Frig and heater jet size question for better cooling of frig and heating of water.

[Kevin K]

Both the frig. and water heater have jets.

If I increase the jet size by 1 number (#43 to #44) on my frig will that help in making it cool faster?

If I increase the jet size by 1 number on my water heater will that help in making it heat faster?

Just an idea I have about getting better cooling and heating from both.

[David Tilston]

Hmmm... I am normally not a net nanny, but the size of the jet on your funace is determined by people that know a lot more about it then anyone here. A larger jet will allow more gas, but if your water heater will even benefit, or if you just have flames coming out of the exhaust, hard to say.

The fridge, even less likely. What the flame is doing is distilling water out of ammonia. This is necessary to cool, but more heat may just cause water to carry over where it should not be. This would make the fridge less cold.

[Darwin Maring]

Gas fridges seam to be a source of camper fires.

[Kevin K]

David Tilston
I don't have a furnace.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Gas fridges seam to be a source of camper fires.

Hmmmm... I can't see why????

One would think that the other gas appliances are a greater threat. I know of at least three motorhomes that burned down due to fires that started on the stove, but none from the refrigerator.

In as much as it has only a very small pilot size flame, that is fully enclosed, and a no-flame detector, I would think that it's the safest of RV appliances.

[David Tilston]

Sorry, I meant to type water heater. Same answer. May heat the water quicker, may send flames out the exhaust port. I really don't have much expertise with combustion engineering. I probably should not have commented.

[Victor Benz]

I am an engineer, but not a combustion engineer. I have, however, messed with this stuff on a small, portable BBQ that I rebuilt. Here's what I learned.

1.The gas piping either side of the orifice needs to be clean, as well as the small orifice plate itself. This is the source of most problems.

2. I did drill out the BBQ orifice by one size only. Yes, I get more heat, but I cannot leave the lid closed on the BBQ since the flame goes out very quickly.

So my recommendation is to leave well enough alone, and make sure your piping is clean, along with the orifice itself. you can get brushes to clean that small hole.

Vic

[mszabo]

Your refrigerator uses a low volume orfice, sized for your unit.
If your at altitudes above 8000 ft., you may need to change it.
Too a smaller one.
If you want your refrigerator to operate efficiently, clean your burner assembly and check your fuel pressure.
I've never had a need for hot water quicker than the 10 minutes it takes for my 6 gallon heater to get hot. I guess one could install a instant water heater.
I just leave my water heater and refrigerator lit when I travel.

[Carol H]

Kevin is there a reason you need hot water to heat up faster than you are currently getting?
My hot water tank seems to heat up pretty fast - takes only a few minutes to fully heat up the water in the tank - maybe 10-15 min.....

[blodn1]

I had this problem in a bakery I owned. We ran propane, but the ovens they shipped to me had orifices sized for natural gas. I wondered why the ovens weren't efficient, and why I had to keep cleaning out the soot. Different gasses have different pressures - lp orifice is smaller than natural gas to generate the same BTUs. I did change the orifice so the ovens would work properly, but it was to match the pressures. I wouldn't recommend changing the size of the orifice. I'm an engineer, too, and not a combustion engineer, either, but have some experience.

[Kevin K]

No reason on either, just wanted to know if I could improve the performance on both.

[Francesca Knowles]

Kevin, this is Your Stand-In Mother speaking:

Don't mess with the jet sizes on your gas appliances.

[Darwin Maring]

Just google camper refrigerator fires.

Running the fridge on propane while you are driving and you pull into a gas station and fill up with a Flame not far from where you or someone else is filling up is dangerous.

Norcold Recall

TO ALL DOMETIC RV FRIDGE OWNERS!!! FIRE!!! PICS!!!! - AR15.Com Archive

[Darwin Maring]

Add a solar fan to the top of the fridge exhaust vent so you get better cool air movement over the coils.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Add a solar fan to the top of the fridge exhaust vent so you get better cool air movement over the coils.

This is good advice, but Dometic recommends the fans be below the coiled tube, blowing up. A fan on the inside helps as well.

[Carol H]

I did a few things that seem to have helped my old fridge preform a bit better in hot weather.

Open up the bottom outside vent a little and leave it open.
Added a simple fan to the outside control area that blows up over the coils.
Clean out the stack (don't think that had been done in the first 16 years of the fridges life).
Added foil/bubble insulation all the way around the fridge.
Closed off all the small gaps between the main fridge and the rear outside control compartment as well as the cabinets that surround it.

Last but not least and the item I think had the biggest impact. Purchased a good portable cooler for holding the items that satisfy my thirst quenching needs. Resulted in far fewer reasons to keep opening and closing the fridge in warm weather.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Just google camper refrigerator fires.

Running the fridge on propane while you are driving and you pull into a gas station and fill up with a Flame not far from where you or someone else is filling up is dangerous.

Norcold Recall

TO ALL DOMETIC RV FRIDGE OWNERS!!! FIRE!!! PICS!!!! - AR15.Com Archive

But recalls that aren't done isn't an indication of overall danger on the other 99% of LP refrigerators.

In the case of the mentioned Dometic fire, it was an engineering problem. BTW: Apparently the owner was leaving it running and unattended for at least weeks at a time, not recommended by anyone for an RV LP refrigerator.

And forgetting to turn off your refrigerator before pulling into a gas station is an example of operator error, not an intrinsic danger of LP refrigerators.

Everything about an RV can be dangerous if not maintained and used properly. Years ago there was a story about an owner loosing a finger when the toilet valve snapped shut on him.

Danger, Danger, Everywhere

[Francesca Knowles]

The fridge fire linked to earlier was in a fridge covered by a recall that had nothing whatever to do with LP operation, and the cause was likely related to the defect targeted.

That (ongoing) recall very specifically addresses problems that can, will, and have caused fires during or immediately after operation on 110/120v. It's an electrical problem, unrelated to propane operation at all. This defect is the cause of nearly all reported RV fridge fires in recent years.

That recall began with the models named in the below quote, taken from page bottom at this link. It has since been expanded to include many more Norcold models with the same shorepower related defect:

If a leak occurs, the cooling performance of the refrigerator will deteriorate, requiring immediate replacement of the cooling unit. Extended operation of a leaking cooling unit in the AC electric mode can result in a fire.