The fridge can be removed in less than half an hour.
MAKE SURE THAT THE
BATTERY SUPPLY, THE MAINS SUPPLY AND THE GAS SUPPLY ARE IN THE OFF POSITION FIRST!!!
Usually four screws two either side hold it in. (They can be covered with little plastic blanks)
Slide the fridge out carefully. There is a metal tube that fits over the flu chimney and connects into the vent that requires parting.
The mains wire goes into nylon terminal blocks, mark them + brown - blue and earth green/yellow.
The 12volt
battery connection is also in a nylon terminal block. You can mark them if you wish + poss and - neg it doesn't matter though.
You will need two 15m spanners or one 15m and an adjustable for disconnecting the gas.
Slide the fridge completely out and place on a bench or table; on some the base is in a step shape and is difficult to balance so beware.
At the bottom of a tube covered with an aluminium type liner and fibre glass filling is the burner. There is a cover over this burner held with two screws. Remove the screws and uncover the burner.
Proceed with care now.
Take a soft paintbrush or similar (Better still if you have an air line) and gently clean around the burner area, blow away any dirt. If you wish to clean the eye glass there are a further two screws that hold this within a metal plate with a cut-out circle. Remove the top one and loosen the bottom one and you can now swing the plate aside and remove the glass to clean it.
Put the glass back in, secure the plate back and then take out the metal foil that is suspended in the flu chimney. This metal foil is designed to glow red hot when used on gas; should the gas "Blow out" the hot metal foil will ignite it again. It just hangs in the chimney with a wire holder.
Clean out the chimney and give a final brush and blow around the burner area.
Now.... It is true that a non working fridge can be brought back from the dead by turning the fridge upside down. The reason for this is that the re-fridgerant will crystalize in the lowest part of the circuit and will not allow any circulation to occur. By turning the fridge upside down it allows the crystals to liquidize easily and once again be able to circulate around the system. It does work I assure you and I have done this many times over the years. You must allow time for this to work though! I usually leave the fridge on one side for an hour. Turn over to the other side for an hour and then upside down overnight. (You should hear the liquid running down inside when you do this).
Re-fitting.
Slide the fridge partially in and connect up the mains and 12volt circuits. Connect to the gas pipe and turn on the gas and start the fridge using gas. DO NOT LET ANY NAKED FLAME COME NEAR THE APPLIANCE. Now spray gas leakfinder solution or washing up liquid and water mixed in one of those spray cleaner bottles,around the joints and wait for any sign of bubbles being blown up from the joints. If there are any you must (1) Try tightening the joint more, but don't over do it. Or (2) Use gas sealant tape around the thread. When there is no sign of leaks turn off the fridge AND the gas supply then push the fridge right in making sure that the joints between the flu and the outlet vent are married together.
Make good a final check and put back the holding screws and test by lighting the fridge and waiting for it to freeze up.
The last time I did this I got told off because we went away and I set it to 3 on the dial and the bloody lettuce went into a frozen ball.
It looks difficult but it really isn't. Good luck.
