Propane stopped serving the refrigerator

Gary RV Roamer said:

Hmmm. Can't say that I've ever heard of propane leaving a residue on the jets in normal operation. If it did, I would suspect either an improperly adjusted air inlet to the burner (poor air/fuel ratio) or LP fuel that is contaminated with other chemicals. LP itself burns extremely clean and should never leave a varnish behind. It's one of the few advantages of propane over gasoline or diesel.

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Correct [as usual] ...sometimes a orifice gets plugged but it is not varnish as far as I have ever seen...I have special cleaning wires just for that job...very fine... in a pinch I have taken a strand from a small gauge stranded wire and got the job done...copper wire is softer than the ss of the orifice so I doubt it will scratch or mar the opening...
As a world famous man says ... ".. if this dont work for you .. I NEVER KNEW YOU.." ...

Gary RV Roamer said:

Hmmm. Can't say that I've ever heard of propane leaving a residue on the jets in normal operation. If it did, I would suspect either an improperly adjusted air inlet to the burner (poor air/fuel ratio) or LP fuel that is contaminated with other chemicals. LP itself burns extremely clean and should never leave a varnish behind. It's one of the few advantages of propane over gasoline or diesel.

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with respect ..... try this link please
http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Gas_Orifice.htm

I have experienced the Norcold refrigerator not working on gas on several occassions after travelling rough roads. The symptoms have always been that when the frig trys to run on propane, it will go through the startup: gas valve clicks open, ignitor sparks several times (sometimes there is a little puff as gas tries to ignite) then stops, ignitor sparks several times and frig locks out with yellow light blinking. The ignitor on our model frig is a single wire rod that sparks to the metal tube at the gas orifice. It is held in place by very flimsy bracket. The cure for this problem has always been to reset the gap between the ignitor and the gas orifice.

Seajay said:

with respect ..... try this link please
http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Gas_Orifice.htm

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That article says nothing about propane leaving any residue in the burner orifice.  It merely describes how to clean it.

with respect ..... try this link please
http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Gas_Orifice.htm

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Seajay: I don't see anything at that link that suggests a propane burner needs regular cleaning or suffers from routine varnish build-up.  It describes how to clean one and why you must avoid enlarging the orifice.

Once more and then I am through guys...........  Respects to all.... I am just trying to help, not cause an argument.....cj......
I also would strongly suggest that the man read this article before attempting to clean the burner orifice ............. 

try this link    this is where I got my information and this is what I did when my ''refer'' stopped working...
http://www.rvmobile.com/tech/trouble/burner.htm

Orifice. The orifice is the very last component in the propane system before the burner, and has a very precise hole manufactured into it. The orifice and the pressure of the gas passing through it set the size of the burner flame. If one or the other is incorrect, then the flame will not be correct. Usually, if there is a problem, the orifice is dirty. Microscopic debris has accumulated around the hole making it smaller and therefore not the correct size. Also, oil from the propane tank and other propane components can be deposited on the orifice, making it easier for debris to stick to it.

To clean the orifice, first remove it. Sometimes blowing air through the orifice will clean it, but since you already have it out, you should soak it in alcohol or paint thinner (some non-oily solvent) for a few hours to dissolve any oil build up. And, then blow air through it. Do NOT poke anything into the orifice. It is such a precise hole, that you will either accomplish nothing or you will enlarge it and ruin it. There are no orifice bits for RV refrigerator orifices. In fact, there is no apparent logic in the numbering of orifices between manufacturers. A Dometic #58 orifice is roughly equivalent to a Norcold .16 orifice. Sometimes, even after repeated cleanings of the orifice, the flame is still not right and in your heart you feel everything else is right. This is possible. Sometimes an orifice seems to be uncleanable or can be defective. If you can, replace the orifice. If you can't replace the orifice -- keep cleaning. One important thing to note is that if you enlarge the orifice, you will increase the heat output of the flame and ruin the cooling unit Another, rarer problem on metal orifices is that the flow of propane over the years can actually erode the orifice and either make it out of round or enlarge it. In the either case, the orifice has to be replaced.


Nuff said on my part  .......... cj........ GOOD LUCK

God bless the troops that fought in Desert Storm.......

I think what SeaJay is talking about is the odorant that is added to propane that might have a oily residue.

An old mobile home that a buddy hauled off had propane appliances and everything but when we open the propane line it had a oil like substance in it but the line smelled of propane. Maybe he's right... ???

We just returned from another drycamping weekend trip to Lake Isabella and we had no problems with the gas and the ref. I turned on the gas at home for a couple hours before leaving and the ref worked fine then I turned the gas off before getting to the gas station to fill up then drove to the Exchange to pick up some last minute groceries and turned the gas on again. This time the ref gas light was blinking again so I turned the gas off then turned the gas on slowly and the ref worked great the rest of the trip.

These propane fridges seem to require the most effort and maintenance on the RV's.  I had issues with mine, would shut off randomly while running on propane.  It was very frustrating, because it was random.  The fridge would run for several days, then shut off.

What I did, was clean the heck out of the back (outside part).  I took a wire brush, and cleaned the 12 v connections.  I then removed the thermo couple.  It was covered in dirt/dust.  I cleaned that, reinstalled it, and viola!  Fridge hasn't shut off once since then, has been working great.

This will be routine fridge maintenance for me, dust gets in there.  The area needs to be cleaned out occasionally. 

Regarding the effects of altitude on a refrigerator....  a couple of weeks ago, we spent the night in Fairplay, CO (elevation 9950').  The old Norcold worked great with no apparent detrimental effect due to altitude, and was kicking out ice cubes as per usual.

The problem with opening the valve too fast sounds perhaps like a regulator malfunctioning. 

DailyDriver said:

Regarding the effects of altitude on a refrigerator....  a couple of weeks ago, we spent the night in Fairplay, CO (elevation 9950').  The old Norcold worked great with no apparent detrimental effect due to altitude, and was kicking out ice cubes as per usual.

The problem with opening the valve too fast sounds perhaps like a regulator malfunctioning.

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Actually it is a regulator Functioning correctly.  Many are designed to sense an excess flow and then restrict that flow as a safety feature.  If the gas rushes into and through the regulator too fast it will enact that safety feature.  The fix is to release the pressure on the tank side and then open valve slowly to restet.

The excess flow shut-off function is not part of an LP regulator.  It is built into the tank valve on DOT-approved portable LP bottles. It is NOT present on ASME-approved fixed tanks used in nearly all motorhomes.