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.  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