Dometic Refrigerator Burner Fix

[austinado16]

Thought some of you might benefit from this little gem that I came up with today.

The "Burner Tube" in our refrigerators is a little metal pipe, crimped closed at one end, and at the other end, it slips over the propane oriface.  At the crimped end of the burner, there is a group of 4 slits (on the upper facing side) and these give you a nice blue flame with 4 blue tips.

Over time, the metal between the 4 slits rusts, becomes thin and then just breaks away leaving you with a square opening, and a flame that won't stay lit, or operate right if it does light.

The only option is to replace the burner....IF....it's still available for your model.  If it's not available:yikes: you get to buy a new $400 fridge.

But wait!

-The burner tube is symetrical, and doesn't care which way the burner slits face!  
-the brown fiber cut-off discs for Dremel tools are the exact thickness of the slits.  
-Epoxy Steel Putty is rated for high temp.

So today, I flipped a bad burner upside down, cut new slits in what was the bottom face, and then slid it back into position in the burner assembly.  Once in position (you have to do it this way because the burner tube has to pass through a snug "key way" in order to slide in over the propane jet) I mixed up some Epoxy Steel Putty and packed it like a band-aid over the old broken slits.  It was dry and hard as a rock in about 5min.

I completed the remaining work to the fridge, installed it, and fired it right up.  It's got a nice flame, and it's making cold even as we speak. :-()

Here's a picture showing the business end of the burner, with the broken area, and a cut-off wheel sitting in one of the good slots.


Here's a shot of the new flame.  Note that I wound up cutting 5 slots.  I got my first couple too close together.  I should have cut the first one, and then the last one, and then evenly spaced the other 2 in between.  Oops.  But it works and in the last 2hrs the temp has dropped almost 20 degrees.

[wavery]

Sounds like a neat fix.....very creative......I hope I never have to do it.....

It sure is nice to know that I can, if I have to though...

[austinado16]

The smart thing would be to buy a couple spare burner tubes, and maybe a couple of orifaces, and just keep 'em in the camper.  They're pretty much the only thing that would ever fail.