Help and or advice needed please for Dometic Fridge

[luv2travel]

Our Dometic 3 way fridge , model 7361 has decided to stop playing nice on gas. It works fine on electric and also 12v whilst we are driving. However, every time we switch it to gas it clicks and then lights but only sometimes and then a couple of seconds later it goes off and the light just keeps flashing orange. It keeps trying to light, but won't. Sometimes it just clicks and clicks and nothing. This morning we took it to a caravan repair shop in Malaga. After 3 hours they didn't know how to fix it. They kept trying different parts, but none of those were the right ones. Then they said they needed to order 2 more parts at a cost of €270 but they wouldn't arrive today and they were still unsure if that would fix it. At that price plus labour costs it would be cheaper to go to a campsite and plug in. We really want to wild camp, but can't without our fridge. We already had to throw everything in the freezer away. If anyone has any suggestion or has come across this problem themselves could you please advise. Many thanks.

Marilyn

 

[Channa]

If it lights and goes out more than likely the thermocouple before checking that check the knob that starts it depresses properly and allows free flow of gas remove knob and try and see

channa

 

[jagmanx]

We had 2 Fridge problems last summer

No 1 was a burnt out (gas) burner which meant the fridge did not fridge on gas.
A new burner fixed this

No 2 very similar if not identical to you.
It happened when we switched gas tanks (manual not auto)
The symptoms identical (from Memory)
The gas control valve had failed and needed replacing.
WE have a biggish dometic fridge RMT7851L
Dometic have a web-site to find european partners/dealers etc
France | Dometic best on a smartphone with gps

 

[jagmanx]

Gas valve

photo

 

[n brown]

you should be able to find a universal thermocouple for about a fiver in a diy or gas appliance store. worth eliminating as that's the first thing me and Channa thought of

 

[Skar]

Are you using Seyla Motorhomes in Malaga? If not I would go there, can highly recommend them, and you can overnight there with hook up.

They fixed our fridge last Spring, I had already done the usual DIY stuff which they also tried with no joy. We too had to order two parts, this is because they don't know which of the two suspects is the problem! I think the parts were about 270 euro, I did hesitate at that price but went ahead and have no regrets.

/edit

If you decide to leave it till you get home I have the two bits removed from mine, one is an electrical item, the other gas (cant remember the names of them!). I'm pretty certain that my problem was the electrical item as the gas item is only 12 months old having been replaced in Portugal the last time I had fridge problems!

 

[luv2travel]

If it lights and goes out more than likely the thermocouple before checking that check the knob that starts it depresses properly and allows free flow of gas remove knob and try and see

channa

Thanks for your reply Channa. Blair is looking up thermocouple on the Internet as we speak, so he can find out something about it. Regarding the knob, we don't have a knob like you have described. The repair guy eliminated the front control panel where the knob is which was a circuit board, he said it wasn't that. I don;t really think he knew what he was doing to be honest.

 

[luv2travel]

No 1 was a burnt out (gas) burner which meant the fridge did not fridge on gas.
A new burner fixed this

No 2 very similar if not identical to you.
It happened when we switched gas tanks (manual not auto)
The symptoms identical (from Memory)
The gas control valve had failed and needed replacing.
WE have a biggish dometic fridge RMT7851L
Dometic have a web-site to find european partners/dealers etc
France | Dometic best on a smartphone with gps

Thanks jagmanx, all of our stove burners work great, so that is probably not our problem. Unfortunately unless someone can diagnose what the problem is, you can end up spending a fortune on parts and them not being the right ones. That's why we went to a repair place today, but alas, we still ended up paying a bill and came away without a fix. I have checked out the Dometic Service Centres but they are few and far between over here. There is one in Antequera or one in Alicante, we cannot speak Spanish so it would be useless to try and call them on the phone and unless we drive there we won't know if they can fix the fridge or not and both are quite a drive.

 

[luv2travel]

you should be able to find a universal thermocouple for about a fiver in a diy or gas appliance store. worth eliminating as that's the first thing me and Channa thought of

This one might be beyond us, we are in Spain and don't speak any Spanish so trying to find somewhere that might have one of these could be pretty hard for us. This is our first trip to Europe and we have had to learn lots already, it's not been a walk in the park,but we are getting there. I expect this fridge is original as when we bought the MH last year it had not had much love and attention, although we have given it the love and attention it deserves now. The gas was working when we took off last week, but it's just gone like this a couple of days ago.

 

[luv2travel]

Are you using Seyla Motorhomes in Malaga? If not I would go there, can highly recommend them, and you can overnight there with hook up.

They fixed our fridge last Spring, I had already done the usual DIY stuff which they also tried with no joy. We too had to order two parts, this is because they don't know which of the two suspects is the problem! I think the parts were about 270 euro, I did hesitate at that price but went ahead and have no regrets.

/edit

If you decide to leave it till you get home I have the two bits removed from mine, one is an electrical item, the other gas (cant remember the names of them!). I'm pretty certain that my problem was the electrical item as the gas item is only 12 months old having been replaced in Portugal the last time I had fridge problems!

Hi Skar, thanks for your reply. This is weird actually because we were doing our laundry, then got some groceries and diesel and then sat down and said, OK where shall we go, we need electric. We picked out......yes, you guessed it Seyla Motorhomes and here we are! Now I come to read your post, so perhaps fate sent us here. We will see them in the morning when they open, but if I had not seen your post we would have just carried on to the next electric hook-up. We are hesitant to pay more money out and end up without it being fixed again, so maybe we will be luckier here. I'll post back after we have spoken with them and let you know how it goes.

 

[Channa]

If there is a Band Q equivalent nearby or gas supplier look for the name fagor ,they will do a generic thermocouple looks like this minus the round bit



Channa

 

[luv2travel]

If there is a Band Q equivalent nearby or gas supplier look for the name fagor ,they will do a generic thermocouple looks like this minus the round bit

View attachment 69624

Channa

Blair says the tip on ours is white porcelain. We are going to ask Seyla Motorhomes in the morning if they can come up with any answers. We might just have to leave it until we get back to the UK though. We do appreciate everyone trying to help, he is avidly scouring the Internet to see what he can come up with. He's a mechanic and can fix most things, but a gas engineer he is not!

 

[Canalsman]

Most times the issue with a fridge not working on gas is the jet being blocked and/or the flue being in need of a clean.

Do not do anything till this basic servicing has been done.

Blair should be more than capable of removing the burner and cleaning the jet. The jet must not be cleaned by inserting anything into it. Use a solvent of some type and blow compressed air through it.

The flue can be cleaned by carefully drawing something through it e.g. a small piece of rag on a length of string. Be aware that there may be a baffle suspended in the flue towards the top. This slows the rate of heat flow and makes the fridge more efficient.

I'm sure you will find information on the internet detailing how to remove the burner assembly.

This may assist:

YouTube

 

[wints]

Similar happened to our 7000 series fridge a while ago...selected gas, it appeared to light, then quickly went out and the 'not lit' LED flashed on the panel. Turned out to be a simple fix..the gas valve at the rear of the fridge (accessible through lower fridge vent) had 'stuck', and required a sharp tap with a hammer! All then worked as it should.

Worth trying...

Allen

 

[Forresbroons]

We had the same problem with our old van fridge, And like mentioned above it was found to be a fault/dirty thermocouple. We managed to clean up the tip of the thermocouple with a kitchen scrounging pad which cured the fault.

 

[Rod]

flame strength

we had a similar problem when away at new year.

The burner lit but the thermocoupler kept cutting out.

I stripped the burner down and found rust and dust had fallen into it. I blew out the jet and burner and the bigger flame was enough to heat the thermocoupler so it stayed on.

Might be worth trying or at least having a look at the burner when trying to light

 

[jagmanx]

The gas control valve IS ONLY for the fridge

Thanks jagmanx, all of our stove burners work great, so that is probably not our problem. Unfortunately unless someone can diagnose what the problem is, you can end up spending a fortune on parts and them not being the right ones. That's why we went to a repair place today, but alas, we still ended up paying a bill and came away without a fix. I have checked out the Dometic Service Centres but they are few and far between over here. There is one in Antequera or one in Alicante, we cannot speak Spanish so it would be useless to try and call them on the phone and unless we drive there we won't know if they can fix the fridge or not and both are quite a drive.

is ONLY for the fridge..
To get at it and take the photo I removed the lower vent on the outside of the van.
Removing the vent gives access to the burner and thermocouple and valve.
Yes the thermocouple is needed to operate the valve but if either is not working no gas (to the fridge)

 

[luv2travel]

Most times the issue with a fridge not working on gas is the jet being blocked and/or the flue being in need of a clean.

Do not do anything till this basic servicing has been done.

Blair should be more than capable of removing the burner and cleaning the jet. The jet must not be cleaned by inserting anything into it. Use a solvent of some type and blow compressed air through it.

The flue can be cleaned by carefully drawing something through it e.g. a small piece of rag on a length of string. Be aware that there may be a baffle suspended in the flue towards the top. This slows the rate of heat flow and makes the fridge more efficient.

I'm sure you will find information on the internet detailing how to remove the burner assembly.

This may assist:

YouTube

Hi Chris, thanks for your reply. Blair had already cleaned the flue and the jet, but unfortunately that did not cure the problem. After he did this that is when we took it to the repair guy. That guy did exactly what Blair had done and charged us for the privilege of doing it. He then tried replacing the circuit board assembly thingy the control for the knob, but that wasn't the problem either. We are just waiting until this Seyla Motorhomes open this morning and going to ask if they can shed any light on this problem.

 

[luv2travel]

Similar happened to our 7000 series fridge a while ago...selected gas, it appeared to light, then quickly went out and the 'not lit' LED flashed on the panel. Turned out to be a simple fix..the gas valve at the rear of the fridge (accessible through lower fridge vent) had 'stuck', and required a sharp tap with a hammer! All then worked as it should.

Worth trying...

Allen

Thanks for your reply Allen, before we go into Seyla Motorhomes this morning Blair is going to give your suggestion a try.

 

[luv2travel]

We had the same problem with our old van fridge, And like mentioned above it was found to be a fault/dirty thermocouple. We managed to clean up the tip of the thermocouple with a kitchen scrounging pad which cured the fault.

Thanks for your reply Keith. Before we go into Seyla Motorhomes this morning, Blair will have a look at the thermocouple and clean it and we will see if that is the problem. He is trying all suggestions to try and fix it himself before having to go back to a repair person.