igniter switch not working

[noelor]

hi hope if any one can help,i have a 03 rimor super brig fitted with a electrolux 3 way fridge,mains and battery work fine but the gas ignition switch dosen't flash or click.also which may be adding to the problem on the node system it shows a short circut reference .thanks

[thebishbus]

Hi Noelor.I see you have not had a reply to your igniter query. You may have solved the problem by now, but I will relate how ours works on our Hymer.The ignition and fridge lamp are on one circuit, the battery fridge operation(engine running) is on a seperate circuit. If the fridge lamp and igniter are not working I think you have a fault with that 12 volt supply to the fridge, check where that comes from. If the lamp is working the fault will be the the ignition switch or circuit itself. Hope this may help.

Brian B.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wingpete]

Had this prob on my '08 Rapido. When it first happened, after about 6 months of ownership, Brownhills in Canterbury (Supplier) fixed it with new igniter.

Therefater, most places I used the van were on EHU's so never noticed a problem until this year. At the 2nd habitation at Newark branch (Canterbury had closed down ) they informed me as went to collect van, that the igniter was not working but they could not fix it as was end of day working ! Continued onto the Newark showground for a rally, and found someone who knew what to do as a temporary fix.

Take the vent cover off (quick release) and use a long handled gas lighter (like the BBQ ones) with gas turned on, and flash the gas lighter at the igntion point tubeto ignite the gas flow. Replace cover and it works.

But not being the real fix, I got Dometic on the phone and they sent a man to meet me on way home down A 1, and he replaced the igniter. At the same time, he told me Brownhills were not able to fix gas appliances, as they are not Corgi approved !

Since then, the replacement igniter has packed up as well, so reosrting to the gas lighter method, inserted in the vent access point.

Hope this makes sense to you .

[Brian Kirby]

Peter, that is a very high rate of failure of a component that usually just works.  Makes me wonder if something else could be contributing, though for the life of me I can't think what!  Have Dometic changed something in recent fridges?

[sheer lunar-see]

Hi all, as a gas engineer of many years the problem of continuous failure could be that the ignition switch has been left on inadvertantly when the van has been left off mains hook up and the gas turned off. Ignition p.c,b's dont like continuous opperation and soon fail. The flashing neon switches fitted to these fridges do fail though, or should I say the neon part does, but the swich will still function. Hope this helps.

[Wingpete]

Thanks for thoughts Brian. I had same, considering the relatively light use and age of unit. Normally use EHU when available, but when gas needed, have found it intermeittent. Dometic man comment was to effect, "they don't make them like they used to do ".

Made sure that when fridge not wanted, it is turned to the off position, as when in storeage. When on drive preparing for trip, the EHU is used, gas only when arriving on site without EHU.

[Derek Uzzell]

There are significant technical differences between more recent Dometic “Powerfridge”’ appliances and earlier designs – for example, the use on manual-operation models of a single rotary ‘energy selector‘ switch rather than individual switches for selection of gas, 12V or 230V operation, and, when operating on gas, adoption of a thermostatically controlled shut-down/relight procedure rather than having a constantly-lit pilot light.

 

When a Powerfridge is not being used, its energy selector switch should be turned to the OFF position and, if the appliance is fitted with a ‘frame heater’ to evaporate water droplets forming on the outside of a freezer compartment, it’s important that this heater is also turned off.

 

Even if no 12V or 230V power is being provided to a Powerfridge, unless the energy selector switch is turned to the OFF position the fridge’s electronics will draw a continuous small 12V charge that will, eventually, discharge the battery providing it. A frame heater also draws a continuous , but much larger, 12V charge when its switch is in the ON position, and the heater can still be operated even when the fridge has been turned OFF. As far as I’m aware, failing to switch off the fridge fully is unlikely to result in actual damage, though leaving a frame heater on for an extended period (ignoring the battery discharging effect) might well cause harm.

 

With a Powerfridge you can only select one energy source at a time, unlike earlier Dometic appliances where you could run on gas AND 12V or 230V (either accidentally or by choice!) When you select gas-operation via the energy selector switch of a 7-Series Powerfridge, the yellow “Gas” LED on the selector switch should start to flash and a ticking noise should be heard as the igniter fires. Upon successful ignition, the LED should show a steady yellow colour and the igniter should cease ticking. If there’s no gas, or the gas-burner fails to light satisfactorily, or, subsequently, the relighting process is unsuccessful, then the igniter should fire for about 30 seconds and then turn off, with the “Gas” LED on the selector switch continuing to flash until something is done about it.

 

My own 2005-vintage Dometic RM7651L fridge-freezer is hardly ever run on 230V and seems to be very picky about cleanliness in the gas-burner area. I mentioned this recently to a motorhome dealer who told me that the Dometic appliance in his own newish motorcaravan had suddenly stopped working on gas. So it’s possible (as Wingpete’s Dometic man suggested) that ‘smart’ modern fridge’s lack the rough-and-ready reliability of older designs.

 

(There have been reports on the MHF forum that Hobby has wired Dometic fridges peculiarly and this can eventually lead to them failing to function. The claim is undoubtedly true as the fridge in my Hobby has wiring that doesn’t match the schematic in Dometic’s manual and, on the face of it, it looks wrong. Nevertheless, the fridge still works OK and, as long as it continues to do so, I’m not going to fiddle with it. I just mention this in case a forum member has a Hobby with a fairly recent Dometic appliance that’s inexplicably playing up.)

[noelor]

thanks folks turned out it was the igniter electronic box at the rear of the fridge and after 3 years of minimal use on gas it has gone again,

[Wando64]

I have found the solution to my problem and I want to share it as it might help someone else.

After much testing to try to diagnose the source of the problem, and before buying a new igniter as everyone else seem to be doing, I discovered that my Dometic fridge has a 1.5v AAA battery inside the igniter button.

This battery obviously needs replacing every couple of years or so.

To access it you will need to gain access to the top of the fridge and reach the back of the button. From there you will see two small clips that can be released and the inside of the button will then slide out from the front, allowing the replacement of the battery.

I wish I had found a forum post telling me about this as it would have saved me a lot of time.

It makes me wonder how many people gets the service to “replace the igniter” at very high cost, when really all it takes is a new AAA battery.

I hope this helps someone.