Old fridge, old problem, Morocco

[celinandalts]

We're a couple of Autralians traveling about in our old motorhome and are having problems with our 3 way fridge...this is rather frustrating for a couple of Aussies, as you could well imagine.....the beers aren't getting cold!!
The flame is burning yellow. This has happened before though Dalts being the handy man of the couple, has managed to fix the problem....we are now in Morocco and have switched to butane gas. The problem is back, not sure if it was the unexpected speed humps that knocked things out of place again or if it's the change of gas, the usual adjustments are not working. The fridge is not getting cold, though the freezer is (but not frosting as usual).
We wonder if we could fix this ourselves (preferable) or could anyone recommend a place we could have it fixed in Morocco.....we're currently in Mohammedia and heading south.
Cheers, Celina and Dalts

 

[AndyC]

A yellow flame usually means that there is not enough air in the air/gas mix for it to burn properly.

Most likely there is some dust or dirt in the burner assembly, or some debris has dropped down the heating tube onto the burner.

Dismantling the burner and giving everything a good clean out should fix it.

AndyC

 

[Deleted member 3011]

Some older motorhomes set up for propane have incorrect regulator pressure and gas jets to run on Butane. Do you see the same thing on your cooktop?




If things get really desperate you might have to forego eating and keep the beer in the freezer - or head for the Atlas mountains and camp in the snow so you don't need a fridge

 

[Deleted member 207]

You can do a simple diagnosis of the fridge.

First up you need to be in a campsite with 240V power, turn the fridge over to electricity and see if the fridge cools on power. If it does then you've isolated the problem to the gas, if not then you've isolated the problem to the boiler tube and/or loss of coolant.

If its the gas then its possible that there is soot over the jet. You can only soak jets in alcohol/solvent in an attempt to clean, then back blow them. Never try and push wire into the hole - too small and fragile. Refit and then see if it works. If not check the gauze filter just prior to the thermostat control - only some early Electrolux models. If its gunked up, clean and refit, fire up. Another source of problems can be the thermocouple not being fully into the flame - adjust if needed.

If the fridge does not work on electricity and gas then try the age old fix of removing the fridge, shaking and turning upside down for a few days, refitting, resting for a day and then having a working fridge. The boiler tube often gets blocked with rust particles and this is the Electrolux fix.

Just check that there is no yellow powder on any part of the cooling system - this is usually a sign of coolant leak and is basically fatal for the fridge unless you can get it refilled - quite possible in less developed countries.

Let us know how you go.

 

[Nosha]

As others have said, yellow flame = lack of air, it will also look a weak and wobbly flame that will easily blow out. You therefore need to see where the burner tube picks up its air supply from... normally just back from the gas jet, often blocked by rust dropping down the burner chimney. You should be looking at a blue flame with a slightly lighter blue cone inside the flame.

As well as not being very efficient, a yellow flame will produce higher levels of carbon monoxide - a KILLER gas!! So make sure the back of the fridge is well ventilated and the fridge is sealed from the living compartment.