Thetford Fridge 3-Way on Gas

[Sapper]

Question for you 3-Way Fridge Gurus .....
I have a Thetford 3-way Fridge. Think it is a N175 with the internal freezer compartment. It is a model with the Auto Energy select feature.

It doesn't seem to want to always work on gas. Electric (12V and 240V) is fine, but the gas seems a touch unreliable. I sometimes go to the fridge and find it is no longer cold. I have gas in the bottle (right now it is virtually full) and the gas cooker starts no probs so gas is coming out the bottle and regulator.
I tried to start it yesterday and the auto ignition was doing its clicking thing for the 15 seconds and then timing out. I'd try again and same thing again.
When I took the vent off and watched what was happening I could see a spark going on; I could hear the gas coming out, so the basic actions seemed out but the burner just would not light?
This morning I tried again after coming back from driving the van and tried the fridge again and it worked straight away - burner lit on the first or second click.

Any ideas what this intermittant working might to due to? something needs cleaning? servicing? adjusting? I don't really 'do' gas so not familiar with the details of it.

Also, I watched a little youtube video on this kind of thing by someone with the same fridge this morning. it didn't really help, to be honest, but I did notice that he had a cover over the burner/thermocouple assembly part that he took off to show the burner, etc. I don't have any cover on mine? I am wondering if that might have been removed for servicing at some time and never refitted? would not having a cover cause the fridge not to work properly? maybe allow dirt in the area or mess with the airflow and be less efficient? I guess I should buy/make a cover plate to put back.

Not sure if anyone has already answered this but in my experience your Motorhome/camper needs to be level.
sometimes it’s the simple things that are wrong and we automatically dive in to try and find something complicated.

 

[wildebus]

Not sure if anyone has already answered this but in my experience your Motorhome/camper needs to be level.
sometimes it’s the simple things that are wrong and we automatically dive in to try and find something complicated.

Would not being level stop the burner igniting? I wouldn't think so? It may stop the fridge working well, but prevent the gas lighting?

just asking this question because being not level was not the problem with the fridge at all (if you look through the posts you will see that), but in your experience did being out of level stop your gas lightinng? and if so, what fridge model - it might be useful to others to know

 

[Markd]

Not sure if anyone has already answered this but in my experience your Motorhome/camper needs to be level.
sometimes it’s the simple things that are wrong and we automatically dive in to try and find something complicated.

Wildebus did post the levelness spec for his fridge as being 3⁰ side to side and 6⁰ fore and aft
3⁰ isn't much of a slope to play with.

 

[Lefty107]

I would try cleaning the burner out first before you try anything else. You say it hasn’t been cleaned for years, the manual for my Dometic fridge says the burner should be cleaned 2 or 3 times a year ( It’s a French reg van so the manufacturers assumption is that the van and fridge are used all year round, which they are) you say yours is well overdue. If the burner is even partly clogged, it could take a few goes to light ( or not light) and the fridge won’t cool properly.
If cleaning doesn’t fix it, then the jet could be partially blocked, and at this point, you would need to get it professionally sorted.

On a different note my dometic fridge got very warm over the. Weekend. Basically same temperature as the van when I checked the gas was still burning with heat coming out of the vent. On the short journey home the temperature dropped slightly but once home on 230v works fine. Mine has not been done in the 7 years we have owned her and are out all year around. Last year exception. Will clean burner and flue this weekend anything else I should be looking at. Thanks in advance.

 

[Deleted member 7298]

I have a Truma water heater with the same problem and have been advised it's the solenoid which means the boiler needs to be stripped down to repair. Biggest problem is getting parts at the moment. Blockages and dirty burners need to be checked. Have no idea if this helps with the fridge problem.