3 way fridge wont run on gas - Fiberglass RV
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Old 12-23-2021, 03:54 PM   #1
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Name: Chris
Trailer: Casita SD
NC
Posts: 1
Question 3 way fridge wont run on gas

Hi All,
I am hoping some may have some insight to my problem. I have tried several time to get the fridge to run using propane. it lights for 45 seconds and then shuts off for 2 minutes and does this for 3 cycles then the check light comes on.
I have a full tank of propane, the trailer is level, and i have replace the thermocouple, cleaned the burner tube and flew. dometic model RM2454.
any sugestions ?
thanks
Chris
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Old 12-24-2021, 02:21 PM   #2
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Name: Maria
Trailer: Parkliner 2018
Maryland
Posts: 139
Did it run well before this? And:
1) does your stove light and stay lit? If not, I understand that there is some kind of obstruction on the gas line because it's affecting your propane appliances (how to clear that I have no clue).

2) do you have the manual for the fridge, is that how you knew to replace the thermocouple? I found the manual for mine online, check with the Dometic website.

3) did you also clean the 'ruby jet' (I have no idea why it's called 'ruby'), and by cleaning (my manual for a different dometic model) it means soaking the jet in regular alcohol for an hour, then reinstalling after it's completely dry - being super duper careful not to damage or make the hole larger.
I need to do this to mine come next camping season because it quit cooling, and my stove stays lit.
Hopefully someone here will be able to truly help you out. Good luck.
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Old 12-24-2021, 03:00 PM   #3
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Fridge won't light

The reason your fridge tries to light 3 times is because it is a three try board . your furnace may have the same type of board. After the third try it will shut down and require you to start over. The reason for failure is most likely the thermocouple is not positioned in the pilot light; the pilot is not burning with the proper shape to heat the thermocouple, or the thermocouple is bad. Yes, it does happen, as a former RV tech I have seen it happen. My first thing to check though would be the flame. I don't know what the clearance is around your thermocouple, but you could also heat it with a BBQ type lighter and see if that opens the gas valve. Without hands on this is the best advice I can offer. Best to you. Bing
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Old 12-24-2021, 04:58 PM   #4
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Name: Jann
Trailer: Casita
Colorado
Posts: 1,307
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirdcris View Post
Hi All,
I am hoping some may have some insight to my problem. I have tried several time to get the fridge to run using propane. it lights for 45 seconds and then shuts off for 2 minutes and does this for 3 cycles then the check light comes on.
I have a full tank of propane, the trailer is level, and i have replace the thermocouple, cleaned the burner tube and flew. dometic model RM2454.
any sugestions ?
thanks
Chris
How old is your trailer? We had an old one and the fridge was just toast. The dealer we bought it from had said it worked and when we tried it a few months later it didn't. So he paid 50% of the cost to replace it. Something was wrong that it wouldn't run on gas.
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Old 12-25-2021, 09:50 AM   #5
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Name: Ben
Trailer: Casita SD
South Carolina
Posts: 16
Check the propane regulator

I tried many things to get my fridge to work also - baffles, fans inside and outside and cleaned the stack and orifice. Nothing helped. The fridge would work somewhat about half the time. I always had a pretty, blue flame in the inspection hole in the flame tube. As a last resort, I changed out the propane regulator. As I was preparing to change it, a fellow camper came up and checked my pressure at the gas valve for the fridge. It measured a little less than 9 inches of water. The manual says the fridge needs at least 11 inches of water pressure. I put on the new propane regulator at the tanks and measured again. It was a little over 11 inches. The fridge began cooling immediately. I did not notice a large difference in the flame but noticed the flame detector rod was now glowing red where it was not before. The propane regulator at the tanks has an adjustment which I had already adjusted to max output. The new regulator corrected the problem.
If you don't have the problem corrected yet you may have a friend who can check the pressure at the fridge and possibly adjust your regulator. If not, you can purchase a hand-held manometer for less than $20.00 and check it yourself.
My water heater and furnace never had a problem, only the fridge.
Good luck.
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Old 12-26-2021, 04:48 AM   #6
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Trailer: Boler 13 ft / Casita FD
Posts: 2,038
a few years back, while on our cross country trip, my fridge stopped working and would light only to go out after a few minutes. a fellow camper came over and suggested that i clean the chimney tube out. and in fact it had a spiral fin inside the chimney just to do this job. hard part was getting the screw out that held the top of the wire rod that attached to this fin loose but with a "L" screw driver i got it out and OMG the amount of soot that came out was crazy.
after that the fridge ran better then ever for the remaining 2 months of the trip.
This will be on the list of yearly maintainace from now on.
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Old 12-29-2021, 11:24 AM   #7
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Name: Kathy
Trailer: Scamp '19
Maine
Posts: 15
New motherboard

Our 2018 Scamp 19’ has a 3-way fridge. Your troubles sound identical to ours.

We never could get it running on propane, and after a couple of almost ruined camping trips and 1:00 am trips for ice for a cooler, we finally took the camper for repairs.

Dometic did not want to replace the motherboard and our hero of a mechanic was able to convince them that, indeed, it needed replacing.

A year later, our fridge has its new part!
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Old 12-29-2021, 11:29 AM   #8
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Trailer: Casita Spirit Deluxe 2005
Posts: 63
I had the same problem with our RM2454 and after trying all the suggested fixes I had the circuit board replaced with part #3308741.002. That fixed it.
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Old 12-29-2021, 02:20 PM   #9
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Name: Jeff
Trailer: 2018 13' Scamp
Minnesota
Posts: 58
I had kinda similar problem: Refrig worked fine, the failed (no longer burning propane, not hot); when I tried to relight, would stay lit while I held the adjustment knob down, but when I released, even after 5 minutes, would not stay lit.
Next morning tried again, it would stay lit, seemed ok, but failed again during the day. Not windy, full tank of propane.
Not looking forward to working on it.
this is on a 2018 13' Scamp
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Old 12-29-2021, 05:22 PM   #10
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Name: Tony
Trailer: Boler
BC
Posts: 198
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerry View Post
a few years back, while on our cross country trip, my fridge stopped working and would light only to go out after a few minutes. a fellow camper came over and suggested that i clean the chimney tube out. and in fact it had a spiral fin inside the chimney just to do this job. .
The spiral thingy is called a turbulator and is intended to stir the warm exhaust gasses so the turbulence creates a better distribution of the heat.

If you lift it out carefully it will bring out any soot and leave a clear tube you can brush out. Note that there should never be any soot, soot is a result of improper burning and usually indicates insufficient fresh air to the burner.

I did have one fridge with a some rust in the exhaust tube and occasionally a flake of rust would drop onto the spark gap, took me the devil of a time to find it, it happened two or three times after a trip on washboard side roads.
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