Fridge ignitor/wiring

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   Right, another fridge question. I've looked, haven't found it mentioned elsewhere. Its an 87 with an electrolux rm 184. The one with the automatic LPG ignitor. Hold the safety button, press the gas button, the light flashes while the ignitor clicks away, it stops clicking, wait 20 seconds, release safety button. 
or at least thats the plan. I have owned one of these before and the last one always worked fine. This one has never worked. So I have pulled the fridge out of the van, and plumbed it to my BBQ tank. I've been thru the gas system and cleaned everything, now it works fine on gas if I light it at the burner with a zippo. So no problem there.

the trouble seems to be the ignitor. I have wired it to power and ground with a battery on the bench. When I apply power I get one spark down at the firebox. If i remove power, and wait 5 min or so, I get one spark again. If I remove power and put it right back, nothing. I have to wait. 

So the ignitor is knackered right? 

the other question relates to the wiring for the fridge. I have one 3 pin plug, and a single wire that goes to the thermocouple. That single wire was not attached to anything when I pulled the fridge. Pretty sure I saw the other end of it under the cabinet, but they were not connected. It goes to the LED on the control panel right? it doesn't need to be connected for the ignitor to work does it?

So, if i need a new ignitor, is Brickwerks the way to go? £55? is there no cheap universal alternative? aren't these systems pretty common?

and one last thing, does anyone know, how the ignitor knows, to stop igniting? as I see it there are 4 wires to it. Power, ground, the flashing light, and the spark plug. How does it know when to stop sparking?

thanks for any advice you guys have.

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Blaize Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Not Quite Newbie Joined: 22 Dec 10 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote Blaize Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Fridge ignitor/wiring Posted: 30 Dec 15 at 21:37
	Right, another fridge question. I've looked, haven't found it mentioned elsewhere. Its an 87 with an electrolux rm 184. The one with the automatic LPG ignitor. Hold the safety button, press the gas button, the light flashes while the ignitor clicks away, it stops clicking, wait 20 seconds, release safety button. or at least thats the plan. I have owned one of these before and the last one always worked fine. This one has never worked. So I have pulled the fridge out of the van, and plumbed it to my BBQ tank. I've been thru the gas system and cleaned everything, now it works fine on gas if I light it at the burner with a zippo. So no problem there. the trouble seems to be the ignitor. I have wired it to power and ground with a battery on the bench. When I apply power I get one spark down at the firebox. If i remove power, and wait 5 min or so, I get one spark again. If I remove power and put it right back, nothing. I have to wait. So the ignitor is knackered right? the other question relates to the wiring for the fridge. I have one 3 pin plug, and a single wire that goes to the thermocouple. That single wire was not attached to anything when I pulled the fridge. Pretty sure I saw the other end of it under the cabinet, but they were not connected. It goes to the LED on the control panel right? it doesn't need to be connected for the ignitor to work does it? So, if i need a new ignitor, is Brickwerks the way to go? £55? is there no cheap universal alternative? aren't these systems pretty common? and one last thing, does anyone know, how the ignitor knows, to stop igniting? as I see it there are 4 wires to it. Power, ground, the flashing light, and the spark plug. How does it know when to stop sparking? thanks for any advice you guys have.

Stefvan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Yardie Joined: 30 Sep 06 Status: Offline Points: 484	Post Options Post Reply Quote Stefvan Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 Dec 15 at 22:48
	AFAIK, it stops sparking when it senses a voltage or resistance change down the igniter cable (spark plug) when its heated by the flame. The thermocouple works separately and keeps the gas flowing. The separate single wire tells the LED panel that the fridge is running on gas. The igniter cable is cheaper than an igniter, Id be inclined to start there ! I am also in the market for an igniter (mine clicks at double speed) if you want to split shipping from Gunzl :) Stefvan

KrisG Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 28 Sep 14 Location: Begijnendijk,BE Status: Offline Points: 135	Post Options Post Reply Quote KrisG Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Dec 15 at 17:10
	There is a seller on ebay Germany, called Erzatsteilpit, that is a company that does all kinds of refrigerators, if you pop them an email, in english is ok, they will help out. They have some kind of 'rebuilt kit' with the most common broken parts in it. Kris
	Regards, Kris

Blaize Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Not Quite Newbie Joined: 22 Dec 10 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote Blaize Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Dec 15 at 19:25
	Thanks for the input Setfvan, with that in mind I figured the connection to ground down at the ignitor/spark plug was probably pretty important. If it is "sensing" the temperature at that tip, it must be using the ground made down there to complete a circuit. So I took it apart, wire wheeled it all with a dremel, and what do you know, now its clicking away as it should. Misses about every 20th spark or so. I suspect the cable could do with replacing in an ideal world, but this is plenty reliable enough for me. On the bench, with the gas connected, it starts on the 1st or 2nd spark every time now. So its down there in the garage now with the mains plugged in to make sure the cooling coils are still working. I could hear the ammonia sloshing around when I turned it over for the 24 hour upside down routine, so I'm pretty sure the system is still sound. Now onto computer fans inside and out. The one remaining niggle is the red light on the control panel that should flash with the ignitor, doesn't. I took it out and apart, and it looks to me like it another sparker in there, not a filament bulb. So I'll see if it comes to life when its all back in the van and fully wired up (right now its a hodge podge of test leads, and not fully wired up) and if not start looking out for a replacement. 1st place I will check is the eBay seller you recommended Kris, thanks for the tip. Edited by Blaize - 31 Dec 15 at 19:29

Blaize Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Not Quite Newbie Joined: 22 Dec 10 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote Blaize Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Dec 15 at 21:29
	Well damn, looks like the 220v heater is shot. No change after an hour and a half. Then checked it for resistance, and it has none. Open circuit. Blast. 12V element has continuity, but I just about never use it (in fact on the last bus I don't think I ever did). In fact I only ever use the 220v to pre cool it before a trip, then switch to Gas and keep it there while on a trip. But as with anything, I hate knowing its broken even if I could live without it. SO I'll have to track down a new one, and while I'm at it I suppose now that I am ordering parts I may as well change the ignitor lead. So, Gunzle wants 50 Euro for the element, is that the going rate? anyone know of a better source? If thats what it has to be, then I'll PM you Stefvan before I order so you can hop on and save on shipping, but first I'll check the eBay seller Kris suggested. Anyway, now its down in the garage running on LPG to see if it cools that way.

Blaize Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Not Quite Newbie Joined: 22 Dec 10 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote Blaize Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 Jan 16 at 14:28
	Wouldn't work on gas. No cooling, and no heat in the coils on the back. Nice clean flame, but the ammonia didn't seem to be moving around in there. So flipped it upside down overnight again, and tried again this morning, and now its working. Ice on the cooling fins after a couple of hours! Im going to pull the 240volt heating element and check that the fault is inside it, and not a break in the wire leading to it.

jp1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Not Quite Newbie Joined: 10 Aug 10 Location: S E Hants. Status: Offline Points: 19	Post Options Post Reply Quote jp1 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 Jan 16 at 19:18
	FYI, the red light on the control panel is a neon, not a LED. I got a cheap replacement neon bulb from Maplin for a couple of pounds. Its circular, not square like the original, but fits fine with a washer.
	jp 1986 Westfalia Joker DJ 2.1 5-speed mine from new

Blaize Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Not Quite Newbie Joined: 22 Dec 10 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote Blaize Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 Jan 16 at 19:29
	That is useful info, I am going to hit up Maplin tomorrow for a toggle switch to control the fans. Thanks very much. This the one you used? http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/220-240vac-snap-in-neon-red-vw69a Edited by Blaize - 01 Jan 16 at 19:31

Stefvan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Yardie Joined: 30 Sep 06 Status: Offline Points: 484	Post Options Post Reply Quote Stefvan Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 Jan 16 at 08:20
	The price just came down on the Brickwerks igniter, so I got one of those - and now all works 100% Stefvan Edited by Stefvan - 18 Jan 16 at 18:54

Blaize Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Not Quite Newbie Joined: 22 Dec 10 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote Blaize Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 Jan 16 at 08:33
	ah, cool. I ended up finding the 240volt element on eBay for a decent price so did that. Fridge is back in the van now and makes ice on gas and 240.