Fridge not Cooling on Propane

[DirtSquirt]

I know there was a recent thread on this same issue, but my problem is different and I was afraid that fewer people would read my question if I posted it in that thread.

My Dometic fridge (not sure the model but I could find out if necessary), works great on 120V, but not on propane. It cools to a good temperature and freezes solid when on shore power, but barely cools and barely freezes (slushy water bottles) on propane.

I checked the outside back panel and I know for sure that the burner is lighting first try and staying lit. The flame looked decent, very little orange, but I cleaned it out anyway with a vacuum and an air compressor. There doesn't seem to be orange in flame now, just blue. The flame doesn't look huge, but not pitiful either. How big is the flame supposed to be?

Any other ideas? We will be dry camping for 2 nights this weekend and then travelling around and full service camping for 3 weeks after that. I really don't want to drag the generator around just to use for the first 2 nights. I would prefer the fridge to work properly on propane.

Thanks!

[oldgold]

If you have a flame... have you checked the temperature adjustment inside the fridge? Ours slipped down and wouldn't get cold. I jammed it up so it would hold and haven't had a problem since. It's normally a white looking tube on the right side of the "fins". The higher it is, the cooler the temp. We had to play with ours a little to hit the correct temps.

Anything more complicated than that.. I can't help.

[bruceatlam]

Make sure that the chimney is nice and clean. You need good hot air flow up the chimney. I see you have a 2010 ---- may have some cob webs/scale built up in there. Blow it out with some compressed air.

[DirtSquirt]

Temp adjustment in the fridge is definitely set as cold as it will go.

I did blow the chimney out with compressed air.

I've left it on over night, maybe I just haven't given it enough time to cool yet. I will check it in the morning.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by DirtSquirt

Temp adjustment in the fridge is definitely set as cold as it will go.

I did blow the chimney out with compressed air.

I've left it on over night, maybe I just haven't given it enough time to cool yet. I will check it in the morning.

The "slider" is at the top but is the "thermistor" also at the top?
It tends to slide down in the slider.

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded
2011 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "24 nights"

[wa5tku]

Check that your batter is good and check to see if the voltage is getting to the fridge controller. My Dometic requires 12 volts to run on propane.

[Myrle]

Originally Posted by oldgold

If you have a flame... have you checked the temperature adjustment inside the fridge? Ours slipped down and wouldn't get cold. I jammed it up so it would hold and haven't had a problem since. It's normally a white looking tube on the right side of the "fins". The higher it is, the cooler the temp. We had to play with ours a little to hit the correct temps.

Anything more complicated than that.. I can't help.

Check Dometic website there is some of them being recalled over cooling issues.

[DirtSquirt]

Thanks for all of the input.

I did check the websites for recalls, but only saw recalls for fridges 2006 and older, mine is a 2010.

I've had problems with the thermostat slipping down too, but that wasn't the issue this time.

My fridge will run on just propane even while plugged in, but will not run on just battery if the battery is too low.

Thankfully, I think I just didn't give it enough time to cool yesterday. I checked this morning and the freezer was at -18 C (0 F?) and the fridge was at 0 C (32 F?), so it seems that the vacuum and blowout worked!