Fridge Problem on Gas

Macspower

My 3 way fridge has been working perfectly since I got it. It's an electrolux model and in a Hymer 644

Gas has always been the best of the 3 options for performance having even frozen food in the bottom of the fridge if turned too high...

This week the gas has stopped working the fridge.. I turn on the orange switch and the light flashes as usual and I ignite it as per normal.. but it's not cooling the fridge...

mains and battery still work fine

Any ideas? Can I look at it myself? (I'm pretty handy with most stuff)

Aidan_M_M

The gas burner needs to be stripped and cleaned , the jet should be replaced at the same time , and the flue cleaned too .

Or else the thermostat for the Gas has gone.

Macspower

thanks Aidan,

I replaced the jet and cleaned the flu and put it all back together and she works...

btw have you got hinges for the door of a hymer C644 1998? I'll send PM

martyc5674

Resurrecting an old thread here as i have the same problem too all of a sudden.
Its an electrolux fridge that lights up fine but just aint cooling.
I took out the flu yesterday and its clean as far as i can see.
There is a housing below it (cylinder about the size of a can of beans)...i removed the heat dispersor thing which all looked clean aswell)
I suppose ill have to take apart the burner itself but it didnt look like i could get it out too easily without removing the fridge from the van???

Where abhouts would i find the gas thermostat?
Cheers,
Marty.

Aidan_M_M

Is it cooling on 220v? The stat is clipped to the fins inside the fridge .

martyc5674

Hi aidan.
Because i only noticed it had gone "poorly" yesterday i havent had a chance to check it on mains (i did switch it over to the battery and it did draw about 8 amps if i remember correctly...but i couldnt tell you about its actual cooling ability)

I take it the burner is the canister shaped yoke below the flu??
Does it normally require removing the fridge to get it out to clean it?

Thanks a mill,
Marty.

Aidan_M_M

Depends on the Camper! I rarely have to remove a fridge for that . But the Adrias always leave enough room to get to it..;)

The burner is behind a Galvanised box , on the RHs as you look in under the flu .

martyc5674

Cheers for that...its an adria so hopefully i can get @ it.
If i get a chance tonight ill pop out home and have a peek @ it at least.
I have the fridge manual so i should be able to locate the burner easy enough.
Thanks again,
Marty.

Aidan_M_M

On any adria Coral there's plenty of room . You need a flat screwdriver , a medium size Philips , an 11mm spanner and a 13mm . And to be careful . Setting the flame thermocouple and the spark electrode can be tricky . And Do NOT touch the jet at all , if you do it's scrap . If it doesn't fall out by shaking it , you'll damage it by poking it . The hole in it is made to an incredibly tight tolerance.

martyc5674

Cheers for that...didnt get to look @ it yet...hopefully tomorrow eve and ill be equipped with the right tools now ;-)
Will post back to let u know how it went.
Marty.

martyc5674

Opened the burner and it was all fairly clean...tiniest fragment of dirt however in the jet which i blew out and it all seems fine now again :-)
However just wondering how critical the flame thermocouple position is?
Pretty sure i put it back to roughly the same position it was in when i removed it.
Thanks again,
Marty.

martyc5674

Actually in hindsight the thermocouple must be OK.
It is lighting on the first spark and staying lighting, so its obviously detecting the flame and keeping gas supplied the the burner.

On my fridge you have to hold in the cooling dial on the fridge for a few secs while firing it up.
What does this do??...is it like a choke where it floods the burner with gas to get it up and running from cold or does it disable the thermocouple to allow the flame to get up to its expected operating temperature and thus does not shut off some safety valve?
Sorry for all the questions..im a curious sort!!
Marty

*Kol*

martyc5674 wrote: »

Actually in hindsight the thermocouple must be OK.
It is lighting on the first spark and staying lighting, so its obviously detecting the flame and keeping gas supplied the the burner.

On my fridge you have to hold in the cooling dial on the fridge for a few secs while firing it up.
What does this do??...is it like a choke where it floods the burner with gas to get it up and running from cold or does it disable the thermocouple to allow the flame to get up to its expected operating temperature and thus does not shut off some safety valve?
Sorry for all the questions..im a curious sort!!
Marty

Holding in the dial allows the flame to get up to its operating temperature so that the thermocouple will keep the gas flowing when you release the dial. I think in the manual for the fridge it says to keep the dial pushed in for ten seconds.

All the manuals for Dometic fridges are here http://www.dometicmanuals.com/PROD/MASTERDometic.nsf?Opendatabase

martyc5674

Cheers,
My second assumption was the right one so!!..It over rides the thermocouple.
Cheers,
Martin.

Aidan_M_M

martyc5674 wrote: »

Cheers,
My second assumption was the right one so!!..It over rides the thermocouple.
Cheers,
Martin.

A tiny bit of dirt is enough to disrupt the flow through the jet .

Well done!

deadl0ck

I'm also having problems.

The pilot light will not stay lit.

Well, it actually stayed lit once and then I let it run for about 5 mins. I then turned off and could not get it to stay lit again.

It's an Electrolux Model RM 6400 (In a 2001 Euro Mobil we bought 2 years ago)

I held in the dial for about a minute and still no joy - the pilot light just peters out.

Where should I start ? (This has not been serviced by me before)

Thanks !

BTW - I ran the fridge on mains and that worked fine. Also the Heater/Boiler and Gas rings work fine so there's plenty of gas....

EDIT : Here's pics from behind the lower vent on the outside of the camper (Click for larger image):


Is this the burner ?

martyc5674

Thats your burner alright...
Looks the same as mine...my fridge is a 6401 or a 6402 so bound to be very similar.

If i were you id take out the burner(11mm and 12mm spanner)...be careful with the jet(read above posts first)

Give the burner a good clean out...if you can get compressed air on it that would be great.
Look through the jet see if its blocked and if so try free it by blowing hard etc on it.

Before you dismantle it take note of the thermocouple and the igniter positions (these are the 2 cables that go to the burner...good reference for reassembly)

Might also be no harm to clean down the flu.

Marty.

deadl0ck

Reckon it's the thermocouple - which I have now cleaned also.

It still gets it hard to stay lit (It's easy to light the pilot light but it just won't stay lit when I release the push-in dial that I use when lighting).

Since cleaning I'v had more success, but still not consistently

Is it a big job to replace a thermocouple ? I'm thinking it is as I reckon the fridge would have to come out...

Here's my burner assembly now :

martyc5674

Sounds like thermocouple alright so.
Not sure how far back you have to go with cable or if you can chop it close to the burner...I doubt youll have to remove fridge though.

When i had my fridge problem i read a whack on "tinternet" about different fridge faults and a common one is the selector switch contacts (the switch that selects gas/batt or electric)

Try rotating it back and forth a few times to "clean" the contacts...see if it improves the situation even intermittently, this could rule your thermocouple out.

Marty.

deadl0ck

Thanks for the info.

If I need a new thermocoupler, would I not have to replace the whole thing ? Or can I just "chop" it as you say and connect a new one (like you might with an electrical wire) ?

martyc5674

I dont know to tell you the truth.

deadl0ck

I doubt if you can. It looks like a complete piece of copper :

martyc5674

That answers that then!!
Marty.

deadl0ck

Yep !
Actually - it stayed lit first time when I tried it today.
I'll try again tomorrow and see how it's doing - The general cleaning of the burner and thermocouple may have worked after all....

martyc5674

Great stuff...

Aidan_M_M

martyc5674 wrote: »

When i had my fridge problem i read a whack on "tinternet" about different fridge faults and a common one is the selector switch contacts (the switch that selects gas/batt or electric)

Try rotating it back and forth a few times to "clean" the contacts...see if it improves the situation even intermittently, this could rule your thermocouple out.

Marty.

That's usually only on the Thetford fridges , not Dometic/Electrolux.

deadl0ck wrote: »

Thanks for the info.

If I need a new thermocoupler, would I not have to replace the whole thing ? Or can I just "chop" it as you say and connect a new one (like you might with an electrical wire) ?

Nope , you cannot cut and join them .Guaranteed.

deadl0ck wrote: »

Yep !
Actually - it stayed lit first time when I tried it today.
I'll try again tomorrow and see how it's doing - The general cleaning of the burner and thermocouple may have worked after all....

It usually does!

martyc5674 wrote: »

Thats your burner alright..

If i were you id take out the burner(11mm and 12mm spanner)...be careful with the jet(read above posts first)

Give the burner a good clean out...if you can get compressed air on it that would be great.
Look through the jet see if its blocked and if so try free it by blowing hard etc on it.

Before you dismantle it take note of the thermocouple and the igniter positions (these are the 2 cables that go to the burner...good reference for reassembly)

Might also be no harm to clean down the flu.

Marty.

All correct apart from the early 90's onward are 11 and 13 spanners.

Jets must never , ever be distorted or rodded through , even with a pin.
And there are 3 different types of jet , dependant on the type of fridge.

deadl0ck

Actually - I tried it again at the weekend and couldn't get it to stay lit, so I am suspecting the thermocouple again

I ordered one here on eBay (I mailed the seller and he confirmed it would work with my model fridge)

I can also check the contacts on the switch when the fridge is pulled out....

Aidan_M_M

Yeah looks right , I normally keep a few here . once it's long enough . Have you changed the jet?

deadl0ck

No. Is the Jet the "Orifice" as described here?

Is this one on eBay ?

If so, I did see that it looked pretty much perfectly clean when I was cleaning the burner.

Also - the pilot light lights no problem, it just when I release the knob (i.e. at the point when the thermocouple should take over) that the flame dies. Would that mean the jet is OK ?

Aidan_M_M

deadl0ck wrote: »

1 . No. Is the Jet the "Orifice" as described here?

2 . Is this one on eBay ?

3 . If so, I did see that it looked pretty much perfectly clean when I was cleaning the burner.

4 . Also - the pilot light lights no problem, it just when I release the knob (i.e. at the point when the thermocouple should take over) that the flame dies. Would that mean the jet is OK ?

1. fcukin yanks...:D yes and no... it is the same place as a Dometic system , but that's not the same burner as a Euro system . Yours probably has "Junkers" (prononced Yuuunkers) on the side of it ?

2. Yes it is . But it doesn't say which of the 3 (visibly identical) types it is . £8 , plus £5 p+p.. £13 = E15.29 . We sell them for less than that....

3. I can't comment as I usually change them as a rule in problematic fridges after the basic clean-up .

4. Not necessarily . Could still be the jet , the burner , positioning of the ThermoCouple , The T-C itself , the Spark Box , the Gas Valve...

One other thing to try... is loosen the T-C at the top , (8mm Spanner) where it screws into the Gas valve , then retighten it . Not too tight! Worth a try . Has worked for me an odd time..

deadl0ck

1. fcukin yanks... yes and no... it is the same place as a Dometic system , but that's not the same burner as a Euro system . Yours probably has "Junkers" (prononced Yuuunkers) on the side of it ?

Yep - you're right !

2. Yes it is . But it doesn't say which of the 3 (visibly identical) types it is . £8 , plus £5 p+p.. £13 = E15.29 . We sell them for less than that....

I think it would be more awkward to drive 1.5 - 2 hours to collect it and then drive back. Unless you can post ??

3. I can't comment as I usually change them as a rule in problematic fridges after the basic clean-up .

Fair enough - it would probably be worth doing if I'm cleaning up the gas burner etc.. anyhow !

4. Not necessarily . Could still be the jet , the burner , positioning of the ThermoCouple , The T-C itself , the Spark Box , the Gas Valve...

One other thing to try... is loosen the T-C at the top , (8mm Spanner) where it screws into the Gas valve , then retighten it . Not too tight! Worth a try . Has worked for me an odd time..

Cool - will try that also as soom as we get the camper back - the in-laws have it this weekend (we jointly own it with them, but I'm the "service man" )