Fridge Smells Like Coolant / Burning Radiator

[Welsh Family RVers]

I got my Jayflight 174 out of storage yesterday for our first trip of the season, de-winterized, and fired up the propane fridge to chill overnight. When I checked in this morning the fridge was still burning propane, but it hadn't cooled at all. Additionally there is a strong smell of amonia in the camper. I opened up the rear access vents to the fridge (from the outside of the camper) and the smell is definitely coming from there. Has anybody experienced this and know of a resolution? I've since turned off the fridge in the hopes that the smell will dissipate and we will be able to camp this weekend.



I've got two young kids and it'll be cold at night here (CO), so we'll be sleeping with the windows closed / heat on. Don't want to gas the family unintentionally ...

[JFlightRisk]

The ammonia smell means your fridge is all done. The cooling unit needs to be replaced, or get a new fridge. I had that happen to me some years ago in our MH. Not a cheap repair. Sorry for the bad news.

[TaftCoach]

^x2

[Greg58]

I had the same problem, I replaced the cooling coil in a previous trailer. A new fridge was $1500 , I got a sealed, charged and ready to install cooling unit for $600. It came with heat sink mastic to caulk it to the rear of the box. Mine worked good as new, I took it out of the cabinet and lay it on the dinette, I never took it out of the trailer. You’ll find several YouTube videos on it.

[JFlightRisk]

If my memory serves me, I paid $750 for the new cooling unit, and it only took about 30 minutes to replace it, not counting the time for R&R. I did take the fridge completely out of the MH so I had room to work on it. Everything I needed for the replacement was included, and the directions were clear and simple.

[Screwby]

Very dangerous as well. There have been quite a few camper fires started by faulty leaking fridges.

[Welsh Family RVers]

That's what I was worried about. Thank you all for the quick reply!