Propane Fridge problems

[LOG]

Howdy,

Ever since I bought my Eagle, I have had problems running the fridge on the propane (works just fine on battery and shore power). I can get it to light but it won't stay lit. The pilot will light and the fridge stays fired up for about ten minutes or so then goes out. Most of the time I will not get it to re-light and if I do, it won't stay lit.

Any ideas on what the problem could be?

Thanks,

 

[pvstoy]

A few questions,

What is your elevation?

Did you buy a new Eagle?

Did you have new propane tank and did not purge when you had it filled?

Is your orfice plugged because of it?

Is the valve on the refg defective?

 

[LOG]

Well I live at sea level, but it's been giving me problems regardless of elevation. I did not buy the Eagle new. I bought a 2002 back in April for a trip to Alaska. The tank had come with it.

I didn't purge the tank. How do I do that? I'm thinking that their is a plug in the line but wanted to pick the brains of others before I went rooting around. If the valve is defective how would I know. Replace it?

 

[Curmudgeon]

My first suspicion would be low pressure. Propane regulators, which drop the gas from tank pressure to line pressure, don't last forever. Have the line pressure tested, and if it's not right around 11 in. replace it.

The other thing to look at is the burner. They tend to accumulate rust scale from the flue and then don't work well. It's easy to remove and clean.

Both of these things would affect it only when using gas.

 

[pvstoy]

Curmudgeon has some good things to look at.

You only need to purge a brand new tank to get all the welding crap out of them. Don't sound like you need to do this.

You might take the burner apart and look for rust and take the orfice and see if it is plugged up. Check to see if the thermocupler is right in the flame. That is what turns off the gas valve when it cools off.

Picture shows the unit and I have installed a auto-relighter. The orfice is in the tube at the fitting just before the end. I asume you have the Domitic model with the 2002?

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

there are usually 2 or 3 common problems for that ...


1. The small small slits at the end of the propane tube (where the flame is actually burning) are clogged up. I have seen rust on some, and others were clogged with a small spider web that resrticted the propane flow just enough to where it would not stay lit. Easy fix once you get the part out. Check it, clean it, maybe a quick blast with compressed air. Re-assemble and give it a try. I have seen some that came out in 3 or 4 minutes with a screw driver, and others took up to 1 hour to get all of the parts out of there.

2. The thermocoupler is out of alignment. The thermocoupler is the small rod that is directly over the propane flame. If the thermocoupler is not directly over the flame, it won't get hot enough to tell the refrigerator to keep pumping propane and the pilot light will go out. I have seen some of these that worked loose and shifted out of alignment (easy fix, just re-tighten). Others just needed to be bent a little so they were over the flame (as much as possible).

3. Make sure you have enough propane and your tank is not too low.


Those are the easy to look for things that I can think of off hand.

hope this helps ...


==================================================


Howdy,

Ever since I bought my Eagle, I have had problems running the fridge on the propane (works just fine on battery and shore power). I can get it to light but it won't stay lit. The pilot will light and the fridge stays fired up for about ten minutes or so then goes out. Most of the time I will not get it to re-light and if I do, it won't stay lit.

Any ideas on what the problem could be?

Thanks,




.

 

[LOG]

Thanks for all the pointers guys. I'll check into those possibilities. Hopefully it'll do the trick. Their is some rust accumulation I noticed. That seems like it could be the problem. These North Coast winters won't help it out any either.

 

[Jack]

Also check for oil in the line from the tank to the regulator and in the regulator intake. Some refill stations are not careful to maintain their equipment and oil leaks into their system and then into your tank.