luxery with all DSI apliances, was unheard of then for them to be included as standard and not just as an option.

Steve

[Grit_dog]

@adamis. Well stated!

[stevenal]

Pilot? How old a fridge are we talking about? Modern RV fridges use electronic spark ignition. When my old Dometic had check light problems, I tried blowing the flame out in an attempt to recreate the problem. It would simply spark and reignite. A Dinosaur replacement board fixed the problem.

[adamis]

On my Bigfoot I keep the fridge on Propane all the time including driving. Most of our driving is in hot weather and for several hours a day. There is no way the fridge will keep up under those conditions so keeping it on is a must. It rarely if ever blows out while traveling.

I did one trip to Las Vegas for a convention in July. I added some fans in the vent chase on the back of the fridge hoping to help the airflow in the extreme heat. Ironically, these fans even when not running changed the airflow dynamics of the that vent chase. The fridge would no longer stay running while driving down the freeway. It took a few trips with barely cold food before I admitted defeat on my "upgrade" and removed the fans. Since then, fridge has been rock solid. Lesson learned, the airflow dynamics can be something very difficult to account for but is a huge factor in wether the fridge will run while driving.

I know the newer compressor fridges are all the rage. Maybe someday when I have one I will think the same. In my opinion though, these propane fridges are really very solid. You just have to understand their limits and work within them. Turn them on a day before your trip, minimize opening the door (chase the kids out!), Keep a large block of ice in the freezer to help provide thermal mass and regulate temps. Expect that on a grocery run food is going to warm up the fridge for a few hours as the system works to cool it all back down.

The tradeoffs to these limits is a very efficient method to keep food cold that is simple and generally just works when it's used properly.

[StirCrazy]

dometic used to have a problemm of the flame blowing out while driving. I have this issue curenty but its only in very gusty conditions at higher speed. they did put out a baffel system to help with this. I have been doing some reading and am working on my own setup to prevent wind gusts from blowing the pilot out. it is also more comon when it is cooler and the flame is on low.

Steve

[windhorse]

I have reached an agreement with the refrigerator. I have started to turn it off while driving. It has stopped turning off with check light on. Instead I leave a couple of plastic bottles of water in the freezer. They turn to ice when the fridge is on that keeps my food frozen and/or cold when I drive, so for now my problem seems to be solved.

[mbloof]

vern kelly wrote:
I have a 98 Lance and it has always had trouble running on gas if speed is over ~50 mph as the flame gets blown out causing the check light to come on, otherwise it works great on gas. May have been your problem with a cross wind as you say it worked before. If it is failing while stationary could be something else. I had to replace my dometic control board after only 4 years with a dinosaur board and never had another problem. It would just shut off the gas solenoid 5 minutes to 4 hours triggering the check light. Thermocouple voltage tested fine. Was a common problem with this vintage.

I use the DC mode while on the high speed roads and am careful not to leave it on DC if the truck is not running. DC works fine on the road to maintain temperature if you have at least an 8 awg wire from truck to camper battery through a 40 amp circuit breaker and an isolator solenoid. Remember that it is not on continuously and cycles just like ac or gas mode. Always pre cool the frig a day before leaving on the trip.

All good advice. 🙂

Personally, while I generally precool my fridge and put already cold stuff in it and the freezer most of my destinations are < 3hrs away and I see no issue(s) with traveling with it off - things are not going to thaw out or get warm in the time it takes to travel and then get the fridge going/cooling again.

It should be noted that (decades ago now) Lance recognized the problem with running the fridge in DC mode (and/or charging from the truck) and invented the "Lance connector" to solve/deal with the issue.

Lance dealers would install 8AWG wire+solenoid+fuse connected to their 'special' 7-pin 'Lance connector' outfitted with 2x 8AWG wires and 5x 14AWG wires umbilical cord to the purchasers/owners Lance truck camper. Properly installed Lance campers have no issue running the refrige on DC or charging the house battery from the truck.



- Mark0.

[vern_kelly]

I have a 98 Lance and it has always had trouble running on gas if speed is over ~50 mph as the flame gets blown out causing the check light to come on, otherwise it works great on gas. May have been your problem with a cross wind as you say it worked before. If it is failing while stationary could be something else. I had to replace my dometic control board after only 4 years with a dinosaur board and never had another problem. It would just shut off the gas solenoid 5 minutes to 4 hours triggering the check light. Thermocouple voltage tested fine. Was a common problem with this vintage.

I use the DC mode while on the high speed roads and am careful not to leave it on DC if the truck is not running. DC works fine on the road to maintain temperature if you have at least an 8 awg wire from truck to camper battery through a 40 amp circuit breaker and an isolator solenoid. Remember that it is not on continuously and cycles just like ac or gas mode. Always pre cool the frig a day before leaving on the trip.

[JoeChiOhki]

Lwiddis wrote:
Fridge is 26 years old.

Since it has a Check light, that means it likely is a computer controlled unit and wouldn't surprise me that the Thermocouple is dirty that detects flame or your circuit board is starting to go (There's several Norcold and Dometic fridges that DinoBoards were made for that replace the original control system and are superior to the original equipment).

[windhorse]

Exactly, and I am more than double that ??

[Grit_dog]

wildtoad wrote:
Why not just turn the fridge off during travel? Things should stay cold for hours if you keep the door closed.

Seems like that’s what happened and the OP like most people would prefer to have their fridge running.
That’s a great suggestion if you don’t travel far or in hot weather…. Or use your fridge throughout the day.
Seems counterproductive to basically have a vertical ice box though. It was made to run 24/7 traveling or not.

[Grit_dog]

Clean the nozzle/burner etc.
if it works, it works. Could easily take a couple attempts to light if it was blown out on the road from wind. Was pretty common with our old AF campers at high speed or head winds.
Is yours not also DC and switches over? It was our stop gap when traveling.