Refrigerator Problems

[Pat Cassity]

Just arrived to campground and refrigerator is not cooling on electricity. Was working fine this morning when before leaving home. What should I check first? 2015 International Serenity.


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[streamer_a]

We find ours getting up into the high 40s/low 50son a hot day after traveling without the A/C running. Shove a bag of gas station ice in there. It will probably come down overnight and be ok once you have the a/c keeping the trailer cooler.

[Pat Cassity]

It was 38 when we left home this morning after being on the road for 6 hrs and the system on auto, the temperature rose to 60 degrees. It's not cooling.

[streamer_a]

Yep - it'll come down. Takes hours. Just can't deal with being in 90+ heat.

[KJRitchie]

Shouldn't get to 60 when towing even if 90F. Sounds like the propane burner didn't light after you unhooked shore power. Switch to propane and look inside the vent to see a burner flame. If the propane had been off for a while it may not have lit before the lighter timed out.

Kelvin

[joel]

Are you traveling with frig on. Like KJR said the burner may not have lit if the lP was turned of at tank for a while. It can take several attempts for the lp but to purge air out and reach the frig. I have tried Up to a dozen cycles before the burner finally lighted. We do not turn the lP .tanks off til our trip is over so the burner comes on automatically when we unplug.

[HowieE]

If the frig was on gas while traveling and failed to light you should have a "check" light indicating there was a problem.

About the only way 6 hours of no refrigeration could raise the temp that much would be if the door was open or someone had put something quite warm in it just before you left home.

[KJRitchie]

When my Dometic fails to light under propane I don't see any check light. I have to turn the fridge off/on then it tries to relight the burner. On the second attempt it lights.

When I bring it out of storage I turn on the LP and then run all three burners on the stove for a minute. This seems to help the fridge light up on LP better.

Kelvin

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

When I bring it out of storage I turn on the LP and then run all three burners on the stove for a minute. This seems to help the fridge light up on LP better.
Kelvin

When you turn the LP on after the trailer has been in storage do you hear gas flow? If you do you have a gas leak. Once the pressure in the system has dropped and been recharged by turning on the LP the stove burners will light quickly but the frig will not. The pilot orifice in the frig is too small to purge itself before the control board senses no flame and shuts down. Attempting a second or third time may allow it to light.

In any case if you hear gas flow when you turn the tanks on look for the leak.

[carl2591]

We run into this with LP (propane) and Natural gas logs sets in the fall.. We get a call from the homeowner saying the log will not light. They will have tried them several time with no results.

After talking to them we ask when were the logs last serviced and most of the time it been YEARS.. 10 or more most of the time.

We go out and I like to do a check so I push the pilot knob in and count to like 5 or so and put my lighter on the pilot.. Sometimes I see and hear the bad gas coming out of the pilot tube and just keep it pushed for another 5 sec and they start.

Lighting the burners on stove will purge most of the old gas out of system.. Most regulators will purge over time just a tiny bit so when you are in storage with the tanks off, the gas will bleed out and get diluted to the point it will not light.

best way to make sure it running is to check the hood on roof top to see if you make out the heat plumms radiating in the background or put your hand up there to feel the heat.

Now if you are on elec and not cooling the element may be burned out.. check it with ohm meter or amp probe.

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

When I bring it out of storage I turn on the LP and then run all three burners on the stove for a minute. This seems to help the fridge light up on LP better.

Kelvin

[Bob662]

Kelvin's answer is spot on. You should be able to hear the burner if you listen at the ref. outside access door.

If it doesn't light the first time, recycle the refrigerator switch to "off" then back to LP. There's no "check" light on my unit. I just listen to be sure it has lit.