On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 10:25 AM, Michael Snow <slowmachine82@gmail.com>wrote:

> On 8/1/11 3:02 PM, Michael Snow wrote:
>
>> I want a Vitrifrigo/Truckfridge badly, but am leaving Saturday for
>> Niagara Falls with or without a working fridge.
>>
>> Sitting on a milk crate, connected to my barbecue tank and regulator,
>> the fridge runs fine on propane. The flame appears blue through the
>> sight hole. At the right viewing angle I can see what I think is the tip
>> of the thermocouple glowing red.
>>
>> When installed in my '82 Westy, the flame is partly yellow and goes out
>> 5-10 seconds after igniting. Guessing that I might have a regulator
>> problem, I swapped the old Marshall 290 for a new one. I verified 11"
>> water column using a home-built manometer. Condensation drain is closed.
>>
>> I have cleaned a bit of accumulated dust from the combustion chamber and
>> blown compressed air through the fridge intake/exhaust tubing.
>>
>> Does yellow flame indicate inadequate air supply? What am I overlooking?
>>
>> Mike
>>
>
> Declaring partial victory on this.  I verified again that the regulator
> is holding 11" WC and attempted to start on propane.  After three
> unsuccessful attempts, I turned the fridge gas level down to about 7/8
> of maximum, started again, waited until the flame started to die and
> then clicked the igniter one time.  The flame re-lit and held steady for
> about 5 minutes before I turned the propane flow up to maximum.  I has
> now been running for long enough to eat half of a box of girl scout
> cookies, about 30 minutes.

PM me for address to send remaining cookies for proper disposal.

mike

>  I'm going to guess that I have a flaky
> thermocouple that will need to be replaced after this trip.  One benefit
> of removing the fridge from the van and cleaning the combustion chamber
> is that I can now clearly see the flame and glowing thermocouple through
> the sight glass at the bottom corner of the fridge.
>
> Packing for Niagara Falls...
>
> Mike
>