[VAC] Re: Airstream Refrigerator Removal, Burping, and Probable Replacement

[Harvey Barlow]

Chris,   Thanks for the information.  I quickly read and looked over the diagram on your excellent troubleshooting page.  That is the first time I have ever run across an explanation of ammonia absorption cooling that was understandable and didn't overwhelm me with details before I grasped the concept.  I will read it several more times and think about the process as I read until I thoroughly understand and remember.   I notice that your guide says that since the early '80s burping a refrig was less likely to help anything.  I'm going to try supplying 110 vac and 12 vdc tomorrow just to make sure but I'm planning on a visit to Camping World next week.   I also noticed that your guide mentioned good airflow and clean coils.  My coils had a good buildup of West Texas farm dirt built up on the coils.  I blew them clean with compressed air and an old paint brush.  There was probably not enough build up to restrict cooling but do you think that could have prevented proper cooling?   Regards, Harvey  ----- Original Message ----- From: Chris Bryant To: Multiple recipients of VACList Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 6:35 PM Subject: [VAC] Re: Airstream Refrigerator Removal, Burping, and Probable Replacement Hi Harvey,         A couple of things- if "burping" does help, the fix will be temporary- I would go ahead and bite the bullet and replace it. Second- the only real way to tell if the cooling unit is good is to "hot wire" it- check the heating element for proper resistance, and hook the element straight to 120 volt ac. I cannot remember which model you have, but I'm betting it is an "automatic" one, which will require 12 volt DC to operate.         I actually have a beginning of a troubleshooting page up at http://www.bryantrv.com/reefer.html At 03:46 PM 7/4/01 -0500, Harvey Barlow wrote: Following the advice of some, and with my fingers crossed for good luck, I turned the refrig upside down and left it resting.  After 24 hours I plan to return, right it, plug it back in, temporarily reinstall the two doors, and let it sit for another 24 hours to see if it will cool.  Prior to removal, it would not cool below about 12 degrees in the freezer and 40+ in the box. Some have told me that occasionally, if the owner is lucky, the refrigerator will "burp" itself when turned upside down for 24 hours.  The explanation is that minor restrictions in the lines may sometimes be cleared by gravity flow and the coolant mixture will flow through the entire coil and be redistributed and the unit will resume cooling.  What do I have to lose? Maybe I'll be lucky. ________                  Chris Bryant                     To unsubscribe or to change to a daily Digest, please go to http://www.airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html If replying back to this message, please delete all the unnecessary original text from your reply.