Ant
Guest
I have an electrolux 3-way fridge in my motorhome. It works perfectly on 12v and mains electric but not gas. It ignites easily and burns however it does not cool the fridge. Can anyone offer advice?
Cidamiesta
Guest
Fridge
That sounds an odd one usually its the other way around due to the elements burning out! Can you see it burning? Does it have a window to view flame?. If so does the flame inrease when you turn up the thermosat on the front? I would think but dont take it for gospel that theres a seperate themosat for gas than electric could be thats the problem. If its failed safe then it would be a small heat output and would take ages to cool if ever.
Another trick I was told with relation to problem caravan fridges was to turn it upside down for an hour then turn it back for a day to settle but ive never tried it myself!!
That sounds an odd one usually its the other way around due to the elements burning out! Can you see it burning? Does it have a window to view flame?. If so does the flame inrease when you turn up the thermosat on the front? I would think but dont take it for gospel that theres a seperate themosat for gas than electric could be thats the problem. If its failed safe then it would be a small heat output and would take ages to cool if ever.
Another trick I was told with relation to problem caravan fridges was to turn it upside down for an hour then turn it back for a day to settle but ive never tried it myself!!
Deleted member 207
Guest
Another trick I was told with relation to problem caravan fridges was to turn it upside down for an hour then turn it back for a day to settle but ive never tried it myself!!
Thats the cure most likely to work if the fridge is working on 12/240V power.
Canalsman
Guest
No I don't think so ...
The fridge works by absorbtion irrespective of which power source is used.
12v/240v/gas are all used to provide heat to run the process.
It is only necessary to invert such a fridge if it doesn't work on any type of power.
chubsta
Guest
i had the same problem last year, just clean the jet , it worked for me,
lyn
Guest
You need to be on the flat, if you are not level the flame won't go up the chimney.
lyn
lyn
curlytail
Guest
Fridge .. recently ...
Recently my fridge was not cooling on gas and the flame would burn between a blue and a dangerous yellow. Previously my old caravan fridge had problems and I replaced the burner but you could try cleaning it first - the hole size is critical so do not be tempted to poke any wire or similar into it just use compressed air to blow it through. This was not the problem with mine recently though it was a blocked flue. I dismantled the rear burner and swept the narrow flue out with a toothbrush taped to a bamboo stick and, due to the flame burning outside the burner I had to replace the ignition electrode. This was simple enough to do but finding the correct one was tricky. I searched on the web and found a company leisureshopdirect. They had exploded diagrams and were very helpful and got me the part even though my fridge is 13 years old. Now it is working excellently.
Also if your worktop above your fridge gets hot you need to fix a baffle above the fridge that directs the heat from the fridge rear to outside via the top vent not just let it circulate in the dead space above the fridge.
Recently my fridge was not cooling on gas and the flame would burn between a blue and a dangerous yellow. Previously my old caravan fridge had problems and I replaced the burner but you could try cleaning it first - the hole size is critical so do not be tempted to poke any wire or similar into it just use compressed air to blow it through. This was not the problem with mine recently though it was a blocked flue. I dismantled the rear burner and swept the narrow flue out with a toothbrush taped to a bamboo stick and, due to the flame burning outside the burner I had to replace the ignition electrode. This was simple enough to do but finding the correct one was tricky. I searched on the web and found a company leisureshopdirect. They had exploded diagrams and were very helpful and got me the part even though my fridge is 13 years old. Now it is working excellently.
Also if your worktop above your fridge gets hot you need to fix a baffle above the fridge that directs the heat from the fridge rear to outside via the top vent not just let it circulate in the dead space above the fridge.
tan-all-over
Guest
We had the same prob and this year had the fridge serviced........£104 But it is working perfect now just had to bite the bullet and have it done.........
Deleted member 967
Guest
Our Electrolux RM275 (18 years old) has failed in exactly the same way while in France in early June. I priced a burner online at £49. On mains hookup since we returned on Wednesday so I havn't got round to getting it sorted out.
It worked find on 12v on the move and on Mains when we had hookup. It was lit but failed to cool the fridge on gas (Yes it was level). Infact the outside temperature was lower than that inside the fridge cabinet at one point before we stopped trying to get it to work on gas. It had been a bit dodgy for a while which I blamed on the gas we were using. It failed after out first gas fill in France, so it still could be something to do with that, so I am running our gas out completely before filling the tank again.
Fortunately I carried another 3 way Fridge that goes in the awning and we relied on that for the best part of 6 weeks on Aires and France Passion sites with no hookup. This fridge was very smelly (gas fumes) when running on the gas but worked fine.
We are fortunate with the Hymer S700 as fully loaded we still have 300kg spare load capacity, so carrying extra kit still doesn't overload us.
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Vennwood
Guest
As has been said above the problem is a sooted up flue. Soot clings to the wall of the flue and stops the heat from transferring - hence not cooling. Works ok on electric as the heat gets to the absorbsion unit.
Happened to me recently, changed the burner and jet but still didn't fix the problem then cleaned the flue and away it went. Speaking to the Dometic service engineer (Derwent Services - great guy and is a mobile engineer) this can happen because of using LPG. Apparently its not as refined as calor and can soot up more frequently. We obtained a cup full of soot from ours. Once cleaned the fridge cooled down to operating temp within 1 hour.
Deleted member 967
Guest
Thanks for your reply. Our problem only occured since we changed to a tank. It seems to wotk on on Calor or Jet Propane but if we use other brands it stops working. I will get a bottle brush and try cleaning the flue. I will keep you posted.
I did have a severe sooting problem in the Truma fire while using Fina LPG and this time the fridge failed as soon as we put gas into the tank in France.
vwalan
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calor gas is lpg. the same truck delivers to my big tank in the garden as fills the tank in one of our local autogas stations .calor is calor. lpg stands for liquid petroleum gas. both propane and butane are lpg. its a shame these so called experts tell so much crap..our local calor main station takes all its gas from the same tank of propane or butane. depends what bottles or tankers its filling.(butane tank different to propane tank .)
Vennwood
Guest
I hear what you say and would have agreed with you except that the Dometic Installation service notes says that they don't recommend using the the RM7000 series fridge/freezers on LPG unless it is fitted with a different size burner jet.
I agree that calor is calor but maybe there are different levels of refining between say Calor and Shell, Esso, BP etc. as these companies supply primarily automotive engines and maybe they have jets that are designed to cope. I think Calor sells most of its product to the leisure industry in bottles, not to the automotive industry in bulk. We had a Calor burning home central heating boiler but when natural gas became available we had to change the boiler jets to cope - maybe the same applies here.
The Dometic service engineer had no axe to grind, he didn't work for Calor. He changed our jet and said that the flue would be clogged and he was right. Only time will tell in our case. Our fridge is just 4 years old and had only been run on LPG. Our previous camper vans and caravans were much older, didn't run on LPG and never had a problem.
vwalan
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you missed my point. its all lpg. doesnt matter what company sells it its all lpg.plus you can only buy calor in uk . how do you go on if the fridge was sold in france ,germany,etc they sell dometic fridges every where. but they cant all be only run on calor. but they do all run on lpg.
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Vennwood
Guest
You missed my point(s)
1. Dometic say you need a different jet if you run on bulk LPG - why would they say that?
2. There are two basic methods of distribution - bulk or bottle - whichever country you live in.
3. Gas sold in bottles is aimed directly at the leisure market - in all countries
4. Gas sold in bulk on forecourts is aimed primarily for the automotive industry in all countries.
All I'm saying is that MAYBE the gas sold by Calor or any of the leisure market companies that sell in bottles is perhaps better or differently refined than the LPG sold from pumps on forecourts
Lots of companies sell beer but its not all the same consistency, Bottled beer is different to draft beer
All I'm trying to do is offer some kind of help to resolve a particular problem. It worked for me so it may work for someone else.
1. Dometic say you need a different jet if you run on bulk LPG - why would they say that?
2. There are two basic methods of distribution - bulk or bottle - whichever country you live in.
3. Gas sold in bottles is aimed directly at the leisure market - in all countries
4. Gas sold in bulk on forecourts is aimed primarily for the automotive industry in all countries.
All I'm saying is that MAYBE the gas sold by Calor or any of the leisure market companies that sell in bottles is perhaps better or differently refined than the LPG sold from pumps on forecourts
Lots of companies sell beer but its not all the same consistency, Bottled beer is different to draft beer
All I'm trying to do is offer some kind of help to resolve a particular problem. It worked for me so it may work for someone else.
vwalan
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but its still all lpg . your first statement infered that it isnt.
this can happen because of using lpg. only in your last post you now say dometic say bulk gas before you said lpg.
no good to get annoyed you wrote it. i just explained its all lpg . thought you didnt realise it.
i also say they fill every thing from the same tanks . be it bottles or trucks. have a word with your local main distributer if you dont believe me.
this can happen because of using lpg. only in your last post you now say dometic say bulk gas before you said lpg.
no good to get annoyed you wrote it. i just explained its all lpg . thought you didnt realise it.
i also say they fill every thing from the same tanks . be it bottles or trucks. have a word with your local main distributer if you dont believe me.
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maingate
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I have been following the 2 threads regarding gas problems with fridges.
1.Nobody ever seems to get a habitation check, which includes testing gas appliances. They just expect everything to work as normal for ever
2. No unqualified person should be messing about with a gas appliance.
If you do not have a Carbon Monoxide detector in your van, then for God`s sake go out and buy one. Your family is worth more to you than a few quid when you have an obviously faulty gas appliance.
1.Nobody ever seems to get a habitation check, which includes testing gas appliances. They just expect everything to work as normal for ever
2. No unqualified person should be messing about with a gas appliance.
If you do not have a Carbon Monoxide detector in your van, then for God`s sake go out and buy one. Your family is worth more to you than a few quid when you have an obviously faulty gas appliance.
mildred
Guest
AND a propane/butane gas detector/alarm mounted in a suitable pace - in other words low down below the level at which your head will be when asleep, and below the highest potential source of gas leak - lights for those who have them or more likely hob burners.
and unlike the CO detectors they're easy to test regularly - just hold a full gas cigarette lighter about a foot away with the button pressed down, but not alight.
If you've got an iffy gas appliance you've got at least three vectors of risk - carbon dioxide, poisonous gas and fire.
Don't get me started on Gas Safe (Corgi as was) though - the certification doesn't seem to include the ability to think out of the box when presented with a non-domestic installation, or consideration of what happens inside vans ...
Mild Red