Fridge explosion

[Oleo4]

There has been a few times I've had what sounds like an explosion coming from the back of the refrigerator in my '06 Surfside. It seems to happen after shutting off the fridge and getting underway. Does one need to shut off the propane at the tank in order for this to NOT happen?

HAALP!!

[Francesca]

Yikes!
"Explosion"?
Can you hear it over the engine noise of the vehicle?
Are you sure it's coming from the fridge?
(that is, have you ever heard the "explosion" when the trailer was stationary?)
Why are you shutting it off before getting underway?

If you suspect it's a propane-related "explosion", I recommend that you not only shut off the tank, but keep it shut off until you have the gas system checked out by a gas professional...

Good luck!

Francesca

[RickO]

Ditto Francesca...

I've never heard of it happening and wouldn't play around with it except to maybe remove the external inspection covers and try to get it to repeat while watching... from a bit of a distance.

Be careful...

Rick

[Francesca]

I just had another thought- are you sure it's not the water heater igniting that you're hearing, or do you shut that off, too?
That's the only "explosive" noise I can think of that is "normal" in an RV...
A w/h igniting can be pretty loud from outside- I've camped next to enough of them to know!
They're usually on the driver's side, too.
You usually can't hear it from inside the rig, but if you're in the driver's seat with the window down you probably can.

Francesca

[Oleo4]

Francesca:
No, the water heater is off. Reason being both are off is that most of the time we are only miles from home. Both fridge and water heater are on the passenger's side BTW.
And yes, I know what the w/h sounds like when igniting. This explosion is definitely coming from the fridge.
Ricko: It would be an impossibility to watch it when "underway". That's the only time when this happens.

[Fred and Bonnie]

If the refrig. has been shut down, and it appears to have ignition, it seems you have a very dangerous situation. It seems ths gas valve is not working properly. I would shut down the entire LP system, as it sounds like you cannot control the gas supply at the refrig.

Fred

[Bill WA6YBD]

Oleo4,

Sounds like the burner tube at the very end has become clogged with rust and crap from the propane. This is a normal build up over time and should be cleaned once a year. I think what may be happening is the tube has become clogged and not allowing the gas to flow up into the heating chamber at the very end of the tube. As the gas builds up inside this tube the electronic igniter keeps trying to light the flame. The spark igniter will continue to attempt to light the flame for approximately 30 seconds before giving up and reporting a "check" light on the control panel. In your case the gas builds up in this compartment and finally reaches the igniter spark and you will hear a big whoosh sound. This is not normal as many have said and should be addressed immediately. Take the flame and igniter assembly apart, remove the tube and simply poor out the contamination and reinstall the tube and this should correct the problem. There are only 3 or 4 screws to remove the burner tube. Here is a website/PDF that shows this assembly.

http://www.gas-refrigerators.com/pdf/RM2354-manual.pdf

I clean mine every year.

Good luck ~ Bill

[ayotte]

Bill, would that theory apply to our unit? Last time we used the fridge it WAS hard to light on gas. This time out, it flat won't light. We don't have ANY noise, no clicking as in an attempt to light and it goes to the check light almost immediately. Any ideas?"

Louise

[kennersonf]

Norm, sounds like your ignitor or thermocouple might be bad.

[ayotte]

Thanks Fred~we will have a professional check that out for us.

[SCVJeff]

Is it a POP or an explosion... There's a big difference.
I had something similar (and the thread is around here somewhere). Where there was a piece of smootz in the burner that was getting hot enough it would pre-detonate the LP before it got to the burner grate.

[Francesca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCVJeff smootz

I'm adding this word to my "RVocabulary"



Francesca

[Oleo4]

Thanks, WA6YBD, for the info; to date, it's the best. I was warned last year about the cleaning but I let it go.Now I'll get at it b4 heading south. And thanks for the URL.
By the way, KD7OYZ here.

[Bill WA6YBD]

Ayotte,

Hi Louise, yes indeed it can make it very hard to light. Cleaning the tube is the first thing I try when my fridge is getting hard to start or will not stay lit. So far it has worked every time.

~Bill