1962 Gas Domestic Fridge not cooling.

[jwhenke]

I have a 1962 Tradewind with the Original Domestic Fridge I don't the know the make and model of the fridge. It's gas only. Two years ago the fridge stopped cooling after being on for four days straight on a trip. When I first light it up it starts to cool, but after an hour it stops cooling. I've contacted vintage applicance restoration companies to see if they can fix, but no one is able to provide help. I don't want to replace with a new one because we love the look of the old fridge. Reaching out for any advice anyone can give. It might be an easy fix, but with no previous applicance knowledge I'm at a loss as to where to start. Thank You in advance for any suggestions. Jeff Atlanta GA.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by jwhenke

I have a 1962 Tradewind with the Original Domestic Fridge I don't the know the make and model of the fridge. It's gas only. Two years ago the fridge stopped cooling after being on for four days straight on a trip. When I first light it up it starts to cool, but after an hour it stops cooling. I've contacted vintage applicance restoration companies to see if they can fix, but no one is able to provide help. I don't want to replace with a new one because we love the look of the old fridge. Reaching out for any advice anyone can give. It might be an easy fix, but with no previous applicance knowledge I'm at a loss as to where to start. Thank You in advance for any suggestions. Jeff Atlanta GA.

Two things.

1. The reefer must be within a one half bubble of being level, and that becomes more critical the hotter the ambient temperature.

2. The burner orifice must be cleaned every couple of years.

You must also hear a slight "roaring sound" when the burner is on high. If not, then it's not hot enough to promote the cooling.

Andy

[Chatthayer]

Just a question from a senior moment that I had.......is the fridge level?

[jwhenke]

I didn't check the level last time I tried cooling and forgot about that. Ill try again when it's level what is the burner orface and how do clean it.

[putback]

STOP... As Andy said these need regular maintainance, cleaning. Not a problem IF you don't damage any of the delicate burner parts. Replacements are not to be found. Be very careful with the "stone" flame diffuser and the aluminum tongue on the Klikon valve. These old units were designed to be repaired so have at it, but never forget you must save the components. All the info you need is at this site as a pdf. bryantrv.com....Under Vintage Dometic Service. Look under MC16 through M70, 1958 to 1969. You will also find a wealth of info on this site for old appliances. Good luck.

[reinergirl]

Putback, neat site, lots of valuable info, thanks for posting!

[mandolindave]

My fridge was lit but wasn't cooling, then it wouldn't light. It had worked fine a month earlier. I cleaned out the burner tube, but very little dust was present.

So I read the section on maintenance in the manual. I cleaned the nozzle, and all was well. A friend suggested that while I had it apart, I should have just replaced it, as the nozzle had a number on it, supposedly corresponding to the size of the orafice. I might buy a spare.

Anyway the manufacturer stated not to try to use a pin to clear it out. I found out why. The nozzle had a little red plastic orafice, that could have been easily damaged. The correct method to clean it is to soak the nozzle in wood alcohol
( methanol without glycol- hard to find ) I soaked the nozzle, and gently blew the nozzle out. You should be able to see a tiny pin hole when you put it up to a light. I put it back together, it lit right up, and freezer was frosty 3 hours later.

[altnbndr]

Newer burner orifices have ruby (yes,the gemstone) molded into the metal body of the orifice. The hole is laser cut to size through the ruby insert. Also grooves are laser cut along the perimeter of the hole to promote flame swirl. Although ruby is nearly as hard as diamond if you clean the orifice hole like a torch tip (poking something into the hole) you will probably chip the ruby destroying the orifice.

[ATurner]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Two things.

1. The reefer must be within a one half bubble of being level, and that becomes more critical the hotter the ambient temperature.

2. The burner orifice must be cleaned every couple of years.

You must also hear a slight "roaring sound" when the burner is on high. If not, then it's not hot enough to promote the cooling.

Andy

Andy

Thank you for this, I've been troubleshooting a poor cooling/no cooling problem with my 1961 Dometic M70 for the past few days and thanks to you I managed to fix it this evening.

I don't ever recall hearing the burner 'roar' during my past year of ownership and the fact that the flame looked nicely blue and conical told me that the problem must be elsewhere. I carefully stripped the burner this evening and from looking at light through the jet I could barely see a hole through it, soaking in alcohol and a few blasts with compressed air fixed it - it now makes a very reassuring (quiet) roar.

For the benefit of anyone else finding this, I should add that with the blocked jet the flame did respond to the control knob slightly but what I was seeing was mostly the supply from the gas bypass. For some reason the blocked jet didn't affect that anything like as much as it did the 'main' flame.

Apart from the no cooling/barely cooling, another symptom was that the secondary flue running from the top of the refrigerator through the body of the Airstream and out via the roof vent was never warm to the touch. The duct shroud which loosely couples the Dometic flue to the Airstream flue was fairly hot however.


Thanks again Andy.

Andrew