propane fridge problem!

patarini · #1 07/29/06, 08:22 AM

Rhe people staying at my house said the fridge stoppped cooling the fridge and now has stopped cooling the freezer. Its a small danby, heading home to clean it and look it over -- any other ideas? Thnx

Bruce in NE · #2 07/29/06, 09:23 AM

How old is it? Sometimes they will just quit cooling, the coolant quits circulating (might have a leak). Or, could it just be out of gas? Gas orifice could be dirty or plugged. As a last resort you can try tipping it on its side, let it sit for awhile then stand it up level and relight it.

LisaInN.Idaho · #3 07/29/06, 12:33 PM

I have a larger Danby. Maybe it just needs defrosting?

Dun Coille · #4 07/29/06, 12:42 PM

Other than that, how is it? Do you propane-users like the fridges? How much fuel do they use?

patarini · #5 07/29/06, 03:41 PM

This is a couple years old, but just started using it a year ago. I love it -- it works fine, well till now, made zero noise, didnt burn that much propane. Well its defrosted for sure now, cleaned the filter to the burner, and cleaned the back off will try it again tonite.! THnx fer da advice!

mightybooboo · #6 07/29/06, 05:53 PM

Lay it on its left side one day.
lay it on the top one day.
lay it on right side one day.
set it up normal one day.

Fire it up.
RV folks call it burping the refer and VERY often it works.Sounds just like what your problem is ,is what this fix works for.

Also if someone has one that doesnt 'work' and wants to get rid of it,take it and do this.
My hippie cousins used to do that,got some good refers that way.

This is for fixing propane fridges only.

Oh yeah,checking the burner and if it has a chiminey for obstrucions,make sure flame is good color,may need to clean burner orifice.

BooBoo

sisterpine · #7 07/29/06, 07:18 PM

I agree with boo about burping. we have a 1952 servel that i reworked and had to burp it as well. though i suspect your problem is that no one has cleaned the burner assembly in a year. all it takes is one piece of burned dust on the orfice and down it goes! not to mention it makes a hazard of unburned properly gas!

LisaInN.Idaho · #8 07/29/06, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dun Coille

Other than that, how is it? Do you propane-users like the fridges? How much fuel do they use?

Don't like it...too small and I hate defrosting the blasted thing.

Nette · #9 07/30/06, 07:31 AM

Yep, burp it.

Our gas fridge in the camper stopped working, and we were going to get the camper repair folks to fix it while they were doing some other repairs. They claimed it couldn't be fixed and that they'd sell us a new one for $1200 +. We declined--no more than we're able to camp, it wasn't worth the expense. DH decided to give the burping thing a try, and it worked.

Txsteader · #10 07/30/06, 07:59 AM

We had a different brand than yours, but the instruction manual said to lay it on it's left side for a couple of hours, then hook it back up (upright, of course) and it would be good to go.

katlupe · #11 07/30/06, 10:05 AM

I have a old Serval also. My only complaint is that the freezer is too small. Can't really use it. But I love it and when I do get a new one, I would prefer another gas one. Dh wants a Sunfrost because of the free power thing. But I like the way the gas refrigerator has no noise and it keeps your food at a constant cold temp. No turning on and off.

We have burped ours a couple of times. May be time to do it again, as the freezer has started really icing up fast. I defrost it monthly, so it's not much of a job usually.

It doesn't use much propane, it's our range that uses most of the propane. It has gone up a bit, because of canning season and propane rates.

katlupe

Charleen · #12 07/30/06, 12:25 PM

I used to have a Servel but it was hooked up to natural gas. I LOVED IT!!! I don't ever remember having it serviced.

katlupe- yes, the freezer was teeny so we had an electric upright freezer, but I liked having a gas fridge. I didn't have to worry about it if the electric was out. There's just 2 of us, so space was not a big issue. It weighed a ton, too.

Several years ago, Servel was offering $100 rebate for people turning in their Servels due to carbon monoxide problems. Mine was not having problems, but I needed the money and was able to obtain an electric fridge free, so I turned mine in and now I'm kicking myself in the behind. Wish I still had it.

sisterpine · #13 07/30/06, 01:27 PM

I love my servel! It was made the same year i was and we are both aging nicely LOL. The freezer is small but i was able to purchase a small 2 cubic foot propane freezer new for just under 400.00 on ebay a couple of years ago and it is plenty of freezer for the two of us. My servel works like a champ and i did have to change it over from natural gas to propane and get a new higher altitude spud for it as well as a new door gasket. I want another badly so i can turn it into a full time freezer and everyone i know keeping their montana eyes open for one. you sure dont want to have to ship one of these babies. i met a guy in california who has several and he sells them but shipping is rediculous!

CampFridge · #14 06/18/14, 08:34 AM

The tail tail sign of any propane refrigerator loosing it's charge is the freezer still will make ice ,but the fridge will no longer stay between 32 and 42 degrees fahrenheit. another thing that happens is when you wake up in the morning the fridge is holding temperature but as the day warms up so does your fridge. That is because your ammonia absorption fridge is a heat exchanger it pulls heat out of the cabinet and dissipates the heat through the coils in the back, so as the day gets warmer it is harder for you fridge to keep things cold. Check out my topic on propane fridges, http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/sea...archid=5017811