Refrigerator won't light on Gas - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

boater454 · 09-13-2012, 11:25 AM

I have lit the stove and furnace to purge the gas lines. Tried to light with push button igniter for about 5 minutes while clicking the piezo igniter every 10 seconds. I took apart the gas nozzle burner to look for nests and other obstructions but it was clean. I tried holding a lit butane lighter in the pilot light area for 2 minutes while the fridge was on gas with no luck. What else should I look at? Thanks.

boater454 · 09-13-2012, 11:34 AM

It's a Dometic RM2453

JackandJanet · 09-13-2012, 11:39 AM

Sounds to me like no gas is getting to the burner. Can you smell it? If not, I'd say the valve is not opening when you want it to. How is it controlled?

- Jack

boater454 · 09-13-2012, 11:43 AM

There is a 3 way selector on the fridge to select 'gas'. On the outside there is a thermostat valve and a 'flame out' safety valve. I suspect one of these is not allowing gas to pass. I can not smell any gas.

JackandJanet · 09-13-2012, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boater454

There is a 3 way selector on the fridge to select 'gas'. On the outside there is a thermostat valve and a 'flame out' safety valve. I suspect one of these is not allowing gas to pass. I can not smell any gas.

Your "flame out" safety valve may be faulty. I had a similar problem on a gas furnace in the rental property we have. The furnace would light, but would immediately shut down. In our case, the flame sensor needed to be cleaned. I suspect there are other problems that would not allow gas to go through at all.

I have no idea how you could test these valves, except try replacing with a new part. I know that propane gas regulators go bad, having had to replace one of these on a barbecue.

- Jack

RichR · 09-13-2012, 11:51 AM

Did you remove the orifice itself and check it? While you have it out soak it in some alcohol for several hours. There may a gas valve where the line comes into the assembly, make sure it is open. What does the troubleshooting chart in the manual say?

boater454 · 09-13-2012, 12:22 PM

I followed the chart and made sure the gas valve on the fridge was open. It is getting gas on both sides of this valve. After the gas line leaves the valve it goes in behind the fridge and I can't get to it.

boater454 · 09-13-2012, 12:23 PM

Next I'll remove the orifice and soak in alcohol.

RichR · 09-13-2012, 12:25 PM

If you haven't already gotten this manual here is a service manual for your model: http://gasrefrigeration.net/dom_techdata/2552.pdf

It covers a bunch of models so you have to read down through it to pick out what pertains to yours.

boater454 · 09-17-2012, 03:38 PM

Went camping this weekend and figured out it was just a loose wire to the flame out sensor. Tightened it up and the fridge worked fine.

JackandJanet · 09-17-2012, 05:00 PM

So, the "flame out sensor" is a good thing to check in this situation! Thanks for letting us know what the actual problem was!

- Jack

boater454 · 09-17-2012, 05:04 PM

Yes it has a rigid copper wire that goes from the flame to the valve. It has one connection in it. I wiggled it while my wife was inside trying to light the pilot and it lit right up. Wiggled it again and it went out. So I tightened the connection and it worked great all weekend.

sam · 09-18-2012, 12:14 AM

Don't you wish all your fixes were that simple and no cost ? Probably got jarred loose while driving down some bumpy roads.