Fridge not working on gas, can anyone help?

Thanks all,

I'll give them a try tomorrow after work

EDIT, CBA'ed tonight, will have a go this week.
 
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Thanks for all your help. I think I've solved it.

Good news, bad news and good news......

Good news - The flame is stronger than before and it's been on for an hour before I turned it off....... (see bad news)

I took the top unit to part blew it all out with compressed air and I was suprised how clean and new looking it all was.

40089878242_c0deed3b56_c.jpg

When it was apart out of the pipe that is circled with the yellow circles. this fell out of the gas inlet pipe.

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It looks like some sort of filter, should I have taken it out as it was loose in the pipe, but obviously in tight enough to slow the gas flow to the unit

Bad news - I must not have tightened up one of the fittings and when I returned to the van there was a loud noise (see next good news) and a slight smell of gas.
So I turned it off to tighten up the nuts again tomorrow night.

2nd Good News - My cheap Chinese gas detector works perfect as the smell was only very slight and wouldn't have woken us up. The alarm was screaming away because it smelt the gas in the cupboard under the sink where I fitted it (because I read on here that CO2 detectors can't detect LPG or butane (1 because it can't "smell" it and 2 because CO2 detectors are placed high up and LPG sinks)

Link here 12V Combustible Gas Leak LPG Natural Gas Detector Propane Alarm For RV Van Boat | eBay

I'll tighten the nuts up and spray them tomorrow to check for leaks and try it running again.

Thanks again
 
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i always thought that thing was a form of flame arrestor, bit like a davy lamp , stopping any flame blowing back
 
i would

did you try pushing that spindle in with the knob off ? those knobs wear inside and don't allow full travel
 
hairydog said:
I don't think you should get distracted. The problem of the flame going out when you let go of the knob is the thermocouple or possibly the magnetic valve it connects to. 99 time out of 100 it is the thermocouple.

If it lights with the knob pressed in, the knob is pressing in far enough. If it works on mains, the coolant is circulating.

If (when) the gas is staying lit and giving a strong blue flame, if the fridge is not getting cold, there are other things to look at.

But start by sorting out the thermocouple issue first. Well, second, after fixing the leak!

ALWAYS leak test any connections you have disturbed before considering the job done.
Click to expand...
when you push the knob in , the spindle pushes the valve against a tubular electromagnet, which is energised by the power generated when the t/couple is heated
if the valve , which is a simple metal and rubber washer , isn't pushed firmly against the magnet , then it won't hold when the knob is released , and the gas flow will stop. but even opening the valve a little will allow gas to the burner
 
n brown said:
when you push the knob in , the spindle pushes the valve against a tubular electromagnet, which is energised by the power generated when the t/couple is heated
if the valve , which is a simple metal and rubber washer , isn't pushed firmly against the magnet , then it won't hold when the knob is released , and the gas flow will stop. but even opening the valve a little will allow gas to the burner
Click to expand...

Yep. On mine I once had a loose self tapper that held the bracket for the valve. That meant that the valve body pushed inwards when the knob was depressed. Upshot was was the knob hit the plastic housing and as you describe above the solenoid would not hold. Simple things but several failure modes :)

Keith
 
hairydog said:
The people talking about the knob going in far enough are overlooking that we have been told that it does (sometimes) stay on for a while after the knob is released, then it goes out later.
Click to expand...
that's right- if the gas stays on at all then the valve is working
 
JohnClimber said:
Everything has failed.

Going to call in an expert now, thanks for your help
Click to expand...

That is a great shame John but at least you have learned a lot about it and are now better equipped for the future. Please let us know how it all goes.

Richard
 
From what has been described the fault lies with either the thermocouple or Gas control valve. Despite you replacing the T/C it is known new ones can be faulty so to give a clue

If you have a chefs blowtorch or you can start the appliance by depressing the GCV let it run for a minute then let go of the GCV wait between 30 sec and a minute typically and you will hear a click ,( that is the T/C closing the magnetic contraption explained earlier ) At this stage hear a click odds are the issue is with the gcv no click and it is the new T/c

At this stage once it has been determined depends on next course of action

Channa

Should add with the blowtorch heat the t/c for a few seconds to fool it into opening if it is working correctly
 
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