[pvusers] Re: Servel propane fridges

["Robert Warren" <robertwarren@mail.com>]

Old Servel refridgerators

Gerry,

You have a burned out thermopile. More on this later.  Even though it is really old, it is quite likely that the thing will still work OK. I have repaired Servels that were 30 to 40 years old, mainly just by cleaning out the little bits of rust in the gas jet. Ammonia is a liquid at normal temperatures, and turns to a gas with the added heat of the propane or Natural Gas. It won’t have leaked out like freon does over the years unless there is a rusted hole in the coils somewhere. The mystery here is whether this fridge was originally set up for propane or NG. It depends on where it came from. A lot of areas didn't have piped in NG, so it is more likely that it has its jets sized for propane, which will be smaller than if it is NG (because propane has more heat value, so it takes less of it.). Since you need it at your cabin, then propane is what you want to use. If it is really an NG fridge, and once you get the flame going, if it is a big or loud flame, then you hav! e the jets sized for NG  and propane will burn too fast and too hot. You would then need to install a tiny propane adaptor jet, which decreases the size of the hole (which for propane is only pinpoint size).  The flame should be only the size of what you think a normal pilot light flame is. In fact, what you think is the pilot light is really the only burner it has: the flame will be about the size of your index fingernail, mostly blue with only a bit of yellow around the edges.  The flame just stays on all the time. It will burn a 5 gallon propane tank about once every 3 to 4 weeks, if it was like ones I have used, and the flame isn't turned up too high.  

 The fact that you can light the pilot by holding down the button but it goes out when you take it away or don't use your propane torch tells me that the thermopile is burned out. A thermopile is the small sensor thingy placed just near the edge of the pilot flame area, and it creates a tiny millivoltage bit of power, which is enough to hold open the little electrical coil that operates the safety valve. You can get another thermopile at your local Ace hardware or a refrigeration supply.  Even though you won't be able to match it exactly, all you really have to do is to match the thread size where it screws into the gas valve. Be sure there is no gas supply hooked up when you unscrew anything on this valve. The electrical voltage signal is not very much, and they don't vary that much anyway. You just have to try to match the bottom end in shape and thread size. By shape, I mean you have to look at where the bottom end contacts the electric point inside the ! hole where you unthreaded it. Look at this with a flashlight. Clean it out with a Q-tip and a tiny touch of WD-40.  Screw the new thermopile in without any Teflon tape, and don’t use any pipe dope, either. Otherwise you may insulate the negative side of the electrical connection. A thermopile makes electricity from heat across a dielectric junction: e.g., 2 dissimilar metals in contact, and electrons flow from the one with the higher charge to the lower charge on the outer electron shell.   The business end of the thermopile should be just near at outside edge of the flame, or slightly above it, but not in the centre, which is the hottest spot.

Also, once you transport it up to your cabin, if it doesn’t work straight-away, it is because you have laid it down or tipped it much. So then, turn it upside down for a full day and then let it sit upright for maybe two days before you light it. You have to let gravity do its job of getting all the liquid coolant back down to the bottom, as sometimes it gets trapped in air pockets.

Last, if all else fails, take it to an old time refrigeration guy. Sometimes, you have to get help. How much is it worth to have a really cold beer on those hot summer afternoons?  

 Good luck. Check out my website of how to make your own high proof grain alcohol, below.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerry & Lynn"
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 11:21:43 -0600
To:
Subject: Servel pro;ane fridges

Hello, I have a servel refridgerator that I would like to take to my cabin (as soon as our snow goes) but I am not sure of how the thing works. I hooked it up in my garage and can get the flame going with a propane torch. My problem really is that I am not sure of whether or not the pilot light is supposed to stay on or not. When i push the button to light it the pilot comes on but doesn't seem to stay on. As a result the flame eventually goes out when the thermostat kicks off. Also I don't know if the coils in the back should be warm or cold or what. I can't find any information on this thing and I know it is really old. The fellow I got it from said it worked fine for him. I resorted to the internet and saw your answer to someone's query and th! ought I would take a chance and ask you as you seem to know. I would sure appreciate anything you could tell me.

Gerry Fitzfpatrick.

--

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by Robert Warren
robertwarren@mail.com

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