Damaged flue vent?

[sgirard]

Hi Everyone:

I’ve tried searching but haven’t turned up info on this. We’ve been camping for a few nights and I just noticed the flue vent and area around it have suffered some damage. I’d be grateful for any information about what might cause this or how to repair and prevent in the future. Fridge hasn’t been working great but it’s hot in the PNW so about as well as I’d expect in these temps… mid to high nineties with no real shade.

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95 EVC
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64/71/72/82
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[MrPulldown]

What damage are you refereeing to. The sun damage on the plastic is just normal or the discoloration of the plastic and/or the paint. Jsut get a replacement.


The brown stain on the trailing edge of the vent is odd. Do you run the fridge on propane when driving. Seem like your flame is not burning clean anymore. Might want to pull the fridge out and clean or change the burner.
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2002 EVC

[sgirard]

The plastic disc inside/behind cover is browned and blackened I assume from excessive heat. I think it partly melted. I assume the paint damage on either side is from the same heat. Neither the paint nor the plastic “disc” showed anything other than normal age a week ago. Was hoping to avoid pulling the fridge but maybe it’s time. I did drive with the propane on but I’m fairly certain it looked normal when I parked a few days ago.
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95 EVC
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64/71/72/82
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Intro

[MrPulldown]

Driving with the propane on is BAD. First it is not legal, your tanks should be off when the car is moving. But no one really follows that. On large RVs the propane flame is well protects deep within the RV. On our little vans, wind will blow back the exhaust and cause the flame to buffet and cause incomplete combusting and material build up on the nozzle/jet resulting in some browning and poor fridge performance. Our fridges have the 3-way setting for a reason. This is just me regurgitating something I read on some Eurovan forums.

There is also a newer flame nozzle you can replace your existing one with. IT burns better. So be sure to do this when your fridge is out.

I too need to pull my fridge and do some maintenance. So please post some pictures and tell us how it goes.

https://www.gowesty.com/product/vent/3400/refrigerator-vent-cover-and-disc-insert-?v=
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2002 EVC

[sgirard]

That’s interesting. I have always read that everyone just drives on propane but your reasoning makes sense. Maybe the cause of the poor performance is a few seasons of bad behavior

I have an electric chest fridge as well but I really like the Norcold.
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95 EVC
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64/71/72/82
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[orbeamike]

When was the last time you cleaned the burner box on the back side of the fridge? The black brown stuff to me indicate a not clean burn. If it's been few years i would definitely pull the fridge and upgrade the new burner and clean out the fire box.

I drive with the propane on regularly and I have never had any issues with fridge not holding temperature or any operation issues. I have the high altitude kit with separate in and out vents and both vents are fairly clean. I leave the fridge on for weeks at a time and I don't have soot build up around the vent.

Upgrading to the new burner with wider openings is definitely the best thing you can do to ensure a strong, stable flame.

[sgirard]

Thought I would provide a quick update on this. I have ordered a replacement burner, etc. so that I can pull the fridge and do the maintenance.

In the meantime, since I don't think I will get to that before the next outing, I decided to take off the cover plate thing and put a small shopvac directly on the "outlet".

I cleaned out the vac pretty well and removed the filter so I could get a sense of what if anything I was able to remove. A pretty significant dust cloud blew out, and I replaced the cover with a new one. The fridge is now lighting and cooling better than it ever has! I will still pull it when I have some time but I've been testing for a few days and it seems like we're back in business for now.

Just posting in case others may want to try this 5 minute "fix".
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95 EVC
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Previous:
64/71/72/82
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Intro

[MrPulldown]