Jay Flight fridge will not light up on propane for first use

[danko]

We bought our first camper 2021 Jay Flight SLX 174BH. During orientation technician was not able to get fridge to light up on propane. Said I need to run stove for some time in order for fridge to work. He did not have time to do it but assured me that the fridge works fine. Well, after taking it out camping and running stove for some time fridge still will not light up on propane. It worked fine on 30 AMP electric, but it will not start on propane. I was able to schedule a service visit a month from now, but I would hate to go there and find out the problem is something stupid like the valve on the fridge is not open or something. Dealing with those bastards at the dealership gives me heartburn.

So my question is, is there a valve or something I can check for on the fridge? Other propane components like stove and water heater work fine, but the fridge just will not light up.

Also, I tried to run it on the battery while driving to campsite (about 3.5 hours). The fridge got a little cooler (very little), but it also drained the battery quite a bit, even though the trailer was hooked up to my SUV. Is it normal?

It is this type of fridge where you press and hold the button on the right and then press the electrical ignition, and when propane lights up the indicator moves to green. I can see the igniter clicking but the indicator does not move to green. It wobbles occasionally, like it is trying.

[Charles in WV]

I have just cleaned, insulated and kept a 2 week diary on my Norcold N300.2. Mine is in a 2014 184 bh.
It sounds as if your burner may be either dirty or clogged. Is it in a new or slightly used camper? If new, the dealer should have had it working before you left the lot. No ifs, ands or buts.

You need to troubleshoot, in this order :
Is burner actually lighting with a good flame that is dark blue center, light blue outer. NO yellow and you may need to reposition the thermocouple so the flame warms it good. It will glow red when it does.

And if it is lighting good then goes out, check that gas pressure. You need 11" WC at the fridge. You need a slack gauge to do this. If you don't know how to check and reset regulator pressure find someone who does.

If it is used unit check burner if the flame is irregular. Might just need cleaned. What brand and model fridge is it? Manufacturer may still be obligated under warranty.
Charles in WV.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by danko

Said I need to run stove for some time in order for fridge to work. He did not have time to do it but assured me that the fridge works fine.

Never would have left the dealership until they had it working.

[Kim Gass]

Originally Posted by danko

We bought our first camper 2021 Jay Flight SLX 174BH. During orientation technician was not able to get fridge to light up on propane. Said I need to run stove for some time in order for fridge to work. He did not have time to do it but assured me that the fridge works fine.

You were fed a line of BS. Yes it takes a little longer for the propane to reach the fridge ( the stove lights first) but perhaps three minutes. We had the same set up in our 195. I would complain and loudly to the management of that dealership. Its not your problem ( you are doing everything correctly) it is theirs.

Fridges are hard on your battery esp if you only have one battery.

[2021JayFlight28BHS]

Makes sure propane bottles are turned on, turn your camper stove on and light to purge air from propane lines, let it run for 30-60 secs once lit and then try the fridge on propane. May take a few minutes for the fridge to decide to run on propane.

[bankr63]

Hi! And welcome to JOF!

Regarding the 12V, yes this is normal for a 3-way fridge. Don't expect 12v to cool the fridge, it should only help maintain the cold, and yes it sucks a lot of power from the battery.

No your tow vehicle will probably not keep up with the demand. There is very limited current through the wiring harness, so your TV will be charging the TT battery, but verrrrryyyy slowly. So if there is a big draw, the battery will be draining faster than it charges.

We never used 12v on our old 3-way after the first couple of attempts, we always run on propane for longer trips, or just rely on the insulated box to keep things cold if only going a couple of hours.

Since you have tried 12v you know about the switch that selects source: 120V/12v/propane. And yes there is generally also a gas shutoff valve on the propane line before the controller.

Does the fridge light manually? There should be a port/window over the burner, open it up. You can then use a BBQ lighter to manually start the burner. Same procedure as the igniter (press control valve) but use the lighter instead of the red button. If this stays lit, then your igniter is bad or misaligned. If it lights but goes out, the thermocouple is bad or misaligned. If nothing happens with the lighter, you are probably not getting any gas flow, check for obstructions.

If manually lighting works then because these have a pilot light, once lit manually the fridge should continue to operate normally until shut off or switched to another source.

On my current 2-way fridge I am having a problem with the igniter, so I can light it manually but it will only stay lit for that one cycle. Sometimes the simpler tech like yours can be better.

[danko]

Wow. Thank you so much everyone.

I'm having a lot of problems with this dealer, this is why I'm hesitant to just take it back for service. This was my first RV purchase and they definitely ripped me off.

Anyhow.

The camper is brand new.

Where can I find that port for the burner? Is that something on the inside, or is it behind the vent panel on the outside?

I kind of looked around and underneath but did not see any valves. Can I find everything by simply removing vent panel on the outside, or it is a bit more involved than that? I don't really want to mess around with it too much, so they can blame it on me.

[Charles in WV]

Bottom vent pan will allow you to view it. What brand fridge is it? Dometic or Norcold?

[andy2cor12nine]

I’d call Jayco bypassing dealership explaining your situation and let them either send you to another dealer or make arrangements with your dealer to correct this. You should not be dealing with this with a brand new camper. All that being said our 3 way never got cold cold - since we always camp in state parks - I pulled it and replaced with electric - glad I did

[bankr63]

My explanation was based on a small 3-way as found on the pup trailers, yours sounds different as all the controls on ours were behind the panel on the outside of the trailer. But regardless, yes, the burner would be behind the outside access panel - they need exterior air for combustion and exhaust.

Open that panel up and follow where the propane line comes in. You might find a shutoff on that line before the control valve. If it is in line with the pipe it is open, if the handle is at right angle to the pipe it is off. After the control valve, the gas line continues on to the burner which is generally located in a galvanized steel box. This box usually has a small door or flap that can be opened for manually lighting and for checking the burner. It might also have clear view window so you can check that your pilot is lit. That's a fairly generic description that covers most any gas fridge I've seen (a pretty small sample); others may pipe in with a more specific description, especially if you list the make and model number for the fridge (also probably behind that same panel).

[danko]

Thank you everyone for advice. Sorry it took me a wile to get back.

So here is an update. I brought it home from storage lot before heading out to campsite, and the fridge fired up almost right away. I took the outside grill off and took a look at the layout of the system. There is a small access hole to light up the pilot light in case I loose electric ignition. I tried to do it manually with the lighter, and with the electric igniter, and it worked perfectly both ways.

So, I got to the campsite after driving for 3 hours on bumpy roads, and the fridge would not work again. I tried igniter and the lighter, and just couldn't get it to stay lit. After playing with the lighter for another 10-15 minutes I finally got the burner to stay lit, and the fridge worked fine for the 3 days we spent there.

My guess is since the unit is brand new, and the gas line is very thin, it gets blocked by all the debris that were in the system, especially after all the bumps I took. Me keep feeding the gas through finally unblocked it or it least partially.

Anyhow, now I know what to do if it keep doing this.