# Dometic fridge not igniting on gas....



## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

I swear I'll never have another Dometic fridge ever!

This is a 'new' fridge fitted two years ago at great expense.

We can get it to ignite but as soon as you pull the dial back out to operate it goes out and the igniter kicks in again. We have waited the twenty seconds (and longer) to no avail.

It did operate for two hours (as a test} the other day but we now suspect that the left hand dial stayed stuck in and hence worked in that manner.

I read a lot about cleaning the jets ect but I cannot glean from anywhere the location/how to access??

Any clues please folks???


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

It sounds as though the thermocouple is not sufficiently close to the flame. It can be adjusted, usually by gently bending it towards the flame, Alan.


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

How do you get to it...?


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

On mine you access the jet and thermocouple by removing the protective piece of metal over it which is secured by 2 self tapping screws to the main body of the rear of the fridge.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

javea said:


> On mine you access the jet and thermocouple by removing the protective piece of metal over it which is secured by 2 self tapping screws to the main body of the rear of the fridge.


I assume access is by removing lower vent on outside.

Our fridge would not light whilst on hols.

Dave p


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## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

1302 said:


> How do you get to it...?


If you have two external vents / grills then you remove the lower one and go in through there.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Yep. Do you know what it looks like 1302? If not maybe we can find a photo.


Found one anyway. This is not exactly like yours but should give the general idea.

Your thermocouple needs to be close enough to the flame to make the gas stay on when you release the button. They do go faulty but it's not common.


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

Thanks Ern...

Mine is like the one on the left but there is a shroud over the whole affir making access tricky. I am going into Camperserve near Loule tomorrow for them to have a poke at it - I'll break it knowing my luck 

Thanks all for your help


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

I went to Camperserve and he fixed it in ten seconds! Didnt even take the grill off the back...

The knobs are a bit rubbish and dont push in far enough to heat up the probe hence it goes out. Take knob off and push brass spindle until it is lit - push knob back on for asthetics 

A guy was in with same problem worsened by the fact he bent the electode over - he now needs a whole new gubbings, fridge out etc etc...

Thanks for all yur replies


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

1302 said:


> Take knob off and push brass spindle until it is lit - push knob back on


That is exactly what happened to us last autumn and the French agent fixed it - he told us it was easy to fix but did not elaborate so that sounds likely and is something I will try first if it happens in future....

Thanks VERY much for that hint - could be really useful to lots of us,

Dave


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Thanks for letting us know1302. I must say thought though I will have to think about that explanation though as at first glance it doesn't make sense to me.

. 

I found this which agrees with my understanding of how it works, "The FFD (flame failure device) is a stand alone device that picks up the miilivolts generated by the dissimilar metals within the heated thermocouple, this tiny voltage is supplied to a miniature coil which generates a small magnetic field that allows a small solenoid to pass gas when the control dial is pressed in.

If there is no "heat" the control knob will pass gas for as long as you press it but once you let go it shuts off the gas."



At the moment I can't understand how taking the knob off to push it further in makes a difference.

I am not disputing the explanation you were given, just trying to understand. With luck someone who knows will come along and explain, Alan.


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## organplayer (Jan 1, 2012)

*organplayer*

A very big thankyou to you 1302, DTPChemicals and everyone else for this insightful info. Who would have thought just removing the gas control knob and then pushing the spindle in would solve, what would seem a serious problem when touring, would solve it. This is an absolute gem. Once again thankyou all, and safe travels to us all.


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

erneboy said:


> Thanks for letting us know1302. I must say thought though I will have to think about that explanation though as at first glance it doesn't make sense to me.
> 
> .


He said (and I wasnt listening fully as I was so glad he had fixed it)

I suspect he had encountered this a few times and I 'assumed' that our KNOB wasnt pushing the gas release enough to make the thermo thingie hot enough to stay lit. It was so simple when he did it I felt like hiding.

It struck up forst time this evening... 

I wanted to highligth (no pun intended) that bending thermocouples and reaming out jets are not advisable


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Having given it some thought I wonder if it might be that while your flame was lighting it was weak. Pressing the button was letting enough gas pass to produce a flame but it was too small to heat the thermocouple sufficiently? Removing the plastic switch top and pressing the shaft in may have increased the flow. A little packing in the hole in the switch might do the same job without having to remove it.

Regardless it is a very good tip to try that first before moving on to the thermocouple, Alan.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

As this is such a common problem and has a very simple cure perhaps it could be made a sticky?


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

erneboy said:


> A little packing in the hole in the switch might do the same job without having to remove it.
> 
> Regardless it is a very good tip to try that first before moving on to the thermocouple, Alan.


Mr Camperserve said "stick a blob of paper in the bottom of the knob" (ooooh eerrrr) Ours is a particularly bad fitting but he is right.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I packed the knob with a tiny m3 nut filed round, it did the trick so I araldited it in, apparently the brass shafts used to be a tiny bit longer, and there was no problem, but for some reason the short shaft wears the knob away inside enough to just stop it pushing far enough to work properly.

Kev.


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