How can I fix my Electrolux Rm212F?

Hello I have this model on my narrowboat. Bear in mind that my boat is very stable and always level - well compared to a motorhome/caravan.
It is essential to ensure that your fridge is level to within a bout a 5 degree tolerance which means you have to spirit level check your van/home.
If the pilot light lights and then goes out when the knob is released there are four, maybe five, possibilities.
1. the thermocouple has broken down at the tip end where it rests in the flame. OR the valve in the gas control mechanism has become contaminated over time due to impurities in the gas and suddenly sticks closed. The latter can suddenly occur.
2 if the flame stays on but the fridge will not cool then check the spirit level of the van. If this is OK then your cooling system,[ at the rer of the fridge], may have an 'air' well coolant lock. Take out fridge and invert for 12 hours and then turn upright and keep upright for 12 hours before rplcing. When it is both inverted and upright you can assist settling by GENTLY banging the pipework to free any 'bubble'. In this fridge the coolant isn't under pressure as in a domestic fridge and only trickles around the heat exchange system. It isn't very efficient and any slight deterent to flow will adversley affect its ability to work.
3. The control/release knob may have worn over time. remove knob and put a small ball of lightly screwed up baking foil in the bottom of the knob's hole and push back on. This will extend the knob back to its original position relative to the cut-off valve.
4. There is a twisted length of metal in the flue. This is the 'flue baffle' it is essential to the heat exchange process. The baffle must be located in the tube approximately 75mm above the base of the flue. Sometimes this can be accidentally dislodged and fall down onto the burner. I did this once when I accidentally dislodged the fridge trying to retreive some tea spoons. The fridge will NOT keep cool if the baffle is out of position in the flue tube.
5. Very unlikely but the pressure regulator on the gas bottle may be failing. The Fridge is designed to work at a pressure in the range of 28 to 37 mbar in the uk and 50mbar if supplied for use in German vehicles.
Please make sure that when you reinstall the fridge that there are NO GAS LEAKES. You should have a bubble tester to check this.
A gas fitter did mine last year and it would not light afterwards. WHY ? Well he used a gasket sealant on the couplings for the tap on the gas supply pipe. Like water pipes they use the principle of tightening down onto olives. The gasket sealant was over used and reacted with the LPG to produce a gluey substance that blocked the pipe.
On another occasion the flame worked well but not the coolant. I tried the inversion trick and everything was fine. Don't know how the 'bubble' got in the coolant in the first place.
despite wht people say, once cool, and if serviced and cleaned evry two years these fridges work well. My problem is that they can get so cold the letuce gets a bit too iceberg for my taste.
REMEMBER ESCAPED LPG IS A KILLER all work should be leak tested by a qualified gas fitter if the work has been done by somone who isn't.

Freddie Cooke
September 2010