Propane refrigerator

[Charles in Aus.]

I use a gas powered fridge at my farm , we have no electricity apart from generator power . My ancient 150 litre Electrolux [ Dometic in the USA ] fridge is starting to take longer and longer to reach an acceptable temperature .
There are no leaks as far as I can see , no ammonia smell either , the gas jet seems to be working properly as the flame is clear and blue and yet it now taks five times longer to reach 4'C than it used to .
I have heard of ' Burping ' these fridges , inverting them to somehow recombine the refrigerant inside . Any tricks to this ? How long do you leave it upside down ? and would repeating the process a few times or agitating it to recombine the fluids be of any use ?
These units are ancient now , there are no servicemen willing to deal with them anymore and replacements are flimsy , smaller and incredibly expensive . I miss the ' good old days '

 

[Dr. Walt]

Charles in Aus. - I have three Propane Refrierators, two Servel's and a Dometic. The last time I "flipped" one of my Servel's was about 15
years ago. If I remember correctly, I removed everything loose inside (shelves, vegetable bins, etc.) and then disconnected the Propane and
turned it upside down and left it that way for about 48 hours. I then turned it right side up, rehooked the Propane, cleaned the burner and
orifice, and fired it back up, and it worked OK. But I haven't used any of them for the last 10 years as I have several working electric
refrigerators.

Doc

 

[Keith True]

I used Servel gas refrigerators years ago.I had no power in the woods,just propane.Back then the gas guys had seen quite a few of them,and said if they still work but just getting lazy,stand it on it's head.They wouldn't even attempt any diagnosis until they tried that.It was the first test they would do,and I could do it myself for free.They said overnight would do it.It was explained that the ammonia and water would separate,and whichever one was heavier would collect in the low points.I used to do it once every two years or so,it always worked.

 

[JustIn Case]

(quoted from post at 03:41:59 02/12/19) I use a gas powered fridge at my farm , we have no electricity apart from generator power . My ancient 150 litre Electrolux [ Dometic in the USA ] fridge is starting to take longer and longer to reach an acceptable temperature .
There are no leaks as far as I can see , no ammonia smell either , the gas jet seems to be working properly as the flame is clear and blue and yet it now taks five times longer to reach 4'C than it used to .
I have heard of ' Burping ' these fridges , inverting them to somehow recombine the refrigerant inside . Any tricks to this ? How long do you leave it upside down ? and would repeating the process a few times or agitating it to recombine the fluids be of any use ?
These units are ancient now , there are no servicemen willing to deal with them anymore and replacements are flimsy , smaller and incredibly expensive . I miss the ' good old days '

I've heard of burping them too, heck it's worth a try. But my thought on this is if it doesn't have a leak or ammonia smell or sign of a leak it should work. I thought the fridge in one of our camping units was not cooling right one too. It had a fire but it did not seem as big as it once was so I took it apart and used a wire pulled from a wire brush and some brake cleaner and cleaned the orifice where the gas comes out. A torch tip cleaner might also work if it's not too big. Anyway, the flame was probably 20% bigger after cleaning the orifice and it did appear to cool better then. It's worth a try, there's really not that much to go wrong with them otherwise. Good luck with it. Jim

 

[Mule Meat]

I have heard that the liquid accumulating in the evaporator is often caused by the unit not being level.

Never dealt with a propane or NG unit. Grandfather had one that used a kerosene burner. Only thing I remember him doing was replacing the wicks and burner. Heard him talk about burping, but never saw it done.

 

[Bob]

Did you pull it out and check to see if the heat exchanger cooling fins on the back need cleaning?

 

[teddy52food]

Clean the flue of all carbon & make sure it is standing level.

 

[Olyj1947]

I had an old motor home I used for shows and swap meets and would "burp" it every spring. It would run all summer and fall without a problem. Water condensates into the cooling system and being heavier settles into any low spot, bend, whatever. A flip shakes it loose and as long as it is running, will work fine. Good luck!

 

[buickanddeere]

Any soot, dirt or dust on the heat exchanger surfaces ?

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I recall pop doing that to one he had in his camper years ago and he talked about how it improved how it cooled. gm

 

[bobinia]

My motor home started getting slow,replaced the regulator, works perfect,burner hast to make noise.

 

[Dusty MI]

(quoted from post at 12:52:33 02/12/19) My motor home started getting slow,replaced the regulator, works perfect,burner hast to make noise.

I've found that if the burner is very noisy, then the air shutter needs to be closed down some.

 

[teddy52food]

I have 4 of them working just fine with no noise.

 

[jeffcat]

I remember my grandparents apartment in NYC had a gas fridge. Tiny thing about
the size of a baby crib on end. Had only room for one ice tray. The name might
have been crown,caloric, some such name. Only had a little pilot flame that ran
all of the time under a metal bulb. I cleaned the fuzz bunny's for her one time
with a tooth brush.

 

[jacksun65]

Done at the RV dealership many times. lay it on it's side for 4 hours top for 4 hours next side for 4 hours set it up for the last twelve hours start it
up should work fine.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Thanks for all the replies

I keep it very clean , it is built into the kitchen at the farm house and vented to the outside . I pull it out each year and vacuum or air blast it clean , flue included . I did neglect the flue for a time as I didn't know they accumulated so much soot , I do now and it is clean as are the cooling fins , jet and burner .
So I tipped it upside down , left it for a day , then upright again for an hour or two before unending it again . Haven't lain it on its side but that is also a good suggestion .
I found some useful information , apparently the ammonia content of the refrigerant can crystalise in the warmer areas of the heat exchanger and cause blockages , by inverting it these are submerged and then dissolve and re enter suspension in the fluid , makes sense .
I will hook it up again later today our time and report back .

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Total success !

Thanks again for the helpful replies , tipping it upside down does work and has restored the refrigerator's performance . One very happy bloke .

 

[Dr. Walt]

Charles in Aus. - Glad you got 'er working again. Best of luck to you.

Doc - Southern Nevada, U.S.A.