My fridge won't won't stay lit.

[Ryanintruckee]

Hey everyone
I have a 2016 Jayco jayfeather.  After de-winterizing, I went on my first trip and realized that when only on propane my fridge wouldn't light.  It would try, but never actually light for more than a second.  Also my stovetop wouldn't light with the propane lighting my water heater.  I feel there must be a bubble in the system, but once my stovetop would turn on, it would stay lit until I turned it off.  I'm going camping again next weekend and am trying to figure this out, but am having no luck.  I'm always make sure I'm level so that I snt the issue.  Thanks for any advice!

 

[Ryanintruckee]

Sorry.  I meant that the gas would get to the stove top only if the water heater was running on propane.

 

[Memtb]

    Ryanintrukee,  If I understood correctly, your water heater ?will? work on gas. When the water heater is on, the stove will not light....correct! Will the stove light and continue to burn, if the water heater is off. If, you cannot get both appliances to run simultaneously, you may have a regulator problem.

    However, I?m guessing that you have air in the system, and the water heater is ?upstream? of the stove, consequently it will have fuel, while the stove does not. Try turning on a burner on the stove to purge the air thru the burner, until you can smell propane. Shut it off, give the propane time to disperse, then try to light the stove. Once this is done, likely the refrigerator will soon be able to get fuel enough to sustained a flame!

        Good Luck!

 

[John From Detroit]

I keep hearing claims like "Air in the line" or "a Bubble" and .. or the most part they are like political promises.. BULL.

First the Fridge and stove/water heater issues are not related or not likely related in any case.
The Water heater is a MAJOR sucker of Gas.. Like the Furnace it is many many BTU's (The furnace is the biggest gas sucker in the house)  If it works you do not have air in the line, you do not have a "Bubble" You may however have a "Restriction" this can be caused by OIL in the line/Regulator.. Propane is related to oil after all. and sometimes a bit of oil gets in the line.

Or the regulator could be either aged out or gummed up. though aging out usually takes like forever

One final trick is the Excess flow valve.. Brew a pot of coffee. THEN turn off the gas at the tank, Turn off everything that eats propane First.. Enjoy a cup of fresh brewed.

Then SLOWLY open the valve. if you hear gas flow.. STOP.. when you no longer hear it continue to SLOWLY open the valve.  Continue this procedure till the valve is FULLY open.

Now re-light stuff and see if it works.

The Fridge...
Recall I said the Furnace is the #1 Gas Guzzler (Propane is a gas, meaning vapor). the water heater #2, then the stove.. Well the fridge is last on the list.  Little more than the oven pilot light in fact.  IF anything works. the fridge should work fine.

Do what you have to do to VISUALLY inspect for flame then have partner activate. If it lights. then shuts off then re-lights  and shuts off (like 3 times) you have one of 3 issues

1: Dirty burner orifice not getting enough flame.
There is an insect which loves the aroma of Propane and natural Gas. It nests burner and cloggs it.

2: Thermocouple (Flame sensor) failure or just so dirty it's not heating up (Rare)

3: Control board not sensing the flame..

Now I've not had that on my fridge but it did on my Furnace.  On the Furnace there is one wire that both carries around 1,000 volts (by estimate) to light my fire as it were and about 1/2 volt (.480) to tell the control board "FIRED UP"  Now imagine if that half volt sensor gets hit with a kilovolt ignition spike.. Pop goes the transistor.. and so it did.

Now I'm not saying better electronics folks than I agree with this (yes I am) but when I got my Dinosaur Board replacement control board I noticed something called a "Gas Discharge" tube. I can only think of one reason why it would be there.... See the "Imagine" line above.. It protects the sensor chip should the changeover go wonkey as it clipps the excess voltage.

Oh. one other thing. Dinosaur boards.. VERY HIGH QUALITY in my not very humble opinion. Very high

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

There seems to be a gas flow problem, whether you call it an air bubble or oil globule.  If the problem doesn't clear up after the heater or stove runs for 10-15 minutes, it's probably not an air bubble.  The regulator is the #1 suspect after that, though its problem may in fact be a glob of oil like John described.

If the fridge burner lights at all, it is crucial whether it stays lit 1 second or more like 5-10 seconds.  If it stays lit for 10 seconds and cuts off, it is more likely that the fridge circuit board did that because it could not detect the flame and did a safety shut-down.  Less than about 5 seconds indicates a burner problem.
Does the gas furnace work? With and without the the heater running?

 

[Ryanintruckee]

so I have a bit of an update.  i took the protector plate off so I could access the burner jet of the fridge igniter system.  when I put my finger close to the burner jet, I could direct the gas flow and the fridge would light and stay lit as long as my finger was there.  I dont know if Im focusing the gas stream or directing it, but something is going on there.  maybe not enough gas is coming out...  i feel I am getting closer.  Thanks for all of your comments so far!!