fridge on gas operation??????

[new hippys]

guys and lasses

only having recently purchased what the kids have named Jessie, our fiat ducato swift ensign, we are still finding our feet with it. struggling with fridge on gas, pilot light ignites and from what I gather that should be that but it is getting cold, after pushing the ignite button I hold it for between 10-15 seconds as suggested but no joy, work ok on 12v and 240.

is it just my tiny manbrain or do I have a problem?

regards

new hippys:scared:

 

[Tbear]

Not sure what you are asking.

It does not have a pilot light. Just one flame and thats it. Is it lit and is the fridge getting cold.

Richard

 

[frontslide]

guys and lasses

only having recently purchased what the kids have named Jessie, our fiat ducato swift ensign, we are still finding our feet with it. struggling with fridge on gas, pilot light ignites and from what I gather that should be that but it is getting cold, after pushing the ignite button I hold it for between 10-15 seconds as suggested but no joy, work ok on 12v and 240.

is it just my tiny manbrain or do I have a problem?

regards

new hippys:scared:

Do you have a little viewing window for the pilot light, can you check the pilot light is staying on?

 

[Wooie1958]

guys and lasses

only having recently purchased what the kids have named Jessie, our fiat ducato swift ensign, we are still finding our feet with it. struggling with fridge on gas, pilot light ignites and from what I gather that should be that but it is getting cold, after pushing the ignite button I hold it for between 10-15 seconds as suggested but no joy, work ok on 12v and 240.

is it just my tiny manbrain or do I have a problem?

regards

new hippys:scared:

Can you just confirm what you are asking ?

Should this say " but it is not getting cold " ?

 

[Dive Tramp]

As above, if the "pilot" light stays on... that's it. You may notice the nice blue flame gets slightly larger when you adjust the dial to "Big Flame" from "Small Flame" and that's all there is to it. The varied heat from the different sized flames does the cooling (Big Flame= Cooler fridge, Small Flame = less cool fridge) for you. There's no sudden rush of more flames (hopefully... ) like on a Combi Boiler etc.

Enjoy the cool contents of the fridge.

DT

 

[Caz]

Think I may have a similar problem.

Tried my fridge on gas for the first time last weekend. (It works very well on EHU.) The gas lit but the flame was very small and the fridge didn't get cold, although I could feel the warmth coming out of the outside vent.

I fiddled with the control knob to try to get a bigger flame and it went out. Now it won't light again despite holding the knob in for ages and the thingy that makes the spark clicking away like mad.

Yes the gas was on and the bottle is nearly full.

Any ideas, anyone?

 

[Tbear]

Every now and again mine plays up. I just leave it on and go for a bit of a drive and it normally lights up straight away. Failing that its a stripdown the burner and clean. Also check the thermocouple is working and the correct distance from the flame.

Richard

 

[new hippys]

sorry guys

confusion reigns, combination of fingers working faster than brain and just plain stupidity, yes pilot light does ignite and it does NOT get cold, some good advice I think here, I assumed the pilot light would be separate to a burner?? I will check later if the flame through the window gets bigger or smaller when adjusting the control knob. surely if there is a thermo coupling an flame increasing in size would just burn out the coupling in no time?

sheesh, the tent was less complicated..:lol-053:

new (but confused) hippys

 

[Channa]

Think I may have a similar problem.

Tried my fridge on gas for the first time last weekend. (It works very well on EHU.) The gas lit but the flame was very small and the fridge didn't get cold, although I could feel the warmth coming out of the outside vent.

I fiddled with the control knob to try to get a bigger flame and it went out. Now it won't light again despite holding the knob in for ages and the thingy that makes the spark clicking away like mad.

Yes the gas was on and the bottle is nearly full.

Any ideas, anyone?

Blocked Jet is the obvious culprit.

Channa

 

[Channa]

sorry guys

confusion reigns, combination of fingers working faster than brain and just plain stupidity, yes pilot light does ignite and it does NOT get cold, some good advice I think here, I assumed the pilot light would be separate to a burner?? I will check later if the flame through the window gets bigger or smaller when adjusting the control knob. surely if there is a thermo coupling an flame increasing in size would just burn out the coupling in no time?

sheesh, the tent was less complicated..:lol-053:

new (but confused) hippys

The thermo couple allows the gas control valve to remain open, which is why you have to manually open it by depressing the knob at the ignition stage in effect that few seconds allows the thermocouple to become hot and allow the gas control valve to remain open.

There are different types of thermocouple dependant on the appliance, but all work on the same principle.

Without knowing the model of the fridge, and seeing the set up it is hard to give better advice.

Some appliances have primary and secondary jets ( think twin choke carburettors ? ) if the secondary jet is blocked, then the pilot will light but the blocked jet wont allow cooling or heating dependant on appliance.

Thermocouple do burn out , however if the pilot is remaining lit, the thermocouple isnt your problem

Channa

 

[Smaug]

If it ain't cooling then a partially blocked jet or flue seem likely. You should be able to access both from the lower outside vent. Use a cloth pull thro (like a rifle) or a bottle brush for the flue, careful use of a fine wire or needle for the jet, but be very careful not to enlarge it. If that doesn't solve the problem then it has to be the heat exchanger unit.

 

[new hippys]

If it ain't cooling then a partially blocked jet or flue seem likely. You should be able to access both from the lower outside vent. Use a cloth pull thro (like a rifle) or a bottle brush for the flue, careful use of a fine wire or needle for the jet, but be very careful not to enlarge it. If that doesn't solve the problem then it has to be the heat exchanger unit.

many thanks, will check this weekend.

regards

new hippys:hammer:

 

[Channa]

If it ain't cooling then a partially blocked jet or flue seem likely. You should be able to access both from the lower outside vent. Use a cloth pull thro (like a rifle) or a bottle brush for the flue, careful use of a fine wire or needle for the jet, but be very careful not to enlarge it. If that doesn't solve the problem then it has to be the heat exchanger unit.

More likely a blocked jet as I suggested, I havent ever seen a fridge with an Oxygen depletion system or Atmospheric Sensing device....they work on a 1.5 - 2 percent increase in Co2 to trigger the mechanism. which would shut the system down in the event of a blocked flue.

Cleaning the jet is better done with compressed air if you can, if not I would use a strand from a copper wire, normally the obstructions arent difficult to remove.

Channa

 

[Caz]

Oh dear, sounds like a fridge out problem then. Think I'll just take a coolbox. Thanks anyway.

 

[Smaug]

Oh dear, sounds like a fridge out problem then. Think I'll just take a coolbox. Thanks anyway.

Try the cleaning, it isn't hard & can be done of an evening or afternoon stop. Fuse wire or a single copper strand out of a flexible cable are a good suggestion to prevent damage to the jet. Poor flow thro the vent can affect the heating effect of the flame.

 

[Deleted member 5816]

Did you buy from a dealer if so would this not be covered by your warranty


Alf

guys and lasses

only having recently purchased what the kids have named Jessie, our fiat ducato swift ensign, we are still finding our feet with it. struggling with fridge on gas, pilot light ignites and from what I gather that should be that but it is getting cold, after pushing the ignite button I hold it for between 10-15 seconds as suggested but no joy, work ok on 12v and 240.

is it just my tiny manbrain or do I have a problem?

regards

new hippys:scared:

 

[Deleted member 207]

I'll just stick my two bob's worth in here, using wire is not a good idea in trying to clear the jets, generally the jets are made of a brittle stone/ceramic and can easily be enlarged and make the jets useless. The best way to clean the jets is to remove them and soak in a solvent for half an hour and then blow back with a sharp puff of breath or compressed air. There is often a build up of carbon around the metal casing that holds the jet, this can be cleaned with wire and often is the reason that the jet is suspected. About the only maker that sells a wire small enough to clean jets is Primus, they still come with a Primus gas stove. A few years ago I was looking for a wire guage size to clean an Electrolux jet and there was nothing small enough available.

There is also a gas filter on most Electrolux/Dometic fridges which can sometimes become clogged up, again remove and clean in solvent. It will be an in pipe filter just before the thermostat controller.

 

[Caz]

Try the cleaning, it isn't hard & can be done of an evening or afternoon stop. Fuse wire or a single copper strand out of a flexible cable are a good suggestion to prevent damage to the jet. Poor flow thro the vent can affect the heating effect of the flame.

Thanks - but I wouldn't know where to begin to take the fridge out, and I'm probably not strong enough to lift it anyway.

 

[Smaug]

Thanks - but I wouldn't know where to begin to take the fridge out, and I'm probably not strong enough to lift it anyway.

You shouldn't need to take it out, remove the lower outside vent cover & you should have access to the jet & the flue, you may also need to remove the top vent to get access to the top of the flue, it isn't difficult.

 

[irnbru]

Im also new to motorhoming. On our motorhome there is a cover on the outside that needs to be taken off otherwise the gas fails to stay lit. its a safety thing. Luckily this was explained to us by previous owner otherwise we might have assumed our fridge wasn't working either. Hope you get it working,