Atwood Refrigerator not working.

Greysquirrel · 07-02-2013, 03:43 AM

Went out and plugged in my 19FBPR to go on a trip tomorrow and went to start the fridge. Instead of going on automatic and AC it came up with a check light and a flashing gas light. The mode button does not do anything when I push it so I cannot get it to go to AC.
This happened once before but finally went to AC. Got a feeling I am SOL and it is something wrong with the board behind the controls and even if it does go on I will take it to the dealer when I come back.
In the meantime does anyone have any idea of what I might do. I have unplugged the fridge for a minute to see if it will recycle have also turned it on and off a number of times to purge any air in the gas line in case that is the problem.

jsmith948 · 07-02-2013, 04:21 AM

Is your propane tank open? If your fridge won't work on shore power you should be able to use it on gas?

**JRTJH** · 07-02-2013, 04:51 AM

From the symptoms you say you have, checking the owner's manual indicates the refrigerator is operating normally.
In the block diagram that explains troubleshooting, it says, CHECK LIGHT ON, GAS LIGHT FLASHING: gas unavailable.... In the explanation of gas operation, it explains that if the refrigerator has not been used recently, the gas lines may have air in them and it may take up to 3 ignition sequences to ignite the gas burner. To reset the ignition sequence, turn the refrigerator off, then back on.

From the troubleshooting guide, if the CHECK light is on and either the GAS or AC LED is flashing, that energy source is not available. It's possible that either you didn't turn off the refrigerator the last time you unplugged shore power and stored the RV, so when you plugged it in, it immediately turned on and selected the last source (GAS) which failed to light.....

Here is the direct quote from the Atwood manual:

MANUAL MODES
The manual modes allow for selection of either the AC or GAS modes directly. If the selected mode’s energy source is not available, the refrigerator is turned off, the CHECK is turned on and the selected mode indicator flashes on and off indicating which energy source is not available.

It appears that you selected "GAS" and you were plugged into shore power ??? On the Norcold and Dometic reefers, if you do that, they will just select AC and keep on working. Atwood won't keep working. If you select GAS and it won't light, even if you are hooked to shore power, according to the manual, the refrigerator will turn off and the check light will light and the GAS light will flash indicating that GAS is not available. Apparently the Atwood is not "smart enough" (or is too smart) and won't choose AC, but will tell you that GAS isn't available (actually, it's saying the GAS didn't light)..... So, if you are hooked up to shore power, turn it off, wait a minute or so, then turn it back on and select AC. If that doesn't work, then check the circuit breaker, the GFI for that circuit and check the fuses in the back of the refrigerator. It should then work, if not, what you have appears to be a problem with the 115 VAC power to the refrigerator.

If you can't find your owner's manual, you can download it here: (PART 1) http://www.atwoodmobile.com/dealer-m...nual_rev_4.pdf (PART 2) http://www.atwoodmobile.com/manuals/...r_Manual_6.pdf

Good luck,

Greysquirrel · 07-02-2013, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

From the symptoms you say you have, checking the owner's manual indicates the refrigerator is operating normally.
In the block diagram that explains troubleshooting, it says, CHECK LIGHT ON, GAS LIGHT FLASHING: gas unavailable.... In the explanation of gas operation, it explains that if the refrigerator has not been used recently, the gas lines may have air in them and it may take up to 3 ignition sequences to ignite the gas burner. To reset the ignition sequence, turn the refrigerator off, then back on.

From the troubleshooting guide, if the CHECK light is on and either the GAS or AC LED is flashing, that energy source is not available. It's possible that either you didn't turn off the refrigerator the last time you unplugged shore power and stored the RV, so when you plugged it in, it immediately turned on and selected the last source (GAS) which failed to light.....

Here is the direct quote from the Atwood manual:

MANUAL MODES
The manual modes allow for selection of either the AC or GAS modes directly. If the selected mode’s energy source is not available, the refrigerator is turned off, the CHECK is turned on and the selected mode indicator flashes on and off indicating which energy source is not available.

It appears that you selected "GAS" and you were plugged into shore power ??? On the Norcold and Dometic reefers, if you do that, they will just select AC and keep on working. Atwood won't keep working. If you select GAS and it won't light, even if you are hooked to shore power, according to the manual, the refrigerator will turn off and the check light will light and the GAS light will flash indicating that GAS is not available. Apparently the Atwood is not "smart enough" (or is too smart) and won't choose AC, but will tell you that GAS isn't available (actually, it's saying the GAS didn't light)..... So, if you are hooked up to shore power, turn it off, wait a minute or so, then turn it back on and select AC. If that doesn't work, then check the circuit breaker, the GFI for that circuit and check the fuses in the back of the refrigerator. It should then work, if not, what you have appears to be a problem with the 115 VAC power to the refrigerator.

If you can't find your owner's manual, you can download it here: (PART 1) http://www.atwoodmobile.com/dealer-m...nual_rev_4.pdf (PART 2) http://www.atwoodmobile.com/manuals/...r_Manual_6.pdf

Good luck,

Have read the manual and have everything you suggest. When the gas light is flashing the MODE button does not work so I am unable to switch to AC.
I have gas, checked the AC to fridge, 123 VAC, check the DC 13.78.
This happened a couple of weeks ago also but then started to work and worked OK for whole trip, going from AC to Gas and back and then from Gas to AC and the back to Gas on way home. The one thing we did do that you mentioned is turn in off while it was still in the Gas mode but we did turn if off. As we were leaving again in a week I did not take it to the dealer and intend to after this trip.
My gut feeling is that it is a problem with the PCB behind the switches but I am not a fridge tech so I will leave that to someone that know what they are doing and as it is still under warranty I am not to concerned, just wish it would start up so I don't have to get dry ice for the trip, but if that what I have to do so be it.
Thanks for the reply, if you think of anything else please let me know.

Greysquirrel · 07-02-2013, 11:45 AM

OK, beats the hell out of me, just went out to put some more stuff in the fridge, have put dry Ice in the freezer and it has cooled the fridge down operating temp, but as I was out there I thought I would hit the power switch one more time and low a behold it went right to AC like it did the last time it would not work. It will probable work for our whole trip but when I get back I am taking it to the dealer to have them check it out. They are booked up till July 26 but I can leave it there because we are not going anywhere till Sept. we do not travel in August, too hot for us.
When I get it back if it is something simple that I could have fixed myself I will post it here but will also post if it some kind of problem they are having with this fridge.

GaryWT · 07-03-2013, 07:26 PM

Glad it started working for you but it is strange. You would think that it would work on gas if the electric was not working. Good luck.

Jake · 08-26-2013, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greysquirrel

OK, beats the hell out of me, just went out to put some more stuff in the fridge, have put dry Ice in the freezer and it has cooled the fridge down operating temp, but as I was out there I thought I would hit the power switch one more time and low a behold it went right to AC like it did the last time it would not work. It will probable work for our whole trip but when I get back I am taking it to the dealer to have them check it out. They are booked up till July 26 but I can leave it there because we are not going anywhere till Sept. we do not travel in August, too hot for us.
When I get it back if it is something simple that I could have fixed myself I will post it here but will also post if it some kind of problem they are having with this fridge.

Hey Greysquirrel, I have a Atwood fridge in my 2013 Passport 3220 that is now acting like yours. It will not switch from gas to AC. The check light comes on and the gas light flashes instantly. Did you ever figure out what the problem was? I hate to go to the dealer, but will if I have too.

Greysquirrel · 08-27-2013, 05:31 AM

Jake, I have it at the dealer now getting some other work done and that is one of the things they were going to look into. When they called me to tell me to pick it up the service writer said that the tech that does that was out of the shop and she did not know what they found, if anything.
Before I took it all was well with it, maybe because I followed the advice of another poster and when I came home from our last trip I never shut it off while it was still on gas but plugged it in to our 30 amp. service and after it changed over to AC we shut it off.
Don't know if this was the problem, the dealer says they have never heard of this before.
If your going on a trip and it will not change, mine did after a couple of hours, usually after I had bought some dry ice to cool it down, once after I put the ice in and once before I put it in.
I plan to pick it up on Thursday and will let you know if they found anything wrong and what the fix was.

Greysquirrel · 08-29-2013, 09:02 AM

Jake and anyone else who is interested, I went and picked up my trailer this morning a 100 mile round trip no less and when I asked the technician about the fridge he said they found nothing wrong but did tighten up some loose wires, they had it working for a week changing from AC to Gas and back again with no problem. He then went inside the trailer to show me how well it worked and lo and behold it was doing what you and I are experiencing. He then went on to disconnect the gas line to purge any air and nothing changed, he then got a meter and was checking all the voltages and could not find anything wrong, at this point I said just give me a new fridge under warranty, all I got was a nervous laugh.
I walked away and it about 15 min. he called me and said that he checked with the shop foreman and was told that this model fridge will not work unless the battery is fully charged at 12 volts or over, not 11.98 but has to be at least 12 volts. He had backed it to the shop doors so he could hook up AC and charged the battery fully, it had beed 3/4 when he was trying to get it to work.
Ill make sure it is up to charge even though I have a battery switch the battery does discharge over time from going into the trailer, using the slide etc. so before I try to start the fridge I will make sure it is fully charged, going of a trip in a few weeks but will check it before the just to make sure it works.
No one I talk to has ever heard of this but we will see what happens.
Make sure you have four light glowing on your battery monitor then see what happens.
I'm not sure if this is the answer but thats what I got for now, we will wait and see if this solves this problem.

zuley · 08-29-2013, 10:09 AM

I started to read the post and immediately thought I knew what the problem was. However, I believe it to be different from what I encountered this past weekend with my Attwood. I had taken the batteries out of my RB23 to charge at home prior to returning to the PP. We had been boon docking for two weeks. After reinstalling the batteries and trying to start the fridge on propane all the lights across the board lit up and nothing worked. The trouble shooting guide suggested an "open DC circuit". I recalled during our PDI the tech mentioning an internal fuse which I figured I had blown reinstalling the batteries. (my assistant grounded the positive cable FOR A SPLIT SECOND) After pretty much dismantling the fridge and a call to a fellow board member I found the fuse located on the back side of the fridge, almost dead centre of the access opening, inside a black plastic cover held on with 4 screws. There are three old style barrel fuses located there. The blown fuse was a point three amp. The other two are much heavier amperage. Not having a spare I did the tin foil trick and got myself working again. Don't be slamming me for the tin foil; Ive bought another fuse and will replace the one in question this weekend when I get back to the park.
I do not believe this is what the OP experienced but something to keep in mind for others with the new style Attwood fridges.

Greysquirrel · 08-29-2013, 12:17 PM

Just remembered that when this first happened I checked the voltage going to the fridge and it was 13.78 VDC when plugged into our 30 amp service. Forgot about this and never told the tech. I will wait a short time and make sure the battery is charged up to full capacity and see what happens.
When plugged in the battery will read 13.78 because it is charging but if the battery is not fully charged will it not register as 12 VDC to the fridge? I don't know so I think I will have to do some experimenting before I write of this fix.

Greysquirrel · 08-29-2013, 12:47 PM

It is not the fuse in my case, both times when it happened it started up on AC after it had been plugged in for a while.
I was with the tech when he went into the fuse box and checked the fuses that were OK.
Now if you blew the fuse when you were putting your batteries back in I would assume the that fuse is in the 12VDC circuit that may cause the same symptoms as not having a full 12 VDC going to your fridge. This may or may not be the case, I don't know but If I have a fully charged battery and have the same symptoms the first thing I will do is check that fuse.
Thanks for the tip.

Lholestine · 09-01-2013, 06:33 AM

I had the same problem. Fridge would work on AC but on auto mode it would not switch to gas. Once the check light would come on it also would not switch back to AC. I had to turn fridge off, power back on and switch to AC before the check light came back on. I could here the gas valve open but no auto igniter firing. If I was quick, I could turn the fridge on, run outside and light the burner manually before the check light would come on. Once lit the fridge would run on gas. I took it to the dealer and they called atwood and got a new control board. Now the igniter works and it makes the switch from gas to AC every time. It did take a little longer to get the parts because only Atwood has the parts since it is the new Helium fridge.

Greysquirrel · 09-01-2013, 01:26 PM

I tried to tell the dealer tech that it was probably a control board but they did not want to listen to me. I will try again tomorrow and see if they will listen.I will tell them that that is what Atwood says it is, if fact I think I will phone Atwood and get somebody's name that can verify the cause.
Does anyone know the name of anyone at Atwood that I can contact?
And thanks Lholestine, for the information but my symptoms are not quite like yours, when I turn it on the check light comes on right away and the gas light blinks and you cannot use the mode button to change to AC, eventually it does go on to Auto and AC. That is what happened at the dealer and they tried to tell me that the fridge would not work if the battery does not have 12 VDC going to the fridge but if you are plugged into a 30 amp service you have 13.78 ACD going to the fridge, I told them that but they insisted that the reason it did not work was that the battery was low, I said that may be right if you are not hooked up to shore power and only want to run on gas, but could not get them to change their opinion.
I still say that it is a board as you say and try to get them to order me a board.

Greysquirrel · 09-03-2013, 06:48 AM

Another expert opinion.
OK called Atwood and got hold of one of their techs and told the what was happening with my fridge, he had a number of explanations to what may be wrong and then he stopped and asked me when I bought my trailer and I told he Nov. 2012. He then asked me what was the colour of the wire going to the igniter, black or orange. I told him to wait and I will check which I did and told him it was black. He then said to tell the dealer to change the igniter to the new one with the orange wire and that will probably fix it. Like that, probably fix it.
It seems that the one with the black wire will sometimes short out and not allow the control panel to change to Auto.
Dosen't sound right to me but but what do I know. I asked if there was a service letter sent out to dealers and he said not from them but maybe Keystone might have.
Got a call into the dealer and am waiting for a call back but most likely I will have to call again.

**JRTJH** · 09-03-2013, 07:27 AM

Greysquirrel,

Hang in there. As with any "new technology" there will be problems getting things working at first. Look around the forum at the "new technology" used in Advantage front cap/roof seams, Cougar touch panels, Lippert "auto level" systems, electric awnings, and now Atwood "helium" refrigerators.

It's a "burning in process" for the new equipment and a "learning process" for the dealership technicians as well as the manufacturer's team.

I've no doubt the reason the Atwood tech said "probably fix it" is because there are two or three potential problem areas, but the first one and the most likely one is the "orange vs black wire igniter.

I've got a few "first edition" items in my new Cougar also, so I'm waiting for the hammer to fall on one of them. Hopefully it won't be on an extended dry camping trip miles and miles from the closest dealer with no cell phone service at the campsite.....

Greysquirrel · 09-03-2013, 09:25 AM

Thanks for the reply, I'm sure sooner or later it will work out. Still waiting for my dealer to call back if I don't hear from them I will phone them first thing in the morning before the get involved in their work.
I can usually get the fridge to work eventually but on our next trip in a couple of weeks I will start a couple of days earlier than usual. I don't think they will get to it before I leave so when I get back I will just leave it with them till they can figure it out.

boggs · 09-03-2013, 12:25 PM

That is interesting. I have the exact same problem you describe with my 2013 Bullet Premier. It has happened several times but always reset. Today I couldn't get it to reset so I searched the web. I found one forum that said the battery had to be fully charged! Well, I was connected to AC power so this didn't make sense but I changed out the battery to a bigger one and it did reset! Now, I really don't know if it was the battery or the fact that I had all power pulled for a few minutes during the switch but I did get it working. If it fails again though, I will take it back to the dealer with your black/orange wire discussion.

Greysquirrel · 09-04-2013, 05:57 AM

boggs:
Just talked to my dealer service manager and he said he is going to order not only the igniter but also the power board just to be on the safe side. I also told him the interior light is not working and it is on the same board as the igniter, this may or may not be a hint to if it is the board or not. So if you take it to your dealer tell him you want a new board also if you need the new style igniter.
The only problem is that they have to order everything from Atwood and this is a new style fridge and I am leaving on a trip in a couple of weeks but he thinks he can get it done. If I get it fixed I will post of the success or failure of this fix.

**JRTJH** · 09-04-2013, 06:10 AM

GOOD LUCK !!!! Let's hope the board/igniter does the trick for you

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