Not cold when using gas

[D Tharp]

Just came out of the Idaho mountains (fishing was good). The first 6 days the Dometic RM2193 frige worked great on gas, but the last 3 did not work at all. The gas burner would light and stay on,the flue would get hot the and the tubes in the rear would get hot like normal but the frige would not cool down. Got home parked the egg and plugged it in, the frige works on 120 volt (testing now if it works on 12 volt) tried it on gas twice but not working. Does anyone have any ideas on what to try before removing the frige and do a clean job to try and get it working again ?
THANKS

[ken h]

Hi Dave ,
You could have a dirty burner or the orfice. Have you had your gas pressure tested lately? It could be low ,also check that no insulation or anything has fallen down in the back of the fridge and blocking the venting, but if it working on 110 v venting should not be the problem .

Hope this helps

[Raz]

Originally Posted by D Tharp

Just came out of the Idaho mountains (fishing was good). The first 6 days the Dometic RM2193 frige worked great on gas, but the last 3 did not work at all. The gas burner would light and stay on,the flue would get hot the and the tubes in the rear would get hot like normal but the frige would not cool down. Got home parked the egg and plugged it in, the frige works on 120 volt (testing now if it works on 12 volt) tried it on gas twice but not working. Does anyone have any ideas on what to try before removing the frige and do a clean job to try and get it working again ?
THANKS

Hi Dave, we have the same fridge but I haven't done a cleaning yet. I'm curious to see what you find. Our last rig had a Norcold that I had to clean yearly. The first time took me a couple of hours and after that half hour tops. I would look at the orifice with a microscope and it always looked fine. It was the burner itself that would be the problem. Carbon build up would clog where the flames come out reducing the heat output. I would use a brass brush to clean it although a regular wire brush is probably ok. Afterwards the fridge would work much better.

Checked the manual and the instructions for cleaning look pretty straight forward. If you don't have a manual you can download one from the Dometic site. Let's us know what you find. Raz

[Donna D.]

You can download the manual from the Document Center: Fiberglass RV - Document Center - Dometic_Refr_Manual_RM2191_2193

Here's the service manual, although I don't know if it applies to the 2193:
Fiberglass RV - Document Center - Dometic_Refr_ServiceManual-1

[D Tharp]

I had hope to not pull the frig but I will do it and report back.
The 12 volt test worked, so it must be something with the burner.
I did test the frig with two different tanks of propane so I hope that a good clen will solve the problem. Thanks

[Raz]

I may be wrong put I don't think you need to pull the fridge to clean the burner. There should be easy access from the back. Check the manual first.

[D Tharp]

Yesterday used compressed air (low pressure) to clean the back of the frig, was able to get some air up the flue and out came a dead large moth. Left the frig on propane for the night and all seems to be OK.
Thanks for all the help. At the end of the season will pull the frig a do a good cleaning on it.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by D Tharp

Yesterday used compressed air (low pressure) to clean the back of the frig, was able to get some air up the flue and out came a dead large moth. Left the frig on propane for the night and all seems to be OK.
Thanks for all the help. At the end of the season will pull the frig a do a good cleaning on it.

I bet that one was well done! Thanks for letting us know. Raz

[D Tharp]

Still working after 20 hours may have lucked out

[D Tharp]

I did not luck out. Last fishing trip (last week) frig worked ok on 110 volt, when we reached the ST JOE river start on propane no cold. So I am hoping for ideas before I pull it and do a good cleaning. Leaving for a blues festival in a week and hope to get it working.
Thanks DAVE

[ken h]

Hey Dave, you might have to check on that model if you have a dual themostat or are they separate. If they are dual ,I would look at gas pressure if after a good cleaning it still doesn't work.

Hope this helps

[D Tharp]

Has anyone tried to turn the frig upside down when you have it out. I thought I read where this can help. I have it out and cleaned it very well, it is on 110 volts and seems to be working OK. True test when i put it back in. So do I let it side upside down foe awhile before I put it back in?
Also the knob for the 110 is 1 the coldest setting or 5 ?

[Donna D.]

Dave, the ole "skake and bake" on these 3-ways work for some, not so for others. But what do you have to lose to recover an ole frig, other than some time? I'm cheap, I'd try it before replacement. Take it out, turn upside down about every 24 hours or so and put it back in place after five days or so. Hopefully it will work splendidly

[D Tharp]

I am with you Donna, will let it cool of and let sit upside down for a day. Yes what do I have to loose. But the price of a new one is a lot.
I am retired so maybe I will pull every few months and do it again.

[ken h]

If it is working on 110 v it is not the cooling unit ,it is the heat source or themostat

[Lizbeth]

Ken beat me to it! ^ what Ken said.

If it is making cold on elec then it can make cold on propane.

[D Tharp]

The frig is still not working on gas.
1) works well on 110 volts
2) Cleaned everything I could.
3) on gas the stack gets hot, but the frig will not cool down

So how does one check the gas pressure to see if it is correct

Thanks Dave tharp

[Rick G]

Originally Posted by D Tharp

Has anyone tried to turn the frig upside down when you have it out. I thought I read where this can help. I have it out and cleaned it very well, it is on 110 volts and seems to be working OK. True test when i put it back in. So do I let it side upside down foe awhile before I put it back in?
Also the knob for the 110 is 1 the coldest setting or 5 ?

The Dometic repair guys say that turning the fridge upside down usually does not work, but there is anecdotal evidence that it works sometimes. If you are going to do that, as I have in the past, remember to check the spiral baffle contained in the burner flue afterward. It hangs from the top with a wire, and when the fridge is turned upside down it can get knocked out of position. It is a simple matter to reposition it, but should be done. The spiral baffle is a critically important part for the heat transfer when running on gas, which might be your problem.

It sounds like your problem is that your gas burner is creating heat, but not enough of it is getting transferred to the fridge boiler. I have a similar problem with my old Dometic RM211 on gas. Works great on electricity but is marginal on gas. I think the reason is that the heat transfer from the burner to the fridge boiler is not good enough. The boiler is the part which is inside the burner chimney, attached by a long (about 4 inches) weld to the gas burner on one side, and to the electric burner on the other side. It looks like a 3-pipe pipe organ, with the boiler in the middle, the gas burner on the right, and the electric heat element on the left. The gas burner sends heat up the flue, and the spiral baffle slows the heat down to improve the heat transfer to the boiler. That supplies enough heat to make the boiler work, which it does by evaporating the ammonia mixture in the fridge, etc. etc.

What it means is that, if there is heat, but not enough to boil the mixture, no cooling will occur even though the fridge feels hot to the touch. I have tried to figure out a way to improve the heat transfer, but as long as the weld attaching the flue to the boiler is in good shape, there is not much you can do. I have tried twisting the spiral baffle (slightly!) to increase the spiral and thereby slow down the escape of heat. That seemed to work for me, but I doubt that any service person would recommend it. The height of the spiral baffle above the flame is also important, and must be neither too high nor too low. The Dometic service manual gives the recommended height. It seems to me that replacing the spiral baffle with one that is too long, or one that hangs a half inch lower, might improve the transfer of heat to the boiler, but I have not tried that.

Lots to think about. Good luck.
Rick G

[ken h]

To check L.P. pressure you need to go to a shop ,you need special tools to check it. There is one thing you can try is taking off the l.p line at the tank and lay it on the ground sometimes oil builds up in the line and restricts the gas flow , see if oil comes out wait 5 or 10 min. This might help ,you should still check your pressure

Take care

[DeniseinMaine]

I'm very interested in this thread..I seem to be having the same issue with my Dometic fridge this year. Last year (my first experience with a camper) the fridge worked fine on propane. I went on a 14 day trip with it and it ran for the most part on propane the entire time with no problem.
This year, it was difficult to start the fridge on gas, and it didn't want to stay running on the propane. I found that if I wedged open slightly the pull out lever in the bottom of the fridge that you're supposed to use only to light it for a while, it would continue to run. Now I'm getting no cold on propane, but did test it with 110v and it works super.
I'll try what has been suggested in the thread and see if it makes any difference. Thanks for posting everyone. If not, I guess I'm off to the RV place down the road..$$$.

Denise