Fridge help needed

[gtoguy1967]

I'm helping a friend work on his canmper and we are haveing issues running the fridge on gas. We blew it out yesterday and it looked pretty clean to start with.

It will start on gas and seems to run fine but the ignighter keep cycling, It seems something is not telling something else that it has lit. It will shut down after about a miunte. Not sure what other info to provide at this time.



And before you ask yes I do have friends

[csham]

Are you connected to shore power or running on battery? I seem to remember when my battery was running low a problem similar to this with the fridge.

[coolbreeze1]

I maybe wrong but the fridge won't run on gas when your hooked up to shore power. The battery could be low. Could there be air in the line?

Coolbreeze1

[riverotter55]

Check the thermo coupler, I'll bet it's bad. If it isn't working right (not heating up or sensing heat) no signal is sent to thermostat to keep pilot light on, thus it keeps cycling.

[csham]

The fridgewill run on gas while on shore power. There is a push-button on the fridge thatis labelled gas/auto. In auto mode, it will run on electric first and switch to gas if the electric is no longer available.

[gtoguy1967]

The camper is hooked up to shore power, I dont think it is air in the lines, We had the furnace running and had the fridge going a bunch of times. I worked great untill it times out. We were thinking Thermo coupler as well, Is that whats in the top of the chimney ?? Like I said, It starts right away but the ignighter keeps going like it does not know its burning.



This is a norcold fridge I think, It has a switch that you can select just gas if you like.

it runs fine on electric. I think its a 2007 camper.



Thanks for all the ideas, Keep them coming Please.

[csham]

Don,



I did some google-ing and found a couple of things. Most common was dirt in the burner follower closely by the ignitor/heat sensor. Here is one guys experience. He said it was a norcold, but not a spcific model.



It sounds like the board is not sensing that the heat from the flame.

Make sure the senser is adjusted properly I
think its 3/32" and make sure all the connections to the board are "clean" and
making good contact. Mine has a single wire that is used to ingnite the flame
and to sense the heat from the flame. My burner would not lite, if I lit it
manually it would not stay lit, the gas would turn off after a few seconds.

[papa2]

Another thing to check is to see if a spider got into the gas vent outside of the trailer. This is a common problem where I live and can cause the fridge to start to light but then shut down & just keep cycling until it just turns off. Just pull the outside cover and use a good vac (WITH THE GAS TURNED OFF, of course). Might take a couple of trys but it should work then.

[Chrisnan23]

Thermocoupler is the most likley, does it have scale on it? Make sure it is in the flame and check to see that the resistance changes as it gets hot. If it does then check the connections on the board if they are good could be a bad control board.

[gtoguy1967]

First off. I should have read this stuff before I started drinking lol.









Chris, I agree ( I know it's a first ) but I'm not sure just where the thermo coupler is or even what it looks like ( remember I'm not old like you all wise man ) It does not look like my furnace in my garage.



Trader Chris ( you did go from Chevy to Dodge ) This thing had a little cunstruction dabree in it but I am a man I don't use a vacume, We have a 110PSI in a hose here just dying to get out, I blew every thing in there out , Not that there was much in there and Ipaid a lot of Attn around the burner and flue, Again nothing looking dirty or cloged at any time.



Again it will start and burn great, Nice and consistant flame sounds like a good burn ( if that matters ) and the whole time it is running the ignighter is still going off. And this is where I agree with Chris the thermo coupler is bad. If I can figure out what the thermo coupoler looks like I will pull it out and take the tourch to it.

[buddhabob1]

If you can see the flame the thurmocoupler is the little copper probe that is right at the flame!!

[Lloyd]

We had trouble like that with our fridge in the Lance when we were down in Big Bend. It would light and run for awhile and then go out.
Ended up replacing the board in it. Hope that's not your problem. About $300. for that little piece of cardboard and solder.
I think I read someplace that you're not suppose to blow out the flue or chimney with air pressure-----vacuum---flue brush.


Edited by: Old Farmer

[FB1965]

Had that problem once on older camper and it was the little black box gone bad.Would run on 120v but would lite on gas and never cool and than after a while turn off.I bought a green box to replace the black one and installed it myself and all was good.Good luck

[Chrisnan23]

I didn't read close enough. If it keeps burning but the ignitor just keeps on ticking then it is most likely the board. If it was the thermocoupler it would light , then turn off , then light, then turn off...

[Lloyd]

SOOOOO--What happened with the fridge???

[gtoguy1967]

Nutin. I think Chris is right. He originally looked into try to get it fixed under warranty but he is the second owner and it is three years old now. He has been told there is a relay on the board that goes bad ???



He keeps it parked close to the Ohio River all summer and really does not need it to run on gas I think it just bugs him because it does not work. I will let you know if we take the board out of it.

[gtoguy1967]

He has the board out, Some one told him it was a relay and he ordered one on line for like $1.50. I wll let you know if it fixes it.

[gtoguy1967]

The new relay did not fix it. Not sure where he is going from here.

[Lloyd]

Don:
If he would take the trailer into the shop, I "think" they have means of testing that board.

[gtoguy1967]

Can they test the board when it's out ?