marchhare Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 our fridge stopped working on gas a few days before the end of our trip, as expected the milk & cream went off, not a prob, but i could do with a few tips about fixing this. will ineed any speical etc the burner ignites, and stays alight, no smell of a gas leak. the van is 21yrs old but the fridge was replaced about 8 yrs ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums. Does your fridge (it might be useful to know the make and model) cool when 230V or 12V operation is selected? If it does not, then the problem would appear to relate to the cooling system itself and (I hesitate to say this) a repair may not be practicable. If your fridge does cool on 230V or 12V but not on gas, then I can't offer a logical diagnosis. Failure to cool on gas will normally be due to the fridge's gas-burner not igniting or not staying alight (gas-bottle empty, air in pipework, etc.) but you have confirmed that your fridge's gas-burner lights and stays alight OK. Cooling is produced by refrigerant being circulated via heat from a gas-burner, a 12V DC heating element or a 230V AC heating element. If any one of those heat sources can cause the fridge to cool properly, then the refrigerant circulating process must be functioning. If none of the heat sources produces effective cooling, then it can be assumed that the refrigerant circulating process is not functioning correctly. A time-honoured ploy to revive 'dead' fridges is to remove them and invert them. It's a Last Hope intervention, but there have been reports that it sometimes works. See http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9607&posts=11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Hi Colandpam Maybe a glimmer of hope for a cheaper fix. If your fridge is also not cooling on 230v / 12v as well as Gas, I suspect it will be a Thermostat failure. These are a replacement item, but you will need to identify the fridge model No.. Once identified, try http://www.leisureshopdirect.com/caravan/ventilation/l_id64/Caravan_Refrigeration.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marchhare Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 thanks for getting back to me on this prob, i should have found the make & model before posting , i wont be able to take the fridge out untill the end of the week, it works ok on 12v & 240v, while on gas the burner stays alight ! ( please let it be something simple ) meanwhile, keep on camping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Hi . When you say the flame stays alight, are you sure that the flame is from the burner jet.? It should be a small blue flame from the center of the burner unit. We had a problem when ours would not work on gas . Looking at the back I could see a small white flame !. After taking the covers off the bottom of the burner unit I found that the flame was coming from the air /gas mixing hole !. The insulation on the igniter wire had failed, and the spark was igniting the the gas at the hole.! Re -insulating the wire cured the problem. Another problem we had with the fridge on gas, was caused by the paint/powder coating on the inside of the flue pipe. It was flaking off and dropping down all over the burner unit. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 marchhare - 2012-07-10 8:44 AM thanks for getting back to me on this prob, i should have found the make & model before posting , i wont be able to take the fridge out untill the end of the week, it works ok on 12v & 240v, while on gas the burner stays alight ! ( please let it be something simple ) meanwhile, keep on camping You should not need to take out the fridge to find the make and model. The make should show on the front plate of the fridge above the door. If it is Electrolux/Dometic the model number should be on a "plate" inside the fridge, bottom rear. The model number will be RM something. Can't answer for Thetford or others. If it is Dometic, all energy sources operate the same cooling system, so if it works on electricity, the cooling circuit is OK. If there is gas to the jet and it stays alight, it seems most probable the flame is not getting where it should. Either there is dirt obstructing the actual flame, the burner assembly has become damaged, or, as suggested above, the gas is igniting before the jet. As you seem unfamiliar with the gas side, I suggest you don't do anything for now other than inspect to see if the problem is obvious and simple, like a lump of crud sitting in front of the jet and deflecting the flame, that you can easily dislodge, but take it to pretty much any caravan or motorhome dealership with a workshop and someone who is familiar with these units. You should be able to see the jet assembly, and do whatever you can practically do, by removing the lower grille and working through the aperture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 If yours is a Dometic fridge this website should be useful finding an Approved Technician. http://www.dometicapproved.co.uk/service.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marchhare Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 FRIDGE WORKING ! thanks everyone for their input, i think brian knows a little more than he lets on, the angled & loose fitting exhaust pieces that connect to the flue has been shedding enamel & grud onto the burner causing the flame to deflect. i'm not encouraging anyone to mess with gas! my mate is an x briish gas fitter, i did the work he kept an eye ( he refuses to get his hands dirty ) next trip is the show at MALVERN, ( WHY DO WE WISH OUR LIVES AWAY ? ) once again many thanhs to you all for responding! ( modern technology ----- brilliant ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicelaw Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Hello Thanks for getting back to me on this prob, i should have found the make & model before posting , i wont be able to take the fridge out untill the end of the week, it works ok on 12v & 240v, while on gas the burner stays alight ! ( please let it be something simple ) meanwhile, keep on camping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Hi . To stop this problem re-occurring , when I had it, I wire brushed the inside of the flue-pipe with a bottle cleaning type wire brush, to remove as much of the loose material as possible, then sprayed it with a high temperature exhaust paint, had no trouble since . Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 bicelaw - 2012-07-12 11:18 AM Hello Thanks for getting back to me on this prob, i should have found the make & model before posting , i wont be able to take the fridge out untill the end of the week, it works ok on 12v & 240v, while on gas the burner stays alight ! ( please let it be something simple ) meanwhile, keep on camping ???????????????????????????????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 thebishbus - 2012-07-12 4:08 PM Hi . To stop this problem re-occurring , when I had it, I wire brushed the inside of the flue-pipe with a bottle cleaning type wire brush, to remove as much of the loose material as possible, then sprayed it with a high temperature exhaust paint, had no trouble since . Brian B. It's perhaps worth adding that (with Dometic fridges) the gas flue-pipe (chimney) has a baffle suspended within it, and this baffle must be removed before the flue-pipe can be swept with a suitable wire brush. Removing the baffle will first involve removing the outlet piece(s) attached to the top of the flue-pipe and, in many cases, this won't be practicable unless the fridge is at least partially withdrawn from its enclosure within the motorhome. Sweeping the flue-pipe will be easier if the burner assembly is temporarily removed from the flue-pipe and the gas pipework. This also avoids any debris within the flue-pipe falling into the burner. My Dometic fridge-freezer has a long flue-pipe and, to sweep it, I use a homemade wire brush that I can pull down through the flue-pipe from the top and pull up through the flue-pipe from the bottom. I sweep the flue-pipe annually. A 'full' fridge service should include the flue-pipe being swept but, if the fridge needs displacing from its enclosure to do this, the cost of the work may be more than the motorhome owner will be prepared to pay. I have been told that, if it's possible to access either end of the flue-pipe, tapping the pipe sharply a few times with an appropriate metal tool should cause any large bits of debris within the pipe to fall into the burner from which they can be vacuumed out. (That of course assumes that it's possible to access the burner assembly to do the vacuuming!) This ploy is definitely not as good as a proper 'sweep', but it's probably better than doing nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marchhare Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 once again thanks for contributing to thiis prob, i did exactly all that has been said with regard to the flue, and it obviously saved the cost of a workshop repair, i know one has to be careful whith gas but this is easy if you some d.i.y. skills, ............cant wait to get back on the road,..............obviously retired !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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