More fridge problems

[Matt4483]

My 73 Boler has a three way fridge which we considered replacing but in the interest of saving money we simply cleaned it and thought we would try to squeeze another year out of it. Since cleaning it has a beautiful blue flame and seemed to work great. Had it running for 24 hrs in the backyard as a test. This past weekend we went away for a few days and discovered that after using the fridge for just over 24 hrs the pilot went out. I re-light the pilot several times but it would almost immediately go out. Upon returning home I light the pilot light again and the fridge worked great for 24hrs and then went out......... Any thoughts or advice? I was wondering if it might be the thermocoupler but I truely have pretty limited knowledge of how gas applicances work.

[Donna D.]

Is the refrigerator LEVEL. It may not be in relation to the trailer floor or the belly band. I know my 25 year old 3-way works better when it's level.

[Dudley]

I am having the same problem, The fridge's are very sensitive to the amount of pressure from the regulator, too little and the do not have enough flame, too much and the flame can actually be blown off the burner and go out. They need 11" WC (water column). You can test and adjust the regulator with a homemade pressure tester called a manometer. Fancy name for a tube full of water. I replaced my regulator and bottle hose on my 76 Ventura for about $60 and it did help.

DIY RV Manomter

Dometic Fridge troubleshooting

Older Dometic fridge troubleshooting

[Dudley]

Just made a guage and tested mine and had to adjust the regulator a little to get 11". Total cost of the guage is about $5 . A picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few thousand. Guage is marked at 1/2" increments and represent 1" WC each. The adapter is just a 1/8 brass pipe nipple (about $2). Testing was done with fridge on and both burners on stove lit. Fill hose to zero mark when level, add a drop or 2 food coloring

[Dudley]

Matt if your in Edmonton, bring it over and we can test your pressure. I'm in north Edmonton

[Matt4483]

Thanks for the tips and info. I levelled the fridge last night and the pilot was out by this morning. Thanks for the photos Dudley, I'm in Calgary so I will try to make one this weekend. Just had a new regulator installed in May. Hopefully this will do the trick

[Michael Pupeza]

In my original Dometic fridge, the pilot light was also going out. Also, the electronics just puts up the "Check" light but does not retry igniting it, until it is turned off and on again.
In my case, I replaced the electronic board with a 2nd source Dinosaur board.
However, the real basic problem in the original Domectic fridges is that, while one terminal of the thermocouple is connected directly to the board with a push-on terminal, the other terminal is connected to the ground block, separate from the board, also with a push-on terminal. These connections are EXTREMELY sensitive to ANY resistance in the connections, as the voltages generated by the thermocouple is in the 25 mV range, that's 25/1000 of 1 Volt! I would suggest removing and cleaning these thermocouple connections and crimp them a bit after reconnecting. Even in the non-electronic controlled fridges, the thermocouple connections are very critical.
My bet is, dimes to donuts, that is where your problem is.
Good luck.
Mike

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Michael Pupeza

In my original Dometic fridge, the pilot light was also going out. Also, the electronics just puts up the "Check" light but does not retry igniting it, until it is turned off and on again.
In my case, I replaced the electronic board with a 2nd source Dinosaur board.
However, the real basic problem in the original Domectic fridges is that, while one terminal of the thermocouple is connected directly to the board with a push-on terminal, the other terminal is connected to the ground block, separate from the board, also with a push-on terminal. These connections are EXTREMELY sensitive to ANY resistance in the connections, as the voltages generated by the thermocouple is in the 25 mV range, that's 25/1000 of 1 Volt! I would suggest removing and cleaning these thermocouple connections and crimp them a bit after reconnecting. Even in the non-electronic controlled fridges, the thermocouple connections are very critical.
My bet is, dimes to donuts, that is where your problem is.
Good luck.
Mike

Good advice. I had a Norcold fridge that had the same problem. Raz