Fridge Problems

We had our Rienza in for its thirty day check as per the sale agreement. I wont name and shame the dealer but we were not impressed with the time they took to check the van.
 When we had the van at home we tried to check everything worked. After the thirty day check we decided to stay out for a few nights. Not being on hook up we had to use the fridge on gas. This one is a bit different to our old one, turn the switch to gas, yellow light flashes and the igniter ticks until the gas lights. All well so far but the yellow light still flashes.
 I took the vent cover off and can see the gas is lit. I checked the handbooks in case I had done something daft
 Back at the dealers they tried a control box. Worked for about ten seconds. Now they are saying it is the spark unit  . They didn't have one in stock but are getting one to fit at our address.
Lacking confidence in the dealers I wondered if any one else has had this problem so I am one step ahead when they get the parts and fault is still there.
 The dealers may be well versed in selling new motorhomes and caravans but I think faults with older vans seems to stretch them.
 We had a good few days away with no other problems despite the site being white over with frost one morning. Great heater and hot water system compared to the Duetto. We had a couple of cold nights in her .

I don't know what make and model of fridge you have, but if it's one of the Electrolux 42xx series then this does not seem to be uncommon. I had it on my last van, and the consensus was that it was a fault with the spark unit. I removed the fridge to check the electrode gap and that was fine, so all I did was just remember to turn the ignition off once it was alight. They have flame failure detection anyway, so it should not be a safety issue.

Definitely worth getting done under warranty, as when I looked several years ago the replacement was £80+!

There is something in the flame failure device or the spark unit that stops the sparking as soon as the gas lights but starts it again if the flame blows out. Thus the gas will relight before the flame failure device cuts off the gas.

-mojo- wrote:I don't know what make and model of fridge you have, but if it's one of the Electrolux 42xx series then this does not seem to be uncommon. I had it on my last van, and the consensus was that it was a fault with the spark unit. I removed the fridge to check the electrode gap and that was fine, so all I did was just remember to turn the ignition off once it was alight. They have flame failure detection anyway, so it should not be a safety issue.

Definitely worth getting done under warranty, as when I looked several years ago the replacement was £80+!

YAY!!  Someone else who has thought the situation through!!  

ON MY FRIDGE I ALWAYS switch the ignitor "OFF" after the pilot light is lit.

The reason?

1.  To get the gas to light in the first instance I have to:

o  Push the gas supply button in.

o  Turn on the ignitor; which will start "clicking" as it attempts to light the pilot gas.

o  Hold the gas supply button in until the pilot gas ignites.

o  Keep the gas supply button pushed in until the pilot light heats up the flame-failure bi-metal strip enough to maintain the gas flow.
    (At this stage the ignitor will stop "clicking" as the same device also tells the ignitor that the pilot light is lit.)

At this point I can release the gas supply button and allow it to retract to stop bypassing the flame failure device and the fridge is now safely operating on gas.

At this stage I turn off the ignitor.


The reason I turn the ignitor off is that IF the pilot light goes out the bi-metal strip that tells the ignitor that the flame has gone out is the same bi-metal strip that operates the flame-failure system and cuts off the gas supply to the pilot light.

Therefore, by the time the ignitor triggers the flame-failure device will have already operated and there will be no gas available to be ignited until the gas supply button is again pushed in!


If this happens when no-one is in the van, the ignitor will keep trying to ignite none existent gas.  This will at least shorten the life of the ignitor and in worse case scenarios it will keep going until it burns itself out.

Hope this helps. 

Best regards,

Ditto Dutto. My ignitor also started playing up and clicking when it was obvious the flame was lit as I could see it through the viewing hole. Sometimes it would stop as it should, but then start to click in the middle of the night.
So now I make a point of switching it off once the flame is alight.
By the way, there is no pilot light as such, the small candle sized flame is all you get.

Hi Dave,

Glad to hear your first trip was a success despite the fridge.

My Rienza would only continue to click if there was no gas. The igniter was automatic once the energy source was selected. There was no capacity to see the flame. In the dead of night you could sometimes hear it reigniting (clicking for a second or two) when the temperature was too high.

Did not have any problems in our 5 years of ownership.

Davy

Just an update on the saga of our fridge problems. A technician from the motorhome dealers came to fit the parts to cure the flashing light problem.
  Having driven 110 miles and working on our drive in the rain he said he didn't think it was the igniter and he had been given the wrong parts anyway.
  After a bit of sussing and boggling he manage to cure the fault and proved it was one of pins in control unit  multi plug had pushed back. Not an uncommon fault I can vouch for from past problems with vehicle electrics.

 With a bit of a struggle due to the loom being short he managed to sort it and spotted a couple of other little minor faults. The burner was nearly blocked with carbon and the sealing strip across the top of the fridge was miss placed allowing a gale to blow across the top of the fridge.
  The sealing strip is a piece of metal the width of the fridge by about four inches deep. It is shaped to press on the back of the fridge as the fridge is pushed back into position. It is now sealed against the fridge as it should be.

 I know we dont use the fridge on gas much but it is only right things should work, buying this van was painful on  my pockets.