Roadtrek refrigerator question

[KayK]

I’m loving my “bought used” 2006 Roadtrek 190 Popular. But the refrigerator won’t get above 50. My local repair says a new Dometic would be around 1,000.00 once I paid freight. Anyone know of a less expensive option for a frog?

[sebtown]

I assume you mean it won't go "below" 50°. There have been reports of people "burping" their absorbtion refrigerator. You can find out how on you tube. Your results may vary.

[Bud]

And it won't go below 50 degrees at any time? or when?

Bud

[KayK]

Won’t go below 50 anytime. I put a frig thermometer in and let it run about 12 hrs.

[hbn7hj]

12 hours ain't enough. Try two days and put the thermometer in the freezer and see what it does, then get back to us. PPL outta Houston will sell you one but you have to put it in. You can check their price.

[BBQ]

.

10 yrs old fridge?

Yes it needs burping.


These fridges can go 20 yrs or more.
You can check the burner to make sure it is not rusted.
Check the flute to make sure it is clear.
Check the vent.
If the ammonia circuit is good, the fridge can go on forever.

[jmai]

Make sure the fridge is level. Most efficient on propane, then 110volts.

It may take 24 hours to really cool down.

[JohnnyFry]

BBQ: Is there any evidence that "Burping" actually does anything? Is it something that is outlined in the service manual by the OEM? Why does a fridge need "Burping"?

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFry

BBQ: Is there any evidence that "Burping" actually does anything? Is it something that is outlined in the service manual by the OEM? Why does a fridge need "Burping"?

Lots of instruction video on youtube; they can explain it better than I can.

This is black magic; you might not find this in the service manual. This esoteric knowledge is a result of years of user experience, and a true understanding of the inner workings of an absorption circuit.

[Doneworking]

All I can add is this: years ago we bought a used Class C whose refrig just wouldn't cool. I took it to a little local shop and they "burped" it. It then worked great for the many remaining years we owned it.

Paul

[JohnnyFry]

Amazing! It does sound like Black Magic

[Doneworking]

Here is pretty concise article about burping, its history and result probability.

Does your refrigerator have indigestion? Burp that baby! - RV Travel

Personally, I would check the gas and flue to make sure I had a good flame before I went to the problem of removing it. The good news for the OP is the refrig on a 190 RT is small and right at the floor as I recall, so getting it out if necessary yourself or by a tech is not as big a deal as on larger refrigs. Also, as others have pointed out, I would sure run it on gas for 24 hours before I considered other alternatives. If it has been sitting unused for a while (storage, for sale or just unused) I would probably give it 48 hours. An indoor outdoor digital thermometer is neat to have for monitoring the interior temps without opening the door.

Paul

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFry

BBQ: Is there any evidence that "Burping" actually does anything? Is it something that is outlined in the service manual by the OEM? Why does a fridge need "Burping"?

In a word, YES. Nobody was more amazed than me, to get this confirmation. Here's the story. Our first Dometic 2351 propane fridge bit the dust, or so we assumed, but it was 8 years old and we didn't get too upset by that. We didn't want to cut our cabinetry so we simply bought a replacement of the same model to fit the existing hole.

Well, within 20 months of that acquisition, that new fridge also began failing to cool, refusing to get below 45 degrees. It was still under OEM warranty and Dometic told us that they would cover both parts and labor, but it was a many-week wait for a service appointment, so we didn't go that route. We figured it was a model flaw and simply replaced it with an all-electric Vitrifrigo which did require us to modify our cabinetry, but it all worked out because I absolutely love the Vitrifrigo (blog post here).

During this replacement process, I took the de-installed Dometic and "burped" it, mostly for laughs, not expecting any positive outcome. Lo and behold the danged thing promptly began cooling back down into the high 20's. Just like that - flip the fridge upside down, listen to it gurgle for a minute, place it back upright, plug it back in (12V and AC), and it's off to the races as if there never had been a failure of any kind.

You can see the impracticality of it, though. Class B owners cannot realistically de-install their fridges every time they prove to need to be burped. Our Dometic has now found a permanent place as a back-up fridge in our garage, where such flipping can be done more easily.

I don't know why this happens or why burping is necessary for some fridges. I just know that it is.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

In a word, YES. Nobody was more amazed than me, to get this confirmation. Here's the story. Our first Dometic 2351 propane fridge bit the dust, or so we assumed, but it was 8 years old and we didn't get too upset by that. We didn't want to cut our cabinetry so we simply bought a replacement of the same model to fit the existing hole.

Well, within 20 months of that acquisition, that new fridge also began failing to cool, refusing to get below 45 degrees. It was still under OEM warranty and Dometic told us that they would cover both parts and labor, but it was a many-week wait for a service appointment, so we didn't go that route. We figured it was a model flaw and simply replaced it with an all-electric Vitrifrigo which did require us to modify our cabinetry, but it all worked out because I absolutely love the Vitrifrigo (blog post here).

During this replacement process, I took the de-installed Dometic and "burped" it, mostly for laughs, not expecting any positive outcome. Lo and behold the danged thing promptly began cooling back down into the high 20's. Just like that - flip the fridge upside down, listen to it gurgle for a minute, place it back upright, plug it back in (12V and AC), and it's off to the races as if there never had been a failure of any kind.

You can see the impracticality of it, though. Class B owners cannot realistically de-install their fridges every time they prove to need to be burped. Our Dometic has now found a permanent place as a back-up fridge in our garage, where such flipping can be done more easily.

I don't know why this happens or why burping is necessary for some fridges. I just know that it is.

Now if there were a way to flip your Roadtrek upside down for a moment. No, I suppose not. Still................

Bud

[g1g]

I have heard of burping before and had various explanations on how it is done. does it matter which way you flip it front back sideways? I have heard some say it takes a day to do the process. But it sounds like you just turned it upside down for a few minutes then you turned it right side up with the whole process taking say 5 minutes. What are the details?
Also mine takes almost a week to actually gets to where it will cool something down does it need burping?

[InterBlog]

Someone - some YouTube pundit but I can't remember who - made a scathing video about how burping was an idiotic idea that was contrary to the laws of physics. After three days of unsuccessful jiggering and testing hoping for a simple repair inspiration or solution, we simply said to heck with it and up-ended our fridge taking no special preparations or care. Mostly I did this because there was another roaring "propane fridges be damned" thread on Air Forums and, at the time, I was setting out to do my own test and prove that burping was an urban legend.

It wasn't more than 5 minutes that we left it inverted. And that was the happiest crow I ever had to eat, because I gained a working garage fridge out of the deal when I thought I'd be selling it for about twenty bucks on Craigslist for parts. Our stick-and-brick Kenmore Elite recently went out on us for the second time in its short life of 3 years, and we lived out of the Dometic for 3 weeks waiting for the warranty repair from Sears. The once-dead Dometic ran ice cold the entire time. Of course I named it Lazarus.

[Phoebe3]

Dumb question: does this work for compressor refrigerators, as well?

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

Dumb question: does this work for compressor refrigerators, as well?

Blurping?

No, this is not applicable to compressor fridge.

Blurping is for the ammonia loop only.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

Dumb question: does this work for compressor refrigerators, as well?

Compressor refrigerators work by themselves.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

Dumb question: does this work for compressor refrigerators, as well?

No, it's not a dumb question at all. There is little resemblance between absorption and compressor technology. The worst case for doing this with an absorption fridge is that it produces no joy, but there are no potentially damaging consequences. For compressor units, it's a different story. The worst case for doing this with a compressor fridge can be damage to the compressor. The general rule of thumb is that if you lay down or invert a compressor refrigerator, when it is restored to its upright position, it should remain inoperative for at least as long as it was not upright and preferably for 24 hours. In any event, if a compressor fridge malfunctions, burping it wouldn't accomplish anything.


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