Date:         Wed, 15 May 1996 22:04:18 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jwakefield@4dmg.net (john wakefield)
Subject:      Re: refridge flame blowout

Jeff Carver wrote:
  "I have heard through RV dealers that ......... While the
pilot light types do run the risk of blowing out and having gas build
up."

  No, in the flame is a thermocouple.  The thermocouple has two 
dissimilar metals in contact which when heated by the flame produce 30 to 
33 milivolts.  This 30 thousanths of a volt powers a tiny eletromagnet.  
This eletro magnet restrains a coiled spring that's trying to close a 
gas valve door.  This gas valve door controls the flow of gas to the 
flame.  Sounds like a joke but it works well and is common to most 
standing pilot gas devices.  When the flame goes out, just like a Rube 
Goldberg cartoon, the gas supply is cut-off so there's no gas build-up.
  So who ever told you that the pilot type refrigerators were more 
dangerous was wrong.  Mine doesn't blow out at highway speeds and my VW 
Camper Supplement Manual only warns against using the two burner stove at 
road speed, and makes no such suggestion about using the propane heat 
source for running the fridge.
  My only frustration is the constantly cycling fan which no other RV 
I've owned nor encountered has, despite that fact that the others are and 
were all much larger.  I think a decent chimney with good insulation 
should produce enough standing flow that the fan is unneeded.

   John Wakefield