Good afternoon!
We have this lovely Dometic fridge (12V, 240V, gas). Works fine on lecky. Ignition works (can see a spark). However...cannot hear or smell gas flowing through the system when trying to get going. New cylinder, definitely gas as far as the fridge. Pulled out the rather manky filter from the brass connector. Still no flow in the system. Is this likely to be a safe DIY fix? Happy to pay (within reason) for a pro fix. Any ideas? Thanks, Sean.
make sure that the system has the air bled out of it by lighting the hob, let that run for a minute or so, and then try the fridge again after checking the valve is in the open position
when you push the spark button if it's got one, do you get a flame at all.?
if you do hold it for a few seconds for the thermocouple to feel the heat, and then it should be OK the flame should be clean, not all yellow if it's yellow, it would be the Jet playing up may be needing cleaning or replacing,
if it doesn't stay alight when you let go of the sparker then it is the thermocouple that is faulty this would need replacing not a major job if you can get access to it...
if you do open any joints always make sure with fairly liquid Mixed with water. as a bubble test on all the joints that you've touched. loosened or tightened!!
Welcome to UKCS. I think there have been other threads on this, if you search for them. Personally, I’d get a gas engineer or habitation service engineer to look at it, certainly not my skill set. Not expensive, from memory.
The fridge in our previous MH didn’t work on gas; the habitation service found lots of other issues in the MH & established that the fridge gas burner was corroded to crumble. We never replaced it because it would have meant taking out the fridge & counter top; it was a 1993 vehicle, I believe newer models have easier access to it.
I'm taking from your original post, this may be a stand alone camping fridge (manky filter from the brass connector is the clue!), rather than an onboard caravan of MH fridge as most have assumed. - it doesn't really make much difference as much alike in function, just a question of accessing burner.
I'm slightly with Ancient Uncle on the 'don't mess with gas, if you are not CERTAIN what you are doing'! Camping fridges are often left running unattended for long periods, so anything that goes wrong may develop into something catastrophic without the opportunity to turn off the gas supply promptly to stop disaster! I've known gas fridges set light to tents, which in turn risked the fire spreading to adjacent units on neighbouring pitches - domino effect - friend nearly had his brand new MH taken out like that!
The gas flow is so low in volume, it can take a little while to purge air from the pipework when first connected to gas cylinder, the longer the hose, the longer time to purge! You will neither smell gas or get a lit flame until purged - Allow time before declaring a fault.
That said, technically it's most likely a blocked jet. The gas pressure after cylinder regulator is around a paltry 28/37mbar (~ 0.5psi), and the gas flow is a miniscule 8g/hour (around 1/3 oz/hour), so neither has much 'oomph' to dislodge any debris! The gas flow is so low, generally you can't hear it, you may be able to hear a slight roar of a flame if lit. Visual sighting of the flame through the spy hole or grill near the bottom of burner, or heat rising after a minute or two out of the 'chimney' are the usual reliable indicators of a lit burner.
Be cautious if tinkering with the burner assembly, especially an old one, they become brittle with both heat cycling (hot-cold-hot-cold etc.) and corrosion, so can just disintegrate if touched too roughly!
If the jet can be removed to clear a blockage, it's imperative for safety and function that the hole size is not altered by using a drill, file or other 'metal removing' tool to clear it! Only use a soft wire or bristle to clean out the jet hole. Usually wise to blow through the piping from the gas inlet (gas valve on MAX) with the jet out to dislodge any further debris loitering in the pipe.
As to getting 'someone' to fix it, I'm not sure where you'd start. I can't imaging many domestic gas technicians would be interested as no experience of such devices, and no technicians seem to want to venture outside their very limited comfort zone these days! A Caravan/MH engineer with gas appliance training should be able to do it, as the working parts are near identical to fridges installed in most caravans/MHs, but the costs will likely be high and arguably could exceed the cost of buying a new fridge!
As to the fridge itself, I've got one, even older than yours as mine's branded Electrolux (later the brand became Dometic), and love it, it's been a great fridge on many a camping trip, and even an overflow fridge at home come Xmas etc.!
If it's a stand alone camping fridge they are meant to be thrown away, that's todays culture.
It would be more or less cost effective to buy a new one rather than getting an engineer involved.
tbtph
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Topic: `Vintage` Dometic fridge gas issue
via mobile 08/9/2025 at 1:53pm
