Three way fridge problems
Submitted: Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 21:26
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130206
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trebmal74
Sorry if I have posted this before.
I'm having issues with my Dometic three way fridge in our Jayco caravan. It works great on 240V & 12V when travelling. Yet on gas it doesn't work. There is gas coming through, the indicator on the front of the fridge shows that the gas is lit and working (in the green zone) and there is a flame at the burner. See photo.
I have cleaned the jet, gas is working ok as the hot plates work and they are next to the fridge. The fridge just doesn't stay cold. I have had other vans and the same fridge worked great on gas.
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Trebmal74
Gas burner
Reply By: HKB Electronics - Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:48
Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:48
If the fridge works ok on 240V the problem will be the gas burner is not getting hot enough.
If the fridge is a few years old you get rust falling down into the burner and blocking it, I would suggest the burner needs to be removed and cleaned.
Cheers,
Leigh
AnswerID:
590065
Follow Up By: HKB Electronics - Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:50
Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:50
Forgot to add, could also be the thermostat if the burner and jet are ok.
FollowupID:
858055
Follow Up By: trebmal74- Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:54
Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:54
Thanks Leigh,
The van was bought new by us nearly 2yrs ago. We've only used it or tried to use it once on gas and that was after we had the van probably about 15-18mths. I'll look set the burner as we'll see if it need to be cleaned.
Cheers
Trebmal74
FollowupID:
858056
Follow Up By: trebmal74- Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:55
Sunday, Sep 06, 2015 at 22:55
I'll check the thermostat as well
FollowupID:
858057
Reply By: Member - Barnray (NSW) - Monday, Sep 07, 2015 at 08:19
Monday, Sep 07, 2015 at 08:19
I have had a similar Problem with my fridge the gas jet was partly blocked, by the look of the flame that is whats wrong. You need to remove the flame tube and the jet and blow it clear, the hole is too fine for a wire cleaner. There is also a fine filter in the inlet fitting that can be blocked. Barnray
AnswerID:
590072
Reply By: TTD1 - Monday, Sep 07, 2015 at 13:07
Monday, Sep 07, 2015 at 13:07
Hi Trebmal,
Your photo shows the flame not facing at right angles to the fridge flue. I have struck this problem with a Jayco before the burner not aligned at right angles with the flue and not getting the full benefit of the flame. The last one I worked on only required this to be done and worked like a charm.
The flame looks ok to me, hope this helps.
TTD
AnswerID:
590077
Follow Up By: Phil 23 - Tuesday, Sep 08, 2015 at 20:09
Tuesday, Sep 08, 2015 at 20:09
Was actually wondering if the flame look big enough or not.
Hard to tell from the photo, but if the thermostat has corroded it could be stuck on
the pilot flame.
You could test this by watching the flame while someone turns the thermostat up & down from zero.
Was checking mine on the weekend & even at minimum temp setting
the pilot flame still stays alight.
Cheers.
FollowupID:
858158
Follow Up By: Cheeky1 - Friday, Sep 11, 2015 at 12:46
Friday, Sep 11, 2015 at 12:46
Hi Trembal,
I reckon TTD1 is on the mark. I had the same issue with my fridge but not all the time - which had me completely confused for a while. Generally, we use the gas more than electricity. The fridge worked great on gas but this one time we camped up for a few days, I noticed everything in the freezer was starting to thaw. Fortunately we were heading
home after the weekend camping trip, so I gave the burner a good clean, thinking that it would have had some grit in it that was restricting the flame. Afterwards, I turned it back on while it was level inside my the shed and noted that after a few days the fridge was working fine on the gas. The same thing happened some months after on another weekend camping trip. It suddenly clicked that both times I hadn't been able to get the front of the van down enough for it to be level. I confirmed this by messing around to get the van level. It wasn't out of whack by very much, but it was enough to make a difference. Usually I can set the van up reasonably un-level most other ways (sideways, etc), but I can't have the front of the van up too much. I put this down to the burner not being correctly lined up under the boiler. I now overcome this by getting the front of the van dead level. I'm not saying that this is exactly what your problem is, but it could be that your burner may need to be adjusted to be correctly aligned under the boiler. Given that the fridge operates on the electrical element ok, this is where I would start. I hope my experience helps you. Cheeky1
FollowupID:
858245
Reply By: trebmal74 - Monday, Sep 07, 2015 at 23:30
Monday, Sep 07, 2015 at 23:30
Thanks for the feed back. will look into it and see what I can achieve.
Cheers,
Trebmal74
AnswerID:
590109
Reply By: 940 - Tuesday, Sep 08, 2015 at 13:24
Tuesday, Sep 08, 2015 at 13:24
We had similar problem. Flame on stove was down but we did not notice that. It was the fridge that would not keep cold even though the freezer was ok for a day. We were advised by local Dometic dealers that we needed a new regulator - the other one was it even 12 months old. but we are in business again. Might be worth a try.
AnswerID:
590131