Dometic Fridge Flame?????

[curryp]

The pilot light won't stay lit on my Dometic Fridge. I took the silver box off to see if I needed to clean something or even make sure the thermocouple needed adjusting. Those are things I read on searches that may be a problem if the pilot light won't stay on.

Here is a picture of the flame that is on when I hold down the dial. Is the flame in the right place? It seems like it is melting the wires to the piezo igniter and isn't near the tip of the thermocouple.

[popupcop]

I can"t tell much by the picture but I can tell you the tip of the thermocouple has to be in the flame to allow the pilot to stay on when you release the button.  No heat on the tip and no open gas valve...it is to make sure lp gas does not continue to leak out when the flame is blown out.  
I hope this helps...

[austinado16]

Take that photo again, and in focus please.  That'll help see what's going on.

I will tell you one thing.  The flames are always blue, they are conical shaped with maybe some bright blue fingers at the very bottom, and they are coming upward out of the top of the burner like in my photo below.

What you have there is some sort of flame leaking out in the wrong place and it doesn't appear to even be making it out to the burner.  Start by blowing through that burner tube with compressed air.  You probably have a spider's nest inside blocking flow.

The flame, when it's correct, will be directly under the hollow metal chimney pipe....as if you were looking at a fireplace.

[curryp]

I thought my original picture was in focus, but here is another one. The flame is flying out of the little hole on the rectangular piece on the bottom through the hole you see. The tip of the thermocouple is to the right behind the small brass colored cylinder where the screw hole is. I will try blowing air through the rectangular piece. As I thought, the flame should be near the tip of the thermocouple and not coming out of that hole on the bottom. Why is that hole there?

[austinado16]

That photo is very out of focus too.

That long horizontal box with the gas line coming in at the left is the burner tube.  That hole facing the camera just below the flame is an air port.  Gas is coming in from that pipe on the left and air should be moving into the horizontal box via that port.  The air and gas mix so you have the right conditions for combustion.

Down at the other end of that horizontal box appears to be a verticle cylinder.  Down in the bottom of that is probably the burner slits, like you see in the photo I posted.  So really, you flame is probably supposed to be inside that verticle cylinder.  I can't tell because the photo is blurry.  You might try your camera on Macro Mode.

My guess is that the verticle cylinder is in line with the chimney opening above it.  I'd say the burner tube is plugged, gas is being forced out of that air intake port, and then you've lit that gas somehow.

[Jestercat]

I had the EXACT same problem a couple of months ago.  

Check out my thread (click here) on the forum for what I went through to get mine working.

Hopefully yours is as simple a fix as mine was.  :p

[curryp]

I had the EXACT same problem a couple of months ago.  

Check out my thread (click here) on the forum for what I went through to get mine working.

Hopefully yours is as simple a fix as mine was.  :p

Thanks SO MUCH Jestercat! I just went out with a pipe cleaner and put it through the hole where the flame was coming out and worked it back and forth a few times and TA DA I have a blue flame right where it is supposed to be. Luckily the wires to my piezo igniter weren't damaged from the previous flame burning right under it. All is good and working as it should be now.

I figured someone who was familiar with the structure of the fridge parts would be able to diagnose the problem from my picture. It is getting information like this why I love this club.

We are going dry camping starting tomorrow through Labor Day and I am so pleased I will have use of the fridge.

[curryp]

I just went out and checked the refrigerator. The pilot is still going strong and the temperature in the fridge is 40. What is the best setting for the propane to run the fridge continuously for a few days at - Lo, Medium or High? Does it depend on the air temperature at all?

[tlhdoc]

What is the best setting for the propane to run the fridge continuously for a few days at - Lo, Medium or High? Does it depend on the air temperature at all?

Yes the air tempature has a great deal to do with what tempature you run your fridge at.  The hotter it is the colder you want it to run.  

[curryp]

Yes the air tempature has a great deal to do with what tempature you run your fridge at.  The hotter it is the colder you want it to run.  

So, if it is really warm out during the day turn it to high and at night I can turn it down to Lo?

[Jestercat]

I have limited experience using my fridge yet as I am a newbie like you.

Personally, I prefer things as cold as possible, to the point of but not quite frozen. :yikes:

For this reason, for the 3 trips I have used the fridge, I've kept the temp knob on the HI setting (when on propane) and 7 (when on 110v) and haven't yet frozen anything.

My new fridge baffle mod helped make things cooler, but still haven't froze anything.

I'm adding a fan to increase airflow, and I know this will help cool things further.  If it ends ups freezing something, I'll turn down the knobs a bit until I find that happy medium....    

Each time you go out, conditions may be slightly different enough to make changing the settings.  It's all a matter of a bit of experimenting, followed by preference..... :p

[fleagalbaum]

Just thinking out loud here.

With respect to the outdoor temps, having your fridge set on 4 and the outside temp rises, wouldn't the fridge cycle more to keep it at it's calibrated temp inside?

Otherwise with temp fluctuations of 15-20 degrees (celsius) outside would greatly affect the performance of the fridge, you would have to be constantly fiddling with the temp control to keep an even temperature