Refrigerator won’t come on.

[Mbear12]

First longer road trip.
I opened the propane valve. Fridge on automatic....nothing happens. How will I know if fridge is running on propane?

2019 Sunseeker 2850.

[emm-dee]

If running you should hear the burner noise, or feel the heat on the outside. When starting up the fridge will activate the propane burner spark but if it doesn’t get ignition it will shut off.

To use on with auto mode make sure the battery is connected and, for propane mode, the external power is not on.

For first time use it can be a problem with air in the propane lines. Turn the fridge off, then purge most of the line by lighting the propane cook stove. Then, turn on the furnace, next the water heater. Once all three of them are working (you can shut them off now) turn the fridge back on.

[Trksr]

X2

[chaps2018]

Just double checking is the refrigerator responding when you press the power button? Ie, do the lights come on?

If you have shore power coming in to the trailer then the Display should look normal and it will take about four hours to cool down to 40°.

If you’re not hooked up to shore power and it’s not getting gas it should produce an error code or blinking lights to indicate it’s not getting gas. As mentioned above when the trailer sits for a while you might have to bleed the air out of the gas line. I do that by either running the burners in the stove or turning the furnace on to get the propane to fill the lines.

When starting the fridge you’ll hear the refrigerator start to auto ignite ( a series of clicking noises). You’ll hear the propane ignite then you’re all set. If the propane doesn’t light then it will produce an error code. Shut the refrigerator off and then restart it again.

To hear the clicking noises you have to have a quiet environment and listen very carefully by the refrigerator inside the trailer.

[Flybob]

As mentioned, let the stove burners run for a minute or so to purge the lines. If the burners do not burn normally it is possible the free flow valve in the tank was activated. If the pressure in the lines is low and you turn on the tank quickly the valve may think there is a free flow and shut down. If this happens the stove will not operate. Close propane valve. Wait ten minutes, then turn on very slowly until you just here the propane flow. Then stop and wait until the lines are pressured ( hear no propane flowing). Then you can open valve fully.

[A32Deuce]

Another thing, they take several hours to cool down.

[jimmoore13]

Your fridge should have a "fault" warning light if the propane does not ignite and you aren't connected to shore power, the fault light will come on. It's with the control display and temp display.

If you're cold already from shore power, it might not run when it's convenient. I always cool my fridge on shore power for about 24 hours, then about 4 to 6 hours before departure, I switch over to gas.

Purge your propane lines by running the kitchen stove for a few seconds until you get a smooth, consistent flame. Then, when the fridge starts, it must only purge the branch line from the main distribution line to the fridge burner. If you you start from cold and, maybe, just replaced a propane tank, the lines will be full of "air" and asking the fridge to purge all that air is asking too much. It's likely to fail repeatedly.

If possible, manually set your fridge to "gas", NOT "automatic." On auto, it will always switch to 120 volt shore power if you fire up the genny or plug in at a rest stop to, for example, run the microwave. Get it running on gas and force it to stay there until you get to a destination where you plan to stay that has shore power. This is particularly important if you have a small 2kw genny and you're boondocking. A big (6+ cubic feet) fridge starting on 120 volt power while running the micro or a hair dryer may overload the genny...from experience with a little 3 cubic foot fridge.

If there's no fault warning light and if there is heat coming out of the top fridge vent, you're running. They are actually very quiet compared to, for example, a hot water heater.

Good luck.