I haven't been able to find any information on this problem with the Atwood refrigerator, so I thought I would start a thread to document what's happening for future reference. If anyone has ideas on the issue, feel free to let me know.
The fridge won't run on LP. It's an Atwood HE-0601. It's the same as the HW-0801, only smaller. Last fall it would run on LP. Now it won't. It runs fine on AC. When in LP mode, the igniter will spark and ignite the LP, but when the igniter stops sparking the flame goes out. It does this 2 more times and then stops and the "Check" light comes on on the front panel and the beeping starts. After checking several forums, I did the following. Ran the stove to purge the lines of air. Ran the refrigerator through numerous cycles to get it to ignite and run to purge this line of air. I finally opened up the access panel and checked for rust and stuff blocking the burner tube. It looks brand new as I think its only been run on propane once since it was built. I did pull the burner tube out and checked the orifice to make sure it wasn't plugged and there is absolutely no rust.
The unit is less than 2 years old, but we are the 2nd owners so it's not under warranty. I called Atwood anyway and they advised me that it was the igniter as they had a problem with the ones manufactured during my manufacturing run. They did send me a new one that looked identical to the one that was already installed. I replaced it and the identical problem and symptoms returned. I called Atwood again and they said it was probably the controller board. They said to take it to my dealer. Since I bought it as a resell from my dealer, it's not covered under warranty as I'm the 2nd owner. The dealer said they couldn't get me in for 3 months anyway. The only place I could find a board was on EBay, so I ordered one. Put it in yesterday and the same problem and symptoms persist. Checked the fuses on the board and all are ok. Found there is a thermal switch in the burner tube, or whatever it' called, and found that it has continuity and that the voltage goes up (millivolts) when the flame is present during the ignition cycle and that the voltage drops when the flame is not present. Seems as if the thermal switch is working. I'm at a loss as to where to go next. I've only been able to find 2 manuals, operation and service,for this fridge and neither provide information on how to diagnose/repair problems. I've found numerous ones for Dometic, but not the Atwood.
I looked at the thermal switch again. This is on the burner tube about 6-8 inches above the burner itself. It has one wire on the top and one on the bottom. In the center is what appears to be a button. The "button" has a red band showing. Normally when I see a red band like this, I think that something has tripped and needs resetting. I don't know if this is the case here, or if it just has a red band on it. I tried pushing and pulling on it to see if was a reset button, but neither motion changed it. I can't find any information online about this thermal switch to see if it does trip. I'm going to take a picture of it later today and call Atwood again tomorrow to see if they can provide me with any insight. I keep going back to the idea that the logic board is not sensing that a flame is present and shuts off the gas solenoid. This is the only part in that chain that I haven't replaced. Any other thoughts are appreciated. I'll continue to post as I find out more until I have a resolution in case anyone else runs into this problem.
The fridge won't run on LP. It's an Atwood HE-0601. It's the same as the HW-0801, only smaller. Last fall it would run on LP. Now it won't. It runs fine on AC. When in LP mode, the igniter will spark and ignite the LP, but when the igniter stops sparking the flame goes out. It does this 2 more times and then stops and the "Check" light comes on on the front panel and the beeping starts. After checking several forums, I did the following. Ran the stove to purge the lines of air. Ran the refrigerator through numerous cycles to get it to ignite and run to purge this line of air. I finally opened up the access panel and checked for rust and stuff blocking the burner tube. It looks brand new as I think its only been run on propane once since it was built. I did pull the burner tube out and checked the orifice to make sure it wasn't plugged and there is absolutely no rust.
The unit is less than 2 years old, but we are the 2nd owners so it's not under warranty. I called Atwood anyway and they advised me that it was the igniter as they had a problem with the ones manufactured during my manufacturing run. They did send me a new one that looked identical to the one that was already installed. I replaced it and the identical problem and symptoms returned. I called Atwood again and they said it was probably the controller board. They said to take it to my dealer. Since I bought it as a resell from my dealer, it's not covered under warranty as I'm the 2nd owner. The dealer said they couldn't get me in for 3 months anyway. The only place I could find a board was on EBay, so I ordered one. Put it in yesterday and the same problem and symptoms persist. Checked the fuses on the board and all are ok. Found there is a thermal switch in the burner tube, or whatever it' called, and found that it has continuity and that the voltage goes up (millivolts) when the flame is present during the ignition cycle and that the voltage drops when the flame is not present. Seems as if the thermal switch is working. I'm at a loss as to where to go next. I've only been able to find 2 manuals, operation and service,for this fridge and neither provide information on how to diagnose/repair problems. I've found numerous ones for Dometic, but not the Atwood.
I looked at the thermal switch again. This is on the burner tube about 6-8 inches above the burner itself. It has one wire on the top and one on the bottom. In the center is what appears to be a button. The "button" has a red band showing. Normally when I see a red band like this, I think that something has tripped and needs resetting. I don't know if this is the case here, or if it just has a red band on it. I tried pushing and pulling on it to see if was a reset button, but neither motion changed it. I can't find any information online about this thermal switch to see if it does trip. I'm going to take a picture of it later today and call Atwood again tomorrow to see if they can provide me with any insight. I keep going back to the idea that the logic board is not sensing that a flame is present and shuts off the gas solenoid. This is the only part in that chain that I haven't replaced. Any other thoughts are appreciated. I'll continue to post as I find out more until I have a resolution in case anyone else runs into this problem.
