On 12/17/2010 1:28 AM, Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Thu 16 Dec 2010 11:39:04p, Smitty Two told us...

Sometime soon I'll be taking a 45 minute drive to look at a
friend's DC powered propane fridge. I've never even seen one of
these. She says it hasn't worked for months, but recently a solar
power expert has been working up there, repairing things. Now the
fridge works, sort of. As she describes it:

There is an ON/OFF slide switch which is now mysteriously
backwards; the ON indicator light comes on with the switch
supposedly in the OFF position. I'm thinking this is a SPST that
just got pulled and reinstalled backwards, but maybe not.

The burner will light, and cool the box to 34F, when she presses
the start button. However, once the fridge warms up, it won't
re-ignite automatically.

What tools should I take, and what should I be looking for?


I'm sorry, but I have no answers or suggestions.

Just wanted to say that I've always been fascinated by the natural
gas and kerosene powered refrigerators and gas airconditioners of
many decades ago. The fridges reqired no electric power whatsoever
and werwe often purchased by families in rural areas without electric
service. From what I understand, gas a/c was more efficient to
operate than electric units, with many fewer moving parts to wear
out.

Good luck with finding what you need.


The sealed unit contains a mixture of ammonia, water and hydrogen which
is in a specific ratio. When the refrigeration unit is repaired, a
refill cylinder containing the proper mix must be used to completely
replace the gas charge. It's a very interesting old and proven
technology but you must know what you're doing or the darn thing will
never work. If the cooling unit is defective, the usual repair is to
remove the whole assembly from the refrigerator case and replace it with
a re manufactured unit. The repair depots have the proper equipment to
replace the ammonia, water and hydrogen charge.

http://bryantrv.com/reefer.html

http://www.rvmobile.com/tech/Trouble/cooldoc.htm

TDD