Fridge issue! Propane not working! Please help!

[EWard]

Hey Everyone! I am at a loss here and am hoping that someone on this forum might be able to help with my issue before I head on a camping trip in 6 days.

As the title states, the propane function on my Dometic 3-way fridge, RM2353 is no longer working.

Here’s the story…

The 110V and 12V functions work just fine. Fridge cools down great and freezer freezes, no issues. However, when switching to the propane function, it no longer cools down at all.

The burner lights up and holds a flame, but the flame seems to be weak. While lit, the burner flame appears to toggle between “full flame” and “pilot”/“bypass” flame, which doesn’t allow enough heat to properly run the boiler and get the fridge working. This change in flame size goes back and forth about every 2 seconds or so and won’t stay on one or the other for longer than that.

I have removed the fridge and cleaned everything out. The flue, the burner tube, the cooling fins. I used compressed air to clear any sentiment or debris out of all the cracks and crevices.

I figured it might be a pressure regulator issue so, seeing as how the regulator was 14yrs old, I replaced the regulator and pigtails with brand new ones. However, the issues stills remains. The pressure should be fine, seeing as how it is a brand new regulator and pigtails that we’re just installed.

There was a small amount of oil in the outflow, when I removed the old regulator, which I heard isn’t uncommon.

I have a new thermostat on order that will arrive tomorrow. I’ve heard that a fault gas function on the thermostat might cause this issue, but that only what I’ve read.

That’s about it. Like I said before, I am at a total loss for what to do. Last season, the fridge worked perfectly on all functions and the propane took us through the camping season without issue. Now, the propane isn’t doing anything and that the only one we use when camping since we never use hookup sites.

Anyways, any form of assistance, suggestions or direction would be greatly appreciated. I am fully competent with tools and am not afraid to work with propane. So tell me what I’m missing and What you’d suggest, and I’ll get it done.

Thank you so much in advance!
Cheers!

[dmad1]

Have you checked or replaced the thermo coupling at the flame? I may be wrong but I think it operates separately from the electric side.

[Friz]

There isn't enough heat going up the "chimney"
The jet may be clogged. If it's easy to remove, this is something to try.
If you hold it up to the bright light, you should be able to see a little "star" of light through the orifice.
Do not use a drill to clean it, as there are several "fins" in it that make the gas come out in a spiral. Hold it with a long handle plier and use brake cleaner spray or similar to clean it. After this, if the jet has more light coming through the orifice, you were successful. Be careful to NOT get the spray in your eyes from a backsplash.
If it's a problem caused by a defect on the circuit board you will need to troubleshoot that. Finding a schematic and/or replacement board may be difficult. If it has individual components you might be able to reverse engineer it.

[EWard]

Originally Posted by Friz

There isn't enough heat going up the "chimney"
The jet may be clogged. If it's easy to remove, this is something to try.
If you hold it up to the bright light, you should be able to see a little "star" of light through the orifice.
Do not use a drill to clean it, as there are several "fins" in it that make the gas come out in a spiral. Hold it with a long handle plier and use brake cleaner spray or similar to clean it. After this, if the jet has more light coming through the orifice, you were successful. Be careful to NOT get the spray in your eyes from a backsplash.
If it's a problem caused by a defect on the circuit board you will need to troubleshoot that. Finding a schematic and/or replacement board may be difficult. If it has individual components you might be able to reverse engineer it.

I am fairly sure that I cleaned everything when I had it out but I will remove it again and try double cleaning the jets with carb cleaner.

As for a circuit board, my model of Dometic doesn’t have a circuit board, so it’s not a possible trouble area 🤷🏼*♂️