Refrigerator won't stay lit at altitude?

[Dogmatic259]

Sent: 10/19/2005 9:08 PM

Hey guys I need some help. My fridge seems to work OKon both gas and electric. Although it never gets very cold. help on that would be nice also but thats not the real problem. I live in Vegas which around 2500 feet above sea level. Whenever I go to the mountains or any place much higher than home the burner seems to go out on the fridge and I have a hell of a time getting it going again. While I was in Wlliams Arizona the guy that was filling my LP told me that when you gain altitude it will pressurize and put air in the lines. He told me to run all the burners on the stove and  the furnace to purge it and just keep trying the fridge. Well I did all that and it did finally fire up ....after an hour and a half : (  I've been on a couple of more trips since then and had the same issue but not to that extent but I wasn't that much higher than home then either. This doesn't make a lot of sense to me, has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks guys

[Cooneytoones]

Sent: 10/19/2005 10:49 PM

Well Dog...they guy was partially right, but it is not air in the lines.....it's a combo of pressure from the tank, out side tempurature, outside air and air gas mixture.....Lets see if I can expain this, which I'm not a good explainer..... At different altitudes above sea leval, air pressure changes and LP gas being much lighter than air  at sea level needs X amount of pounds of pressure to move the gas through the suppy lines to the fixture..At higher altitudes the LP gas and the air near each outer in their weight, and if warm outside the LP gas will not boil fast enough to make the proper amount of vapor to go through the lines.... it takes a little more pressure to push the LP gas from the source to the fixture..Hence the high pressure regualtors at the tank used on homes,  then a regulator to cut down the pressure before the fixture..Our Rigs only have the fixture low pressure regulator and what the LP guys said to turn on all the burner was correct, this get the gas in the tank boiling and flowing better.. The more you use propane or draw from the tank at one time the faster LP boils inside the tan and makes vapor.... but there is no air in the lines.......just pressurized Propane Vapor.......Now most times tempurature more than outside air pressure will affect the flow of propane...propane expands in hot weather and needs a little more pressure to move to the fixture...This is what I think is causing your problem along with out side air pressure (high altitudes) also has less O2
So you may have to adjust your air balance on your burners....once you do get it lit adjust the flame to a nice blue with little bit of white on top of flame...if yellow not enough gas and too much O2 ...close the air control....If you change altitudes a lot you may need change and  mark these settings for future use....Also have your regualtor checked....minor changes in altitude should not cause this problem...but a faulty or clogged  regulator will....The place where a regulator will get clogged is the little screened air vent on the bottom of the regulator..if this plugs up completely, it will scare you to death, cause you'll get a flame about 4 feet high from your stove....So have that regulator checked....Now this explanation is close, but don't take it as gospel, it's been more than 25 years since it was explained to me, and I'm trying to remember this...with several brain cells that were long ago mia. but the pricipal is there....once your system is bled and sealed without leaks...air should no longer be a factor in your lines, or if there is, you'd have propane comming out of your lines, where the air was getting in.
Timmy 

[denisondc]

Sent: 10/20/2005 7:55 AM

If that pressure regulator is more than 10 or 15 years old, I would try a new regulator. The older regulators were single state, all the new ones are two stage. The dual stage makes it easier to regulate down to the very low pressure they have to control 

[Dogmatic259]

Sent: 10/23/2005 3:40 PM

Thanks, that makes more sense to me and I think you may be right on. I have noticed that the outside air temp does seem to affect it as well as the alltitude. I'll have the regulator checked or if necessary have it changed out like denison suggests because it is more than twenty years old. While I'm down I'll get one of the guys to show me how to change the pressure setting, I'm pretty new at this stuff and I don't want to blow anything up. I'm pretty lucky considering her age my rig's in great shape and besides the usual little break fix stuff this has been the only problem.

Thanks guys you've been a great help.