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Overheating Gas Fridge


Mac of Cygnet

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My gas fridge is getting much hotter than usual at the back, so much so that I noticed a rather peculiar 'hot paint' smell when it's on anything but minimum setting.  Everything is getting warm, even the outside of the insulation round the burner tube (see pic).  It still seems to work, ie things stay frozen in the frozen food compartment.  Can this be due to a loss of refrigerant or a blockage in circulation?  What is the refrigerant in these things anyway?  Is it toxic?   Any suggestions on what to do?   

I'm a bit hazy about how these things work anyway.  I'm surprised that a little pilot light can produce so much heat - it's clean and burning correctly, btw.                                                                    

Fridge back.jpg

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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Not sure why it is doing this, but the refrigerant is a solution of water and ammonia. 

 

The ammonia eventually crystallises, which is why when they stop freezing, turning the fridge over a few times works as it breaks up the ammonia crystals so they can dissolve into the water.

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36 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

The thing is, it didn't run as hot as this last summer when the weather was really hot and I had it on max.  Certainly there wasn't any 'overheating smell' like now, just on medium.

 

I dunno much about them but my old electrolux 30 years ago had three different flame size settings. If yours has too, maybe someone turned yours to a higher setting. Have you cleaned the flue tube above the flame? If partially blocked the flame could be spilling out which would cause the symptoms you describe. Fridges need servicing annually. This could be a reason why! 

 

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9 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I dunno much about them but my old electrolux 30 years ago had three different flame size settings. If yours has too, maybe someone turned yours to a higher setting. Have you cleaned the flue tube above the flame? If partially blocked the flame could be spilling out which would cause the symptoms you describe. Fridges need servicing annually. This could be a reason why! 

 

The smell may well indicate that is the problem. We found that if you got yellow tips on the flame the flue and "whirlygig" would get a coat of carbon on them and the you tended to get a acrid type smell. Certainly worth pulling the fridge out, wire brushing the flue etc. (special brushes available) and then cleaning and blowing through the burner assemble.

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9 hours ago, hider said:

Is it possible?

Not on the one on our current boat, because one rotary switch selects what it is running from.

 

I've a feeling it might have been on the one on a previous boat, (exept we have the wit to have neither actally connected to the boat's 12 volt supply!)

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