Fridge on propane

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cactusem

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Mar 20, 2018
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Hi,
We have a 2017 R-Pod 179. Its fridge is supposed to run on electricity, propane and battery. We just bought it and have only taken one trip.
We were told to run the fridge on propane while we were pulling the trailer down the road. Is this correct?
We were told to never run the fridge on just battery. Is this correct?
When we stopped (turned the truck off at where we were going to camp) and tried to just run the fridge on propane it just starting flashing and said attention was required. We didn't know what to do.  What are we supposed to do?
What is the proper sequence or procedure for using the fridge in the various modes?
Thanks so much for the help.


 
If you can provide the brand and model # of the fridge that can be very helpful. I don't know if R-Pod puts 3 way fridges in their units. I think most are 120V or propane for cooling the fridge and 12V for the circuit board and controls. So, generally speaking, you should always have 12V to the control parts of the fridge and either 120V or propane to do the cooling.
Anyway, the brand and model of the fridge is a good start.
 
It might be as simple as air in the gas line. Light a burner on the stove for a couple of minutes to purge the line, then try the fridge again.
 
It is a Dometic Refrigerator Model RM8501
It says: Operation by LP Gas, 12V DC or 120V AC

We did run the stove. It worked fine but the fridge still would not run.
 
cactusem said:
Hi,
We have a 2017 R-Pod 179. Its fridge is supposed to run on electricity, propane and battery. We just bought it and have only taken one trip.
We were told to run the fridge on propane while we were pulling the trailer down the road. Is this correct?
We were told to never run the fridge on just battery. Is this correct?
When we stopped (turned the truck off at where we were going to camp) and tried to just run the fridge on propane it just starting flashing and said attention was required. We didn't know what to do.  What are we supposed to do?
What is the proper sequence or procedure for using the fridge in the various modes?
Thanks so much for the help.
Click to expand...


There could be a button or switch to change the various modes of operation. Look inside the fridge for it.
Lighting instructions below. Sorry, the pictures didn't copy. Do you have a fridge manual?


Appliances with battery igniter 1 Fig. 17 1. Turn the rotary selector switch to position "flame" at 6 o'clock position. 2. Turn the temperature selector clockwise and push. Keep the controller button depressed. Then, press knob of battery igniter down and keep it depressed. The ignition process is activated automatically. 4. Once the flame ignites, the pointer of galvanometer begins moving into the green range. The refrigerator is operational. Keep knob "2" depressed for approx. 15 seconds and finally release it.
Each refrigerator with manual ignition is equip- ped with an automatic flame safety valve which interrupts the gas supply automatically after approx. 30 seconds when the flame has extin- guished. 17 2 Fig. 18 4 Fig. 20
 
HappyWanderer said:
It might be as simple as air in the gas line. Light a burner on the stove for a couple of minutes to purge the line, then try the fridge again.
Click to expand...

I have to do this each time we take the camper out of storage.
 
Here's the manual for your model.  Should be an enlightening read. . .

https://mega.nz/#!MsxiFQjI!TIznHx-jnYiJ2jo7axoiDCYF0XI1haC_pC5zq88dFO4

Cheers,

Dan K.
 
We were told to run the fridge on propane while we were pulling the trailer down the road. Is this correct?
Click to expand...

It's what most people do, though some few worry about escaping propane if involved in a major accident. Your call.


We were told to never run the fridge on just battery. Is this correct?
Click to expand...

The 12v DC (battery) mode uses a LOT of power from the battery, so use it very sparingly. It has its place, but its limited.


When we stopped (turned the truck off at where we were going to camp) and tried to just run the fridge on propane it just starting flashing and said attention was required. We didn't know what to do.  What are we supposed to do?
Click to expand...

What was flashing? If it was "Fault" and the GAS indicator, that means the burner tried to ignite 3 times over a 5 minute period and failed each time.  This should be covered in your fridge manual, but it is also explained in this excellent operation and service manual:

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/Service%20Manual,%20RM8xxx.pdf

The most common reason for failure to ignite is either the gas supply is turned off (but you said the stove works) or air in the line to the fridge. Air will clear on its own after a time, but keeping a stove burner on may speed that up.  Just switch the fridge off and back on again to make additional attempts to light the gas burner.

 
Thanks for all this info and help. The service manual is very thorough. Thanks for that link.
As soon as we push the gas mode, the gas mode light and the fault light (I think that is what it is...it is a triangle with an exclamation mark in it) start flashing. There is no delay like an attempt to ignite and certainly not three attempts. The flashing begins immediately.
I have tried cleaning the gas line on the outside but don't want to take too much apart since I really don't know what I am doing. Probably will have to take it in. 
 
question, any chance that the shut off valve for propane to the fridge is turned off at the access panel behind the fridge ?..just a thought :).
 
Do you have a good battery connected to the trailer and turned on?  Do you have a battery disconnect and is it turned on?
On any RV refer you need strong 12VDC and either 120VAC or propane for it to work. On yours since it is a three way it will also run on 12VDC.  When you turn it on do you set it to auto or manual mode?
 
x2 on checking the battery status.  On our first motorhome, we had a gas fault light on our fridge that we couldn't figure out for the longest time.  Eventually I discovered the battery was weak, which made the propane safety sensor trip into "alarm" mode, which electronically disengaged the propane flow, which then would not fuel the fridge or anything else.

That's probably not your issue if (1) the stove burners still work, and (2) your fault light/message shows up instantly (as you mentioned).  But a weak battery or connection can cause all sorts of problems with the interconnected systems on RV's.
 
Have you tried the DC (12v electric) and AC (120v shore power) modes to determine if they work?  It would help to narrow down the possibilities somewhat. If none of the modes work, you may have a circuit board issue or perhaps low 12v power, but if either or both other modes work, it may be something in the gas system.
 
We use same thing on camper van. You have to turn your battery ON or else the fridge goes into fault mode.

Fridge can not live on propane alone, needs 12 volt too.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
If the fridge had no 12v power, how would the indicator lights be on? Could not even select Gas mode unless it had 12v power available.
Click to expand...
just brain storming here :). with 12vdc, surely this is enough to light the eye brow lights, but, if the 12vdc was not high enough , would this low voltage stop the propane solenoid from opening up for propane to flow ?. as stated, maybe the battery/batteries are not charged enough ?, your smarter than me, again, just brain storming here :).
 
My Dometic also has 3 modes.  But it takes several tries before the propane ignites successfully, even though I follow the advice in previous posts. Once lit it works great. 
 
you should only run the fridge on 12volts when traveling..... the amp draw on the batterys will.kill a set in a couple hours.......so haveing a vehical charging crikey is highly recommended
 
if you're new to these types of fridges, then I suggest doing a little reading arprv.com
not to talk you into buying the product necessarily, but to learn about these fridges, how they work, the importance of keeping them level, etc...  It takes some digging around over there but he has a lot of info posted.
Full disclosure, I'm a paying customer of ARP...nothing more.
 
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