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Thu Jul 20, 2023 1:55 pm

I have a new to me van, that had an operable fridge when I bought it. It still seems to work well on 120v.

On propane I am able to get it started, and the green light stays on and the flue gets hot. However, I don't think it is cooling very well and I get an acrid type plastic burning smell. I have looked down in the back as best I can but I can't find anything obviously touching the hot exhaust stack. I'm nervous to let this run too long as something seems off.

It is not a propane smell, I know propane and this is plastic or something like that. I did recently re-run all the water tank lines, but those are far back and I don't think anything in the way. I can look down and maybe see some insulation that might be touching the exhaust but that is tough to see in there.

So, do I need to pull it to figure this out? I'm not excited about that, I think if I pull it I switch to an electric fridge. Do I just keep running it? Maybe something fell in or on something hot and will just burn off? All the wires that could be obviously touching are moved out of the way, I don't see any smoke.

Thoughts?

Thu Jul 20, 2023 3:35 pm

If the drain cap is still removable, take a blow gun and some compressed air and shoot the drain. Probably best to do this outside. This should help remove and thing in the burner box. It will exhaust out the side vent.

Otherwise, while it seems daunting, you can remove the fridge fairly easily. It gets easier each time. Try running the fridge after you blow out the burner box. See if the smell persists.

They don’t get cold right away. We will run ours on 110 the night before we leave and put everything we need cold in our kitchen fridge. Next am, start the fridge on propane and stock it. Works fine from then on.

You’ll probably get replies to throw it out and do something electrical. There are many of us, that are pleased with our Dometics. Scattered throughout the Samba are some simple tricks to improve the efficiency without much of an investment. If you remove yours, take the time to look at some of these thread.

12 volt refrigerators have their place, but you’ll need a decent battery and a way to charge it. Our fridge and stove can run 3 weeks on one fill of propane and we don’t need the sun or the engine running to charge the battery.

Thu Jul 20, 2023 4:20 pm

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I have been reading a lot on all the options, and my goal is to first make a go of all the stock components. I have a 63 qt ARB fridge I can run on the floor in the short term while I figure out the stock fridge.

I did try to blow out the combustion box with compressed air, it does seem to be less stinky now, but still some... Maybe I just need to let it run for a few days yah? Burn off whatever got in there, I just don't want it to melt/ruin something important, who knows maybe a mouse got in there and made a nest up against something hot. Seems like the way to know for sure is to pull it out and get a good look at everything.

Thu Jul 20, 2023 11:33 pm

Shambo wrote: ….. Seems like the way to know for sure is to pull it out and get a good look at everything.

Yes to that. Tho not an open flame back there there is plenty of heat in that area and likely it’s not been inspected before.

I pulled our Domestic out and went through it - lots of good intel if you search “dometic” in the thread title.

I added the fan mods Sodo posted long - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=360076&highlight=dometic

This and good cleaning revived our Dometic. Not great for over 90° weather but does great below that.

Fri Jul 21, 2023 7:15 am

Yes, pull it for a good inspection and a cleaning of the firebox. Meanwhile, read up on the different mods many fellow members have made on their stock fridges.