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Old 06-13-2012, 06:13 PM   #1
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Refrigerator not starting on gas only

I am used to firing up the refer the night before a trip. And since I have it at a storage lot with no electric, I run it on Auto, but basically it is on gas.

I just can't seem to get it to fire up. I do run the stove and have even fired up the furnace to make sure the gas is flowing.

And it seems to take too long for the safety shut off to come on also. I think on my other sunlines I used to hear a clicking noise as it was trying to fire up. I do not hear that on this one, 2006 286sr.

Is there any testing I can do myself with out much knowledge on gas etc.
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Old 06-13-2012, 08:08 PM   #2
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My fridge is next to my door so it is easy for me to hear the sounds. First is a "thunk" as the gas solenoid opens and then the "tick ... tick ..." as it tries to fire the gas. It keeps trying for about 30 seconds (I guess) before the fault light comes on. Yes it seems like a long time. If the gas has been off a long time I have to repeat the process 3 or 4 times. If it has only been off a week it will usually fire on the first try. The clunk/ticking are normal and if you don't hear the sounds I would check the 12 volts to the control board and gas valve. Make sure that little knob next to the gas solenoid didn't get turned off, that got me once.
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Old 06-13-2012, 09:38 PM   #3
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On your 2006 unit, it "should" be the same as my 2004 unit.



The gas valve and the igniter are paralleled together. When the control board fires the gas valve it also powers up the igniter. The igniter should keep firing until it starts and the flame sense stops the snapping or until it times out on saftey shutting down both the gas valve and the igniter. It will try 3 attempts of 45 seconds plus purge time in between before it totally shuts down and the fault light inside comes on. This could be 3.5 minutes until the safety light comes on with a 30 second air purge between trail for ignition cycles.

If you are outside next to the fridge vent cover you can hear the Click click click of the igniter and it should be constant snapping. The snapping would be just under a second between snaps.

If you do not hear the snapping, and it should keep snapping for 45 seconds straight, you "might" have a bad igniter.

OR the grounds on the fridge have some corrosion on them. The fridge has a lot of ground wires. You can trying cleaning them up to make sure they have good contact.

See these posts. I typed a lot of detail in these and they may help.

http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...dge-12624.html

http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f6...gas-12467.html

Hope this helps. Been busy and heading out on a big camping trip on Saturday. I will be out of pocket for a while after Saturday. Others here can help too.

Good luck

John
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Old 06-14-2012, 12:50 PM   #4
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Thanks for the comments. I will check these tips out over the weekend. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I also had trouble getting it going, and it did eventually start up, when I don't know. I figured I would give it one more try, turned it on and went to work. When I came back it was on.

But this last trip, it just did not want to fire up, and I really do not hear the clicking sound as on my other Sunlines.

Thanks again
Phil
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Old 06-14-2012, 02:04 PM   #5
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On my 2363 if the gas has been off for a while, I first start up the stove and that will bring the gas up to that point. Then it seems to light the fridge faster.
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Old 06-14-2012, 09:16 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phillong View Post
But this last trip, it just did not want to fire up, and I really do not hear the clicking sound as on my other Sunlines.

Thanks again
Phil
If you are outside next to the unit, you can hear the snap. And it should be snapping for 45 seconds. Plenty of time to turn it on inside and then go outside and listen

You can pull the outside recall shield off and then cover over the gas burner. As long as you are not in bright sun you can see the blue arc snap across the electrode and for sure hear it.


Also you can manually light the unit. Wait several minutes ([pick 5 to be sure) with the fridge off to let all gas purge from the burner area if there is any left from trying to start the unit.

Then with the burner cover off and using a grill lighter put the lighter flame over the burner serrations and have someone turn on the fridge on gas inside. If the gas valve is opening and gas is flowing, it will light. Now it may or may not stay lit once you remove the lighter. If it stays lite then the millvolt feed back circuit is working just the igniter is not working. And if it does not stay lit at all, then the entire igniter module may be bad or it's ground is bad.

I had one that would give intermittent spark. Would spark about 3 times, miss about 10 , then spark once or twice and then miss many more until it finally did not spark at all. I had forgot to turn the gas on, duh... and it had to go through a long spark routine. That event floated to the surface a weak igniter. So with no spare parts and boondocking I lit it manually. Well it took off and ran for 5 days then just fine. Normally when the air is purged out it fires off in 1 or 2 clicks and never stresses the igniter. Even when I start with a total dry air bound gas system, I first fire the furnace to purge the system and when it ignites I fire the stove top and then do the fridge.

The way my gas lines are run that method purges out the gas lines very close to the fridge. So then the air bound line up to the fridge is very short and takes may be 5 to 10 clicks and it is up and going. Then the next time for a relight it takes 1 or 2 clicks.

That weak igniter episode was now 3 year ago... and I'm still using the same igniter oddly enough. The spark is now consistent and the fridge fires before that long 45 second part. Why? good question I did not change anything other then manually lighting it off to kick start it.

BUT I now have a spare igniter in the camper and almost all other major electronic parts of the fridge. That event showed me when boondocking and a full fridge of food when the fridge gos out, that is a problem. The HW heater, can do without. The furnace or even the stove, can do without. But the fridge, that hurts. So now I'm prepared.

Good luck and hope this helps

John
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