Norcold fridge won't cool with propane FIXED

[emcee]

circa 2004 Norcold model N821 works fine with electric but fridge stays warm on propane (freezer gets cold).



Running on propane with thermistor disconnected, freezer gets to around 15 degrees after 24 hours but the fridge stays warm.



Thought it might be too hot outside so installed thermostat actuated cooling fans on exterior access panel to push air up through roof vent - didn't fix it.


Thought the flame didn't look great so replaced the regulator (it was 17 years old anyway) and set the pressure to 11" wc at refrigerator gas valve with stove lit. - didn't fix it.


Thought the flame still wasn't perfect so replaced the burner and orifice. - didn't fix it.


Thought there must be an issue with the flue or flue baffle. Pulled fridge out, removed flue baffle and cleaned rust off. Cleaned out flue with brush. Cleaned off condenser (had a little cobwebby type stuff on it). - didn't fix it.


At this point I'm thinking what's left? A gas flow issue? The supply line looked fine so I removed and disassembled the gas valve. Air flowed freely through the outlet side but not the inlet. Saw a bit of foam (filter) stuffed in the port under the manual shut off valve and removed it (17 years of gunk on it so no loss). Still seemed hard to blow through until finally it made a noise like a spitball through a small straw and air started flowing freely. Something came out although I never saw it. Reassembled and reinstalled the gas valve and turned the unit on. The freezer and fridge were cold about 8 hours later. FIXED!

[Jim_HiTek]

Body of a spider maybe? Dunno how it got in there but the guess would be it was a tiny spider that crawled in there when the refer was being worked on sometime in the past, maybe even at the factory during install. Died in there when the gas was first turned on, and the body worked it's way into the valve eventually. Then blocked it until you blew it out of the way.

Cool story.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

This link explains how to find and test if the filter in the propane line at the solenoid-operated valve is clogged.

Norcold Will Not Get Cold