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Fridge GAS alert


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Hi There you fellow campers

 

We recently bought a used 3 way fridge as ours after owning fo r2 years just doesn't like very high outside temperatures, fititgn 2 fans on top vent didn't really help.

 

So this new one has a different set up for lighting the gas, instead of an orange switch which clicks until the gas is lit, this one has a button you push in and then with an empty fridge you can see the blue flame through the inspection glass window. When our old fridge ran out of gas the orange switch would start to click so we knew the gas had ran out.

Has anyone rigged up some 12v device to their button press model like we now have to alert you when the gas has run out. If we went to bed and it ran out shortly after with this new fridge we will not know until we light the stove in the morning for Tea. It would be very awkward to keep removing all the food to look at the flame when we think the gas is getting low.

We have a Truma gas level detector, but when that shows the bottle is low it still goes on for several days. Maybe we will just have to switch over to our other bottle before the main one runs out.

 

Thanks fof your input.

 

Julea

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Julea

 

The two different gas ignition systems are described here

 

http://www.obrienscamping.co.uk/articles/ignition.htm

 

As electronic ignition was used for lighting the gas of your original fridge, it would have had a 12V power supply. So, in principle, it should be practicable to add a 12V-powered ‘sensor’ to your replacement fridge that monitored whether the gas burner was lit and visually/audibly warned if the gas flame went out. However, there seems to be nothing on-line to suggest anyone has attempted that modification.

 

(In practice, when a fridge with piezo ignition is fitted as original equipment, it’s likely that there will be no convenient 12V power supply near the fridge and this would be a disincentive to DIY the type of sensing device you’ve asked about.)

 

This 2013 discussion explored converting a fridge from piezo to electronic gas ignition

 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/uk.d-i-y/oyeyqslWRRU

 

but adding a warning device that the gas flame has extinguished was not a requirement.

 

It is possible nowadays to purchase sensors that accurately measure the contents of a gas bottle

 

https://www.gasit.co.uk/bluetooth-gas-level-sensors.html

 

but (as Brian B suggests) fitting an automatic changeover device would seem to be the best approach.

 

(It’s perhaps worth adding that your old fridge’s electronic ignition allowed the gas to automatically relight if the gas flame failed - if (say) a gust of wind blew out the flame - but this will not happen with your piezo-ignition fridge.)

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thebishbus - 2020-05-11 6:29 PM

 

Welcome to the forum Julea. As you have two gas bottles, why not fit an automatic change over valve between them. When it has changed over you could then replace the empty bottle.

Brian B.

Plus, if you get the Truma auto-changeover valve (DuoControl) it is possible to add an internal indicator (DuoC, available with or without EisEx which prevents the valve freezing in cold weather - requires 12V supply) that shows when the valve has switched to the reserve cylinder.

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