Update for the record:

Well, I feel a bit stupid.  I think my dometic DOES have some
problems...However the latest rash of problems was simply due to the
fact that the propane tank was nearly empty.   As you may or may not
know, propane tanks (and other pressurized gas/liquid systems) have a
nearly constant tank pressure as long as any liquid remains.
Pressure only drops once all the liquid is gone.   This is why you
can't use a pressure gauge to figure out how much liquid is left.

In any case, after struggling to keep the dometic lit across several
days, it finally quit completely, at which point I realized my
propane tank was bone dry empty.   Filled the tank, and the dometic
started working much better.

Moral of the story -- make sure you have abundant propane in the tank
before blaming the poor old dometic!

On Jan 13, 2007, at 10:55 AM, Michael Diehr wrote:

> Update -- on a road trip, and the fridge is still behaving very
> oddly.   Some days it runs all day.  Other days it repeatedly goes
> out every few hours or so.    At first I thought it was temperature /
> pressure related, but then on the coldest night (20F) it ran all
> night, and then the next day it went out when sitting in the sun (70F
> +).    Has stayed lit for hours while driving in strong headwinds,
> and also gone out when not moving with still air.   Very strange.
> Watching the flame through the viewing window, it does look a little
> flickery on occasion -- it will burn steady for a few seconds, then a
> brief surge with some yellow, then back to solid blue.   The intake &
> exhaust were both vacuumed & visually inspected with a flashlight and
> looked good, the combustion chamber & jet had some ash / crud in
> them  but were clean.  Gaskets etc. in good shape.
>
> Contaminated propane (water or Methanethiol crud in the system?)
> Some other problem with the Dometic's pressure regulator or
> temperature sensor?