fridge won't stay lit

[Jestercat]

Hi everyone....

I know my fridge lights, as I can see a reflection of flame in the silver backing behind the burner tube.

But the thing won't stay lit for more than a few minutes (10) at a time!! :mad:

I do see that the flame appears to be yellow/orange as opposed to clear/blue....  would this have anthing to do with it?  I was hoping that once it got going for a while, it would turn clear/blue.

Am I missing something?  Does the fridge need 12V power to maintain a propane flame?? (I don't think so?)

I'm thinking it may require cleaning of the burner....  has anyone done this and how hard a job is it to do??  I'm fairly handy, but don't want to screw anything up!!!

Jestercat

[AustinBoston]

I do see that the flame appears to be yellow/orange as opposed to clear/blue....  would this have anthing to do with it?

Yes.  An orange or yellow flame is not getting enough air, and will burn cooler.  The thermocouple (a safety device) is probably turning the propane off after a short time because it thinks the flame is blown out.

I'm thinking it may require cleaning of the burner....  has anyone done this and how hard a job is it to do??  I'm fairly handy, but don't want to screw anything up!!!

This is where I would start.  (Actually, I would start by making sure there is plenty of LP in the tank.  BTDT.)  There is a type of spider that really loves the small burner tubes of small gas appliances.  They spin webs that may either completely clog the tube or may let some or most of the gas through, but it won't burn properly.  There are other insects that may also be atracted to the tube.  In addition, a white powdery ash can accumulate in or on the burner, depending on the purity of the LP supply.

Cleaning the tube usually requires some disassembly, but most people who are reasonably handy can do it.

Austin

[pershingd]

While you're cleaning the burner tube, pay attention to the vent tube above the burner. If the vent tube has a lot of black soot in it, I would recommend having the LP regulator checked out. I had a similar problem with the yellow/orange flame and poor operating performance and it turned out that the regulator was allowing too much gas pressure and causing the burner flame to run too rich.

David

[Jestercat]

Okay....

Following the instructions, I managed to take the "burner box" part way off, enough to see what's going on behind it....

When I lit the burner again, I got a large flame coming from the two side port holes on the burner tube.  This doesn't seem right?  This leads me to wonder if there might be a blockage somewhere in the burner tube.  The gas (and therefore flame) has no where else to go, and is probably burning really rich (hence the yellow flame).  In the daylight I'll try a bit of pipe cleaner through the side port holes and see if I can dislodge something.

Unfortunately, it looks like the connector for the piezo ignitor has been roasted, or maybe thats the thermocouple?  The one on the front anyhow, with the electrical wire.  If its the piezo ignitor, its still working.  If its the thermocouple it might have to be replaced  

There is next to NO ROOM in the compartment to do much work disconnecting the line to the burner tube and/or the burner jet.  Thinking I might have to pull the fridge out from the cabinet to get at these.  The parts description in the manual leaves a lot to be desired!!

[AustinBoston]

The parts description in the manual leaves a lot to be desired!!

Welcome to the world of pop-up manuals! :book:

Austin

[austinado16]

I just went through this on mine about a month ago and if you look up my long thread it might help you out.

If you've got an air compressor, it might do the trick to blast the burner tube via those air ports, with compressed air.

Otherwise, it's about a 10min job to get the fridge removed from the cabinet and then you can really do a nice job of servicing it.

I posted a thread on how to make your own Manometer to test your propane pressure and you may find that handy as well.

[AustinBoston]

I just went through this on mine about a month ago and if you look up my long thread it might help you out.

This thread is the main discussion; this thread was a follow-up with a couple pictures.

Austin

[Jestercat]

Amzing what a little bit of pipe-cleaner will do!

Took a small piece of pipe-cleaner DW had in her craft kit, ran it through the side ports on the burner tube into the burn tube end.  Didn't see anyhting come out..... so far so good.

Thought to myself "hey, wonder if it will fire up now", and proceded to light the burner using a butane BBQ lighter and voila - nice clean blue flame.

Just checked on it after .5 hours and still going strong!!

Unfortunately, the piezo wire, crimp on connector and heat shield tube that prtotected it got burnt off when the flames were coming out of the side ports (pre cleaning), but I think I can trim it back a bit and still have enough length to recrimp and connect.

Kinda like using the BBQ lighter though, a little more reliable than those piezos  :p

Thanks for everyone's suggestions and help!

[austinado16]

Nice job and thanks for posting an update!  It's threads like this that really benefit everyone.