What's that ammonia smell?

[CrashTestDummy]

Went out to the shop to get a few things done today, and immediately upon opening the door, I caught the distinct smell of ammonia. Trying to rack my brain to figure out where in my stack of chemicals I had ammonia, and it finally dawned on me that maybe it's coming from the bus' fridge. The smell wasn't strong at all inside the bus, and sticking my nose in the fridge compartment after removing the grill didn't net any stronger smell, either.

The fridge did switch from AC to gas and back, but when I went out to verify the model, it's a Dometic RM2807, it does appear to be defrosting.

Not that familiar with RV fridges, but do they cycle the ammonia whether they're on AC or propane?

Did it exhale its magic gas? If so, what are my options? Here's a picture of the back of the fridge. It looks like there's the telltale 'green stain' people mention with ammonia leaks. I don't remember that being there the last time I had the cover off.


Thanks.

[Blue Moon]

If it is ammonia do NOT breath it. Very toxic, damages lungs and eyes, can also be explosiv in enclosed space.
Air your building out!

[rgus]

Sounds like a coil coolant leak in the fridge to me.

[BobsBus]

The cooling of an RV fridge uses the amonia when on gas or electric for cooling.
Are you familiar with the sharp smell of overcharging batteries? Could this be what you smell?

[wandermore]

I would get out my thermal camera and start inspecting the fridge and batteries.

I flew into a remote fishing camp in Canada one time (2 weeks until the puddle jumper plane was supposed to come back for us) and we almost lost the cabin to a propane/ammonia fridge fire on day one after turning it on. Those fridges still make me nervous.

[Tallybird]

If you haven’t already done so please shut the refrigerator down immediately. Head the above warnings about toxicity. Must be a leak somewhere. Unplug it and shut it off. For the rest of us using these, periodically examining the coils for rust and cleaning the gas igniter, as well as checking for debris in the back is a must. Otherwise you’re in for exciting times! ;-)

[Ernest Ekberg]

It’s history
a magic chef from Home Depot fits exactly in that spot. And for less than 400 bucks- your box wine will stay cold.

[CrashTestDummy]

Originally Posted by BobsBus

The cooling of an RV fridge uses the amonia when on gas or electric for cooling.
Are you familiar with the sharp smell of overcharging batteries? Could this be what you smell?

I am familiar with the smell of both. It's definitely ammonia. I also noticed that the fridge was 'self-defrosting', so yeah, the cooling system seems to be done.

We had put a cooling vest in the freezer section the day before. I'm wondering if the load from having to cool that pushed the system over the top.

[CrashTestDummy]

Originally Posted by Ernest Ekberg

It’s history
a magic chef from Home Depot fits exactly in that spot. And for less than 400 bucks- your box wine will stay cold.

We kind of need either 12V or propane cooling, as we like to keep stuff cold while we're going down the road. I guess a residential fridge and running the genny while on the road is an option, but I'd really want to get the dash instruments for it working again before we did that with any regularity.

[CrashTestDummy]

Originally Posted by Blue Moon

If it is ammonia do NOT breath it. Very toxic, damages lungs and eyes, can also be explosiv in enclosed space.
Air your building out!

I'm very familiar with ammonia toxicity and what it will do to living things. I live in the Houston area, and was there when the following happened.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...e-12906732.php