Hi Kathie,
I’m on a limited internet signal for the next few weeks. It comes and goes. Tonight, I have a signal, so I will offer some help. Since Dave may be following your post, he is welcome to join in with comments, as I may not have the signal to respond very quickly.
Your description of how you concluded that the igniter may have tricked you, as other things can cause the system to not run on gas. Here are a few things to try. If Lou has any reservations about this testing, stop and do not do them. Depending on the outcome of these tests, more complex tests may follow, but here is a start.
The good news is that your fridge's PC board has some level of working if it runs okay on electricity. Do not know yet the gas mode part of the board.
You did not mention if you got a “check” fault light when the system did not work on gas. The check fault light is inside at the top control panel next to the Auto light and the buttons to turn the fridge on and off. The check light when it lights up means that the system tried and cannot light the burner on gas. Did you get a check fault?
That is the first test if you cannot remember if the check light came on or want to confirm.
We will try to start the fridge on gas, but let’s do it like this, as you stated. It worked in camp on electricity, and later, on the way home, it did not. When the fridge is in auto, it senses if the 120 VAC shore power is on, starts up, and runs on electricity. If the refrigerator loses the 120 VAC, it automatically switches to gas mode and will try to light if there is a call for cooling. We want to simulate this, starting with electric and then detecting a loss of 120 VAC, and it should automatically try to run in gas mode. Please make sure the fridge is warm enough that it wants to run the gas burner.
Ensure the propane is turned on and the stove burners are lit to help purge the air out of the gas lines. Then, start the refrigerator in auto mode on electric. Ensure the battery is charged and turned on and you are plugged into shore power. Open the fridge door and see that the light inside is on; that means the system is powered up.
With the fridge turned on the inside, take the white lower vent panel off the outside. Facing the back of the fridge on the left side is what looks like a standard extension cord plug plugged into a wall outlet. That is 120 VAC for the fridge heating element. Pull the plug out. This will drop out the 120 VAC power to the controls, and the system automatically goes to gas mode and should, after a few seconds, try to light on gas. (again, make sure the fridge is not cooled down) You should hear a faint click (one time per try to light cycle) of the gas valve turned on and off, even if you cannot hear the igniter clicking.
When the fridge is in gas mode, the system will try to light on the gas three times. It’s a sequence: the gas valve turns on (one faint click you hear ), then the igniter tries to light the gas for about 45 seconds, and you hear constant 1-second snap/clicks. If it fails to light, it has a 2-minute wait to purge all gas, then starts over a second cycle. The check light will turn on if it fails after the third attempt and stops trying to light. The trying-to-light sequence can take 7 to 8 minutes before the check light comes on, indicating a flame fault. Once the check light comes on, when you reset it, you get three more tries to start on gas. To reset the fault, turn the fridge off, and it will reset the fault. When you turn it back on, it will go through 3 more tires and go into check fault if it does not light. Plug the 120 VAC element cord back in when you are done testing.
The above tells us if the PC control board works in gas mode if; the check fault works, and if the igniter received a signal to start sparking, plus does which can send a large voltage to create a spark. Can you tell us how that test worked or did not? You can plug the element cord back in and turn the fridge off when you are done.
The next test is to confirm if your igniter has failed. The one you have may be working, but you are not getting the normal spark sound, which could be another issue at the electrode.
To test if the igniter is working, then do this sequence.
1. Turn the fridge off inside. Turn the battery off and unplug the shore power.
2. Go outside, and with the lower vent panel removed, remove the black cover over the igniter module. There is one Philips head screw at the top to remove the cover. See this picture as the igniter will look like this.
3. At the top of the igniter is a white translucent wire; that white-looking wire is the electrode wire. Gently wiggle and pull the wire connector out (pull on the connector and not the actual wire) of the igniter and let it hang in the open. Looks like this
4. Turn the battery power back on, plug the shore power back in, go inside, and turn the fridge on Auto. The auto light should be on, and the fridge should start on electric.
5. Go outside when the fridge is on and in auto, pull the 120-volt element plug, and it should start igniter sparking, but the sound will be very different. You should hear a lower sound level click/snap, followed by a whining up for about 1 second, then another click/snap followed by a whining, then keep repeating this click/whining sound for about 45 seconds.
6. If you hear the click/whining, click/whining, etc., the igniter is good, and your problems are in the gas burner area. If there are no clicks and no whining, the PC board is not turning on the igniter, the igniter ground wire is a bad connection, or the igniter is dead and needs to be replaced.
7. If you have a DC voltmeter and feel okay doing this, you can test the yellow wire for 12 VDC positive power when the ignitor is supposed to be operating. The black wire is the DC negative or DC ground wire. Those small black wires end up on a small bolt that holds many ground wires together near the white terminal block. If there is corrosion on the bolt or wires, clean up the corrosion. Shut all power off, undo the nut on the bolt, and clean up the wire terminals. See the little black wire with an eyelet on the small bolt. That is the fridge DC ground connections.
8.
After you determine that the igniter is working, the next area is at the gas burner. Carbon builds up on the thermocouple or electrode tip, which can affect the sparking action when it gets long enough. The electrode gap also must be right. More on all this after you sort out the PC board, : the check fault system and the igniter works.
When was your gas burner area last cleaned and checked? If you use gas mode often, annually or every other year, maintenance is to vacuum up rust and dirt from the area, check for the carbon build-up and the electrode gap, and all get cleaned. Many times, this area is addressed only when it stops working. Mud daubers make a mess in the gas burner if you do not have screens on the lower vent.
Hope this helps
John
