Refrigerator Repair - Trav'ler by Elixir

[Tioga Sportsman]

Ok, so I have this 1976 Tioga Sportsman which has been really good to me. I bought this thing in 2014 while I was working in Oregon. I have since driven it back to my home state of Texas and have it parked in my back yard with all the amenities hooked up it. It is a real conversation piece when my friends and family come over to visit and I tell them that me and my wife have lived in it. Anyways.....I am really starting to ramble here, and the real reason I am blogging is to cover another repair.

My Trav'ler by Elixir refrigerator went out, it is a good thing that it is a dual source refrigerator which means it can run on electricity or propane. Well, I switched it to propane and it was kinda funny because I never lit one off before on the propane source. It took me a few tries but I finally figured out to push the button and turn till you hear the "click". That will be the sound of the igniter light off the propane heat source that cools the refrigerator. Well, I was now burning my propane so fast it cut my tank duration in half.....yes, in half! So I google for a replacement heating element and managed to find one pretty reasonable. So the next time I ran out of propane was the perfect time to change the element since the coil it heats cooled off.

First I pull the panel so I could view the back of the refrigerator, next I pull the coil cover that exposes the heating element.The heating element is sitting behind all this insulation which needs to be removed to make the element visible. There may or may not be an element retaining screw.....mine had one.

I was lucky because the element pulled right out with just a firm tug of the wires on top.

Of course I had already checked for continuity, but this is what the reading looks like on a bad heating element while putting 1 probe on each tab of the heating element.Now, this is what the reading looks like when the element is good and you do have continuity. Again, place 1 probe on each tab of the heating element.Ok, so the element has been installed, the insulation is stuffed backed in the element housing, the cover put back, the refrigerator has been switched back to electric, the coil is warm to the touch. And Voila', frost in the freezer!

Hope this helps anyone that might have some refrigerator problems.

Tioga