Sunday, Dec 14, 2014 at 09:25
Aussie,
As indicated by another poster, that is the thermocouple coming out of the top of that "tee" piece and going into the top of the burner area. Would be surprised if you can't get one similar, if not the same, at a gas fitting place. If not, a thermocouple for a Rheem gas hot water system will work. Many electrical white goods dealers can obtain Rheem parts.
We lived in a 'van with an Electrolux fridge of the same vintage, from 1980 to '85. Worked
well in the winter, froze everything, but struggled once the temps increased. One thing it did
well in Summer was keep the 'van very warm!
A word of warning! We had just shifted
camp on
Avon Downs, prior to constructing a new turkeys nest. We were sitting around after a feed talking, when the power went out. This was accompanied by a faint plastic burning smell, which we thought nothing of at the time. The genet was fitted with an ELB, which tripped.....something strange here, we thought.
Following up on the plastic smell, checked the back of the fridge, and it had developed a small gas leak, which was burning!!! This was to the left of where the thermocouple exists the thick "tee" thingy. Of course
the junction boxes were immediately above the extra flame, and the 240v one had melted, and shorted the wires.
Often look back on that day and think how our tardiness in going to set up the job probably saved the 'van, and also our 2 daughters who may have stayed in the 'van?
Good luck with the search for a part, sounds like it's keen to go for another 40 years.
Bob
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