Good news I'm covered: bad news it still hurts

[BigDTx]

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

We made our New Years camping trip/Wife's Birthday trip over the holiday and things did not work out as planned.

Arrived at the campsite after 5pm aand the park office was closed, so we were off on our own to find a empty spot in a new to us campground.
We found two nice spots very level, side by side for our camper and a friend with a Aluma lite by gulfstream.

After I put our camper into into's spot our friend asks me to help get their camper into the spot. No problem, parked her camper for her. (her husband stayed home at the last minute???)

anyway we unloaded two campers and set up two spots, etc.

Here comes the bad news:

Now it is getting close to 10pm, my lower back is now starting to hurt and I go to lay down. by midnite I can not even get out of bed. I spent all of new years day laying in the camper with ice on my back. Sunday the 2nd off to het ER i go for some relief. spent the rest of sunday packed in ice and drove home on monday. Chiropractic visit yesterday and one morw scheduled for today.

So bassically the only time i left the camper for 4 days was to go the ER. I never gopt to try out my new Abu Garcia fishing pole/reel etc.

Now I am back at work wearing a back belt for support.

Also to top it off, the canopy was somehow torn or ripped on new years eve leaving it ruined.

The Good News:

I have Foremost Insurance coverage and they already cut me $1200.00 check for the awning. I also have medical coverage in case of an injury at the campsite. I am hoping to recover all of my co pays from ER, walgreens, chiro, etc.

after filling the propane tanks, I am happy to report the Furnace works, hot water heater works, stove top works, but the fridge would not run on Gas, the "check" light would illunminate when the 110 was unplugged from the campsite hook up.

so what should I check on the fridge for it run on gas? I can here the ignitor clicking but that is all.

Morale of story is if you do not have RV insurance, then you should buy some soon.

How was your new years trip?

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Danielflading

so what should I check on the fridge for it run on gas? I can here the ignitor clicking but that is all.

Sorry to hear about your back, Dan. As a person with several HNP disks I feel your pain. (no kidding!). Hope you feel better soon.

As to your fridge problem, as long as there is 12DC and propane, it should light just fine. So... Check the fuses first. There is a 12 volt dc fuse, but if you hear the ignitor it is most likely not that. There is also a small glass tube fuse on the control board (2amp I think) and smell for gas while it is trying to light. That is all I can think of.

[BigDTx]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Sorry to hear about your back, Dan. As a person with several HNP disks I feel your pain. (no kidding!). Hope you feel better soon.

As to your fridge problem, as long as there is 12DC and propane, it should light just fine. So... Check the fuses first. There is a 12 volt dc fuse, but if you hear the ignitor it is most likely not that. There is also a small glass tube fuse on the control board (2amp I think) and smell for gas while it is trying to light. That is all I can think of.

Herk thanks for the reply. I could not smell gas and the LP detector was silent when trying the gas on the fridge. I am thinking a clogged/blocked orifice or something along that line. When I gt eth awning replaced next week, I will have them check the fridge also. I am hoping to get a look at it and fix it myself to save a few bucks.

I have herniated disk at L4 and a ruptured one at L3 from car wreck years ago. I will lift with my knees from now on......

[Herk7769]

Let us know what you find.

[crocus]

Air always seems to get into the propane lines, and sometimes it takes a few tries to get the fridge to ignite. How many ignition cycles did you run the fridge through?

[BigDTx]

Originally Posted by crocus

Air always seems to get into the propane lines, and sometimes it takes a few tries to get the fridge to ignite. How many ignition cycles did you run the fridge through?

That was my first thought Air in the line, so I cycled it through a few times and still would not work, I just came back in from trying again and nothing.
the ignitor is clicking away and it will not light.

I see a bleed screw on the gas line in what appears to be a electrically operated valve. I tried the hammerize hte valve to free it up if frozen but to no avail.

I am going to get a screwdriver and take out he bleed screw now and If i get gas out of the line, then the valve is probably bad and not opening.

[F and E Damp]

Dan:

I can sympathize. We set out on a 10-day trip to the Oregon coast in October. We went straight down I-5 and stopped for an overnight about 50 miles north of the Oregon line. It was a typical "en-route stop" CG, spitting distance from the freeway, with concrete pads and narrow strips of grass.

We got a pull-through site and after I'd shut down, DW said "you're kinda close to the edge of the pad and I'm not sure that picnic bench is ours our next door's. She and the two Labs were milling around in the house, so I decided to go out of the driver's door to check how we were positioned on the pad.

It was twilight, so I couldn't see as well as I'd have liked, and when I put my right leg down to the "stirrup" footrest on the wheel arch, I missed it. I'd assumed success and was starting to let go of the upper hand-holds.

I don't remember the sequence of decision making, but I realised I was at risk of landing head first on a concrete pad. I think I decided to try and stop my downward trajectory, and raised my right leg back to the door sill. I then tried to arrest the downward motion of my upper body, and succeeded by doing a "mega-squat" on the door sill.

Subsequenntly my doctor said that my over-extended muscles were a good trade for either quadraplegia or a plywood overcoat. I over-extended the hamstrings in both legs and the calf muscles in the right leg. 6 weeks of 3-times a week Phyiostherapy, after we got home, finally got things sorted. Thank you, Medicare!

Unfortunately, I have to use the driver's door when the rig is docked alongside the garage, but I use a stepladder to get in and out! I sure as hell won't use it unless I have a means of access that doesn't require use of the "stirrup" step. It's still a long way down for the left leg unless you step on the hub-cap lug-nuts.

Since the driver's door is one of the emergency exits, I'm seriously consideing adding a short rope ladder, stowed alongside the driver's seat, to use to get out through that door.

BTW, the trip wasn't a total loss, even though the incident occurred on our first night. I found I could still drive comfortably, and in fact spent two nights sleeping in the driver's seat. We did 6 days, but when we were in Heceta Beach the weather went sour. When we stopped at Lincoln City, we got the local TV forecast for another 5 days of the wet and soggy. We bagged the rest of the trip and headed home.

[BigDTx]

Frank,

Your trip sounds painfull. I hope you are doing better since then. I went to the chirpractor again today and got some relief.

I just came back in from the camper and either tapping on the valve freed it up or turning what i thought was a bleed screw. IT has a textured head/knob for finger turning but it only turned about 1/4 - 1/2 turn and stopped. i am thinking it is the butterfly valve shaft and i amnually opened the valve. The LP lit off immediatly and after a few starts and stops by way of the control panel on the front of the frig it is still working. I am going to let it run about a hour or so and then shut it off.

Success

Thanks for the replys and Happy New Year!

[KyDan]

On a previous new trailer we also found our fridge would not
work on gas. I found a tiny "pet cock" type valve in the guts
of the fridge. I turned it 90 deg and it lit and started working.
I don't think they put them on new units any more but it's
possible. I guess you've looked real good at the back side
for a gas valve?

[BigDTx]

yes i found small knob type screw on the valve that would only turn about 90 degrees and it lit off and ran great all night.