Exhaust from Propane Fridge inside camper

[kurtcaswell]

Greetings Friends.

I'm wondering in anyone has had a problem with exhaust from their propane refrigerator venting inside their Alaskan camper?

I have an eight foot, 2005 cabover Alaskan, with a 3-way Norcold 2.7 cu/foot refrigerator. I have not had an exhaust issue until about six months ago. I've cleaned out the back of the fridge with a vac (pretty clean), the flame looks good, and I've tried closing the inside vent and turning on the fan. That helps, but still getting exhaust, enough exhaust as to make the camper very unpleasant and likely dangerous.

The fridge still works great on AC. I don't use it on DC.

After lots of searching online, and looking at flue cleaning instructions, etc. I took it to an RV repair shop in Regina, SK. Big mistake. I gave them all the info. I had, popped the top for them, etc. They had never seen an Alaskan before. At the end of the day, they gave me their assessment: bad design. They charged me 200 bucks to tell me Alaskan camper makes a poorly designed camper/fridge set-up, and they can't do anything about the exhaust. I protested, and am still in conversation with them.

Anyway, I've written to Alaskan camper about this issue, but am wondering if anyone has had this problem, and sorted it out.

Thank you,
Kurt

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Kurt, my guess is your flue is dirty. Check the internet for how to clean it on your model of fridge and or Alaskan Camper. You might call Alaskan and ask them, too. Rick at the factory was helpful when we visited earlier this week.

Edit: Oops, I just saw you had tried online. Apologies! I would call the factory.

 

[kurtcaswell]

Thank you. This is helpful confirmation. I will study up a bit on how to clean the flue, and take that on. I've corresponded with Bryan at Alaskan Camper, and he has been very helpful.

I'll get to work on this--or I may just pull the fridge and install a new AC/DC compressor fridge. I've got 58 watts of solar, so I think this might be a great option, too.

 

[Old Crow]

Hope you don't mind if I attach a link to a Ventilation Guidelines Manual for Norcold fridges to this thread.

It's at http://www.thetford.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1236/635473-Installation-Manual.pdf

I attach it because I think it's a good overall backgrounder on propane fridges in campers and it emphasizes the importance of isolating the fridge compartment from the camper interior. At the top of page 3, for example, it says:
-------------
The refrigerator contains a foam combustion seal which is between the front mounting flanges of the refrigerator and the interior wall of the vehicle. This combustion seal must remain intact because it prevents the exhaust fumes from moving around the top, bottom, and sides of the refrigerator and entering the living area of the vehicle. The refrigerator enclosure also must be constructed so that it prevents the exhaust fumes from entering the living area of the vehicle. There must be no openings in the refrigerator enclosure that are not completely (for some reason the paragraph ends there but presumably the missing word is 'sealed'.)
---------------

-OC

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Kurt, depending on how you use the camper, you may need to increase your battery and solar capacity to support the compressor refrigerator.

 

[kurtcaswell]

Thank you, all. At present, I have two AGM batteries, and 58 watts of solar. Both batteries are new. I think this will do it for a compressor fridge, but what do you think?

Kurt

 

[Skysix]

fumes exit the lower half and being hot, rise up and get past pirelli seal into upper section. New seal and positive pressure (vent fan will make worse, need it to draw outside air in so it exits through the seal)