Coleman Utah - refrigerator problems

[whitestar505]

Hi All,
 
 
    Having a problem with refrig using the gas. It has never worked for me. Don't know if I am doing something wrong when lighting it or not. Could the gas line be plugged ? I have never been able to light the pilot light at all. I do not smell any gas. Once the gas is turned on how long should I wait  for gas to reach the refrig? Any hlep would be great!

[hoppy]

Is your fridge a Dometic model?

 If it is, I don't bother to use the piezo starter button to light mine. I use a butane lighter, and light through the inspection port at the base of the flue pipe. Depending on the fridges location in regards to the propane tank, it may require some time to purge all the air out of the line. The orifice at the fridge's pilot is very small, so it will take time to get propane there.

 Make certain that all the other fridge power options are off (12 VDC, 110 VAC) and turn the gas control all the way to the # 7 setting, and press down on the control knob. This will open up the gas flow to the pilot. Once lit, release the control knob. This should light it.

 The flame at the pilot is not very bright, so you may want to try lighting at night time to be certain it is lit. Some have installed a little mirror aimed at the pilot to verify that they are lit. But in any event, you can check that the pilot is lit if the flue pipe gets hot to the touch.

 BTW, I have the Dometic manual and would be glad to scan the lighting procedure for you and e-mail it if need be. Send me a e-mail at hoppy5@bellsouth.net, and I will attach it.

  Good luck, and hope this helps you get it lit.

[volzjr]

I see the same thing on my Utah. I've found this helps... I light one the burners on the inside stove for about 30 seconds. That seems to flush the lines and get propane to the fridge. After that, the fridge lights right away. Be aware that the the fridge flame is no bigger than a pilot light, and is extremely difficult to see in most conditions. I always go back in about 10 minutes and feel how hot the flue is (vertical aluminum stack on the right side). If it's hot to the touch, you're in business. If not, try re-lighting again.
HTH.

[whitestar505]

Good Stuff, will try tonight. I am trying to set it up were the night before we leave we turn it on by gas. Once it is cold and/or filled I would turn on the DC to keep it that way until we arrive at camp site. The 110 just takes to long and it the trailer is not level just right we are waiting for nothing.

[mike4947]

Well don't expect any miracles from the fridge on propane. If you read the literature you'll find they recommend precooling for up to 8 hours on either 120 volt or propane.

Common PU fridges have a 650 btu output on propane, 600 btu's on 120 volt, and 300 btu's on 12 volt.

Also I've found sometimes even at night it hard to see the tiny flame. If you think it might be lite wait a few minutes and carefully touch the stack. If it's hot/warm the flame is going and the fridge has started to "run".

[hoppy]

Well don't expect any miracles from the fridge on propane.  

Common PU fridges have a 650 btu output on propane, 600 btu's on 120 volt, and 300 btu's on 12 volt.

 Mike makes a very good point regarding the pre-cooling effectiveness between propane and the 120 VAC selection.

 I have found that it's easier to pre-cool using the 120 VAC selection. For my Mesa (and your Utah for that matter) I just open the lower vent, unplug the fridge from the side wall recepticle, and plug a HD 15 amp outside extension cord directly to it. This eliminates having to search around for that elusive "Dog Bone" adapter, and not having to power up the converter. When I am ready to head out, I just reinstall the fridge plug back into the wall recepticle, and switch over to 12 VDC for the ride to the CG. This method works great for me.

 The only times I use the propane selection is while I am dry camping, or I am testing it's operation. For some reason, my fridge works just about as well on the 120 VAC as the propane selection.

[kathybrj]

All great advice.

We normally plug in ay least a day before leaving and let the frige cool. Since we dry camp most of the time, we use propane to keep the frige cool at camp.

While setting up, I light one burner on the inside stove and let it burn for about 20 seconds. After that, the frige lights, usually on the very first try.

We dry camp 4-5 trips a year and the propane has always done well by us in regard to the frige.

[PopUpMomma]

We recently went camping with some friends and they put a thermometer in their fridge to test the temperature.  I did the same thing and it never reached the temp of desire

[hoppy]

I noticed that the back housing (were you would light the fridge) was extremely hot so I pulled of the panel and left it open.  It did help a bit.  Any suggestions or comments please

[PopUpMomma]

Thanks Hoppy, sounds like an easy fix.
R

mike 4947 has a great illustration regarding the proper venting of the heat from behind the fridge that I am sure he will post.

 These illustrations supplied by the fridge manufacturers, shows that most of PU manufacturers do not provide the proper venting of the heat from behind the fridge compartment. I know inside my PU on the counter top over the top of my fridge will get extremely hot to the touch.

  Some PU owners make air baffles out of sheet metal, insulation board, masonite, phenolic, etc. that direct all the air flow acrossed the coils, and added a 12 volt computer fan under the baffle to move the air acrossed the coils and out of the top of the cabnet. Some noted that they found an improved cooling rate better than 10 degrees F.

 This might be the cooling difference that you are looking for.

  Hope this helps.

[mike4947]

Here's the link Hoppy mentioned: http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Trouble/vent.htm

Since we can't have a roof vent, see about 1/2 way down the page for "almost good venting.
I've yet to see a fridge, in over 30 years of PU'ing that had correct baffling and venting that wouldn't cool properly at temps below 95 degrees without any external fan help.
BUT, the small battery operated fans that go inside the fridge really work. They keep the entire inside of the fridge at a constant temp. No warm and cold areas.