Fridge not working on gas, can anyone help?

Cleaned and still no different

Thanks for all your help. I got it cleaned by a caravan specialist, he cleaned it up including the flue and recommended changing to propane as he said it burns better than butane. I have done this and still it isnt working on gas. He said he would be reluctant to start changing parts as its badly corroded and may open a can of worms, so its either a new fridge or forget using gas, which of course affects us wild camping. Van is 18 years old by the way.
 
if you really need ice then you are b.....d but you can still put milk in a bucket of water or wrap it in a wet cloth butter etc in a damp cloth. i used to like the old easy cool cool boxes ,you put water in the top inside was cool .worked on evaporation causes coldness .never a real fridge but worked a treat. it seems the new owners of easy cool have stopped making them for a while .i was speaking to them a few weeks ago .they need an order of about 50 to get it proffitble to manufacture some. if going abroad some supermarkets sell bags of ice or ask in a bar a few cents can get you a bag of ice. put it in the fridge keeps it cool.
 
Fridge problem

Having come in right at the end of this, just a couple of points.

LPG stands for Liquified Petroleum Gas not Liquid.

Occasionally even cleaning the jet does not help it will need replacing.

It is my understanding that some automotive LPG may have an upper cylinder lubricant added which will cause problems with the small fridge jet.

If your fridge works in one of the modes 12v/230v/gas then the absorption unit is usually ok. It is either a blocked jet or the 12v or 230v element gone.

The law states that only people competent to work on gas should do so. You cannot just say or think you are competent it is a bit more in depth than that. Gas Safe registered engineers can and will hold the qualification to work on LPG fridges (REFLP2). However engineers working on private motorhomes do not have to be Gas safe registered but they do have to hold a competency certificate which in this case would be an ACOP. Please check that anybody working on your gas appliances are qualified to do so.

Hope this helps.
 
but not all gas safe have acops .i have spoken to gas safe and they agree gas safe quite plainly is not for motorhomes. .but never mind .
thanks for the liquified bit . i apologise.
i do know calor deliver the same gas to my tank as the local petrol station as i had a delivery afew weeks ago and as we were talking the driver said his next stop was the garage.
as for upper cylinder agents .thats new to me .i pump gas into tanks and bottles .never had a problem. i do find morocco gas can cause problems but then i,m told they use alot of pentane in their gas. there is a table of what autogas mix is throughout europe as it does change i agree.
pentane is used alot in hot climates . iuse it here with no probs i must add .but then i dont stay here in winter when its cold.
gas in morocco is about 4.50 to fill a 13kg bottle.
 
Ant said:
Thanks for all your help. I got it cleaned by a caravan specialist, he cleaned it up including the flue and recommended changing to propane as he said it burns better than butane. I have done this and still it isnt working on gas. He said he would be reluctant to start changing parts as its badly corroded and may open a can of worms, so its either a new fridge or forget using gas, which of course affects us wild camping. Van is 18 years old by the way.
Click to expand...

Did you solve this problem?
My RM275 has been problematic for several years. It's fine as long as the weather isn't too hot. As soon as the weather heats up it stops working on gas.
Like you, I have cleaned the whole thing out several times without finding a long term solution.
Did you try fitting a new jet?
 
I know this is an old thread, but just in case anyone else is looking for a solution. I had the exact same problem. The thermo coupler had failed, got another one for a few quid problem solved...:)
 
MarcJ said:
I know this is an old thread, but just in case anyone else is looking for a solution. I had the exact same problem. The thermo coupler had failed, got another one for a few quid problem solved...:)
Click to expand...

I think you mean thermocouple. It's what tells the system the flame is there and allows gas flow. That is why you have to hold the knob in for 15 seconds after lighting the flame, it's to allow the thermocouple to heat up. They can get out of position or the flame shape not be correct and when you let go of the knob the flame will go out even if the thermocouple itself is ok.
 
the question of what gas is what seems to come up regularly ; Alan is , of course correct , it is all lpg

calor is , of course just a brand name like tesco or hoover , they just buy and distribute , in other words they fill bottles and tanks , and are on record as saying that what they sell on forecourts as lpg and what they sell in propane bottles [ and what they put in bulk tanks at your home or similar ] is identical ; in fact it is an international traded product known as industrial grade propane . a semi-refined product which is very largely propane but also a small percentage of other hydrocarbon substances ...frankly it is not necessary to have a pure propane for the purpose in hand

with regard to additives for lpg sold for road use , as a long term user of this product I can assure you that there are no additives ...if the user wants this he has to fit special equipment to add it to the propane as it is consumed



I have had a chat with my local lpg tanker driver [ not calor ] who confirmed that he fills his tanker from the same tank as is used to fill propane bottles , and he delivers it to domestic / industrial heating tanks and to filling stations for sale as lpg

dometic is , of course , american ; there they call it all propane , but the same product is again used for all purposes ; so it is hard to believe that they would especially make a fridge for europe that can't be run on lpg which is propane anyway !

alan made a point about dirty butane in morocco ; they don't seem to filter the butane before sale , so I concur ....however I have never encountered this in europe or N.america ; but when I have been to the gas factory and filled with propane it was to european standards ..this seems logical as bulk customers would not be amused at constantly having to clean their equipment

so if your fridge runs on 12v and 240v , but not on gas even though it lights...yank it out and clean out the soot ; if it won't light it is often just a bit of rust fallen down on the jet ...which is why the old ..take it out and turn it upside down ....idea works ; personally I have access to a high pressure air jet .....sticking that down the chimney instead often works as well !

and do bear in mind that the european sized fridges are normally marginal for cooling capacity , especially on gas ; in really hot weather be prepared to buy something frozen to put in to help out , and set it to maximum cold and run on 240v before you set out !
 
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Cooling Fridges & Making them more thermally efficient

We tend to use reusable ice sheets called chillerz Welcome To Chillerz.com freeze them first, place inside the motorhome fridge (pre-cools right down) then when motoring along or unhooked from power the sheets keep everything chilled & fresh. Keeps it chilled & energy efficient too. The good thing is the sheets can then be used for putting under food, wrapping around bottles of wine / drinks or you can even heat the sheets up if you've got a bit of a sore back after driving. Far superior to your freeze blocks, take up virtually no space, flexible, reusable, don't melt and we would definitely recommend them.
Hope this helps :)
 
Dometic 3 way fridge RM 7361 L

Hi

I have a problem with the gas operation of my fridge. 240v & 12v both work fine.

The pilot flame ignites and the burner heats up (blue flame) but doesn't roar. However the gas doesn't cool the fridge down, no matter what setting I put it on.

Should different temperature settings on the fridge affect the flame / heat at the burner or is the flame running at a constant level until the fridge reaches the desired temperature, at which point the thermostat switches the gas off?

I have cleaned the flue and all gas lines & the gas jet & gas burner.

Any ideas anyone, please?

Mike
 
michaelconroy said:
Hi

I have a problem with the gas operation of my fridge. 240v & 12v both work fine.

The pilot flame ignites and the burner heats up (blue flame) but doesn't roar. However the gas doesn't cool the fridge down, no matter what setting I put it on.

Should different temperature settings on the fridge affect the flame / heat at the burner or is the flame running at a constant level until the fridge reaches the desired temperature, at which point the thermostat switches the gas off?

I have cleaned the flue and all gas lines & the gas jet & gas burner.

Any ideas anyone, please?

Mike
Click to expand...

Is your van level, some fridges won't tolerate a tilt of more than 5 degrees?
 
If you have cleaned the jet and pipes then i would suggest looking at the gas control knob and yes that flame should go up and down as you turn the gas knob.Also double check the jet feed by seperating it from the gas feed pipe.
 
Make and model of fridge would help, I sometimes have the same problem on mine but turning the temperature control off really tight then turning it back on usually cures it if only for a few months, (it feels loose before I do this) I suspect the gas valve
 
It sounds like the gas control valve if you have tried the other things,

1) they often wear on the spindle so that is your first check

2) the GCV itself is faulty, dependent on the fault depends on what can be repaired or needs replacing

Channa
 
martinmartin said:
If you have cleaned the jet and pipes then i would suggest looking at the gas control knob and yes that flame should go up and down as you turn the gas knob.Also double check the jet feed by seperating it from the gas feed pipe.
Click to expand...

Thank you.

On my model there is one dial to regulate the temperature, whatever the source of energy. That works for 240v and 12v but has no visible eefect on gas.

Please explain what you mean by "double check the jet feed from the gas feed pipe" - what should I be checking?
 
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