Randonneur Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Does anyone know what causes soot to form on the outside top airvent for the fridge? Never had this problem before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 You'll find that they run better of gas, mains or 12v but not coal! Seriously though, are you sure it's coming from the fridge itself or could it just be sitting there from an external source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Check the flame on your fridge - it should be burning bright blue - any yellow could be a sign of 1) insufficient air mix 2) oil in the gas. Last year we got a Repsol bottle in Portugal which had travelled on it's side in the back of a car to our 'van. We started using the bottle in our 'van, which at the time was only a few months old, and after a few days the fridge would not get cold on gas (worked ok on electric both 12 and 230v). The fault was found by an Electrolux engineer who cleaned out the chimney causing a soot fall that would have done a power station chimney proud. Apparently Repsol put oil in their gas bottles and as it had travelled on it's side the oil had mixed with the gas and burned in the fridge where it had sooted up the chimney causing the problem. If you have oil in your system it should also show up on the underside of kettles and cooking pans (black deposits being difficult to remove) ((I did say the underside and not the cremated sausage on top)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Well, you learn something new everyday . Good bit of info there ;-) I'll be checking me sausages from now on ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 It probably neads a service to clean out the flue way and the cobwebs out of the air way. If you release the plastic clips that secure the two outside air grilles these can be removed. This will give a good view of the back of the fridge but probably not provide sufficient access to service the burner. Lift off the flue top section. So, Undo the fridge door top hinge screw and lift off the door. Remove the two plastic caps each side of the compartment to provide access for a cross head screw driver which will allow you to remove the 4 screws that hold the fridge into the compartment. Then gently slide the fridge forward. The wires and gas pipe are most likely long enough to permit the fridge to be slid clear of the enclosure. (If not note down the positions of all the wire colours removed) Remove the screws retaining the burner cover and remove same. Slacken the screw that holds the burner into the bottom of the flue assy and lower it sufficiently to allow you to pass a small flue brush (test tube cleaner size) through the flue. De-scale any crud around the burner, igniter or flame sensor. Use a small vacuum cleaner to clean up. Then put it all back together and re-fit in reverse order. If you were CORGI registered I would suggest you removed the gas supply pipe from the control valve on the top to the burner and clean this out as they can rust internally and cause blocked gas jets. Once the pipe is disconnected from the burner the pressed out stainless steel gas jet can be tapped out as its held in place by the end of the pipe and checked for cleanliness. Checking for no gas leaks after re-assembly of course. Hope that helps. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Randonneur - 2007-05-09 9:35 PM Does anyone know what causes soot to form on the outside top airvent for the fridge? Never had this problem before.Have a look here. I had same problem. http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=4818&posts=8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Was the information of any value Randoneur? *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted May 11, 2007 Author Share Posted May 11, 2007 My other half has cleaned out the flue and there was very little soot there. We realised we were using a butane bottle last week so he has changed it to propane, we will try that and see if the same thing happens. If it does then I think its a trip to the dealers as its still under warranty until October. Many thanks for everybody's help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 It shouldn't make any difference which gas you use, as i also use Butane with no prob's since I cleaned it all out . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Randonneur - 2007-05-11 8:29 AM My other half has cleaned out the flue and there was very little soot there. We realised we were using a butane bottle last week so he has changed it to propane, we will try that and see if the same thing happens. If it does then I think its a trip to the dealers as its still under warranty until October. Many thanks for everybody's help.O/K remove the burner box as per the instructions on the site in one of my previous posts and clean it out. That was my problem, it was full of crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted May 13, 2007 Author Share Posted May 13, 2007 Hi Peter, Thanks again, he's gone fishing this morning but will show him when he gets back. Sylvia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 As Clive suggests, it can prove impossible to perform fridge servicing 100% effectively with the appliance in situ. On Dometic fridges, for some unfathomable reason, the flue outlet(s) are normally attached to the burner tube with screws and these are often unreachable once the fridge has been installed. To be cleaned thoroughly the flue should be 'swept' with a wire-brush from the top downwards, but within the burner tube hangs a metal baffle that must be removed to allow passage of the brush. Catch-22 is that, in order to remove the baffle, the flue outlet(s) must first come off... A fridge that's competently sealed from a motorhome's interior can be a beggar to extract so that its rear parts can be accessed, as the motorhome builder will have fitted a deflector at the top of the appliance and (most probably) gobbed plenty of sealant everywhere to plug the inevitable gaps. Extraction and refitting of a sealed-in fridge can be very time-consuming, which is why habitation servicing normally excludes this task. If, as is sometimes the case, the burner assembly can be reached but the screw(s) holding the flue outlet(s) can't, it may be possible to avoid moving the fridge but still return it to working order. The ploy, once described to me by a motorhome dealer, is to protect the burner assembly's working parts then give the burner tube a good tapping with something hard (like a substantial piece of metal rod). If one is lucky, this should dislodge the rubbish within the flue that's causing the problem. Once the junk has fallen into the burner assembly it can be vacuumed up. Fridge servicing is well covered in John Wickersham's "The Motorcaravan Manual" (Haynes Publishing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Having needed to remove the refrigerator from my panel van conversion for similar servicing work recently, it occurred to me that the answer to the common access problem would be a large door in the van side, with the vents fitted in to it. Then all that is needed to service the fridge is to open the door ......... although this may not be easy on a van conversion, depending on the positions of structural supports; on a coachbuilt 'van it should be simply 'designed in'; it is so simple .... I have seen panel van conversions where the fridge is at the back and accessed by opening the rear van doors: these were either very old vans or built by 'self builders'! Harvey ps. why does the abbreviation 'fridge' have a 'd' in it when 'refrigerator' does not. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Harvey: According to my Webster's Dictionary the word "refrigerator" was coined in 1803, whereas the shortened form "fridge" wasn't used until 1926. Apparently the more logical term "frig" has also been used, but this seems to have gained a different meaning nowadays! I don't know for sure where the "d" in "fridge" came from, but I'm guessing that it's something to do with the FRIDGIDAIRE company that was an early major producer of domestic refrigerators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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