Troubleshooting Alde Solid Red Light

jkjenn

Good morning crom Ogalala, NE.

I am getting a solid red light on LP mode on the Alde this AM. I have plenty of LP and can use the stove. I am not sure if I am imagining ut or not, but I smell a smell of propane when I turn it in and it starts to rumble but the LP detector does not go off. It might just be that type of smell you get when your boiker kicks on for the first time in the wi ter at home. The light doesn't come on instantly, it comes on after it has rumbled a bit. 45-60 seconds.

On a side note, I was unable to light the fridge last night. May or may not be related.

Any ideas?

Verna

@jkjenn, I am not a propane expert by any means, but if the stove lights, the only common denominator for fridge and Alde is electronic circuitry. Please check all of your fuses beginning with the converter. I don't think they are on the GFCI circuit, but you did have problems with resetting that circuit before you left home. 

jkjenn

Thank you, @Verna. I went to red light troubleshooting and skipped the obvious. I had a blown fuse...and of course I forgot the spares...now to find one....on a Sunday.

Verna

Try Auto Zone. They have quite a wide assortment of fuses. 

jkjenn

Verna said:

Try Auto Zone. They have quite a wide assortment of fuses. 

Thanks @Verna. I will. Just tried an Ace wuth the largest selection I have ever seen and no dice.

jkjenn

Good news, I actually had a spare fuse. Bad news, that did not correct the issue. I can hear the Alde trying to light and it isnt happening.

jkjenn

I am also beginibg to wonder if it's possible that I got a bad batch of LP?

DurangoTaB

Have you just recently replaced your LP tank?  I did and had the same symptoms.  After lighting the stove (which I always do to get propane to the fridge), turning the Alde off/on several times to reset the red light and waiting for it catch and run (probably took 15 minutes), the lines filled with propane and the Alde lit.  After that...the fridge, which wasn’t staying lit...stayed lit.  I think it has to do with how the propane lines are run/“teed” and getting them purged with propane.  Ever since in our case both the Alde and fridge have started right up.  Good luck!

(BTW...I just winterized our T@B...supposed to get to 28deg tonight!  Probably just an early Fall “soft” freeze, but blowing the lines out only takes me about 30 minutes) 

Spruce1

I had a problem with the steady red Alde light too.  I swapped out tanks (even though I felt there was still plenty LP), checked the fuses,  ran the gas at the stove, closed the LP tank and then slowly reopened.  All to no avail.  Then I read in the Alde manual, I believe, that overheating could cause the unit to stop and display the red light. Then I remembered that I had lowered the Alde pump setting to approximately 1 1/2 to make it quieter.  I'm no expert but i wondered if I had slowed down the pump too low, limiting the heat dissipation, and therefore causing it to overheat and shutdown.  I turned the pump up to a bit over 2 and the Alde works just fine now.

jkjenn

DurangoTaB said:

Have you just recently replaced your LP tank?  I did and had the same symptoms.  After lighting the stove (which I always do to get propane to the fridge), turning the Alde off/on several times to reset the red light and waiting for it catch and run (probably took 15 minutes), the lines filled with propane and the Alde lit.  After that...the fridge, which wasn’t staying lit...stayed lit.  I think it has to do with how the propane lines are run/“teed” and getting them purged with propane.  Ever since in our case both the Alde and fridge have started right up.  Good luck!

(BTW...I just winterized our T@B...supposed to get to 28deg tonight!  Probably just an early Fall “soft” freeze, but blowing the lines out only takes me about 30 minutes) 

Brand new tank and full. I will give it a try!

jkjenn

Case closed: the issue was a loose exhaust hose. I actually did check it but it did not seem loose to me. Austin at nuCamp repair found it and fixed it.

I may end up putting in the digital panel just so I can read the error codes. It would have me the trip to Sugarcreek. 

Photomom

jkjenn said:

Case closed: the issue was a loose exhaust hose. I actually did check it but it did not seem loose to me. Austin at nuCamp repair found it and fixed it.

I may end up putting in the digital panel just so I can read the error codes. It would have me the trip to Sugarcreek. 

Alde exhaust hose? What about the fridge?

jkjenn

Photomom said:

jkjenn said:

Case closed: the issue was a loose exhaust hose. I actually did check it but it did not seem loose to me. Austin at nuCamp repair found it and fixed it.

I may end up putting in the digital panel just so I can read the error codes. It would have me the trip to Sugarcreek. 

Alde exhaust hose? What about the fridge?

The fridge lit fine every other time. Perhaps it was not as level as I thought. It was the only time I did not level it as I was overnighting it at Walmart and it was pretty late.

ChanW

Hey Jenn,
Did he show you which end of the hose was loose?

Dalehelman

@jkjenn Out of level will not effect lighting the fridge. It will light. Out of level only disruptes the cooling process. 

jkjenn

ChanW said:

Hey Jenn,
Did he show you which end of the hose was loose?

No, I picked up on Saturday so no one was there. I had checked where it connects to the Alde, so perhaps it was where it connected to the wall. 

With all of the bouncing the T@b has endured, it was not a huge surprise when something jiggled loose. 

Lesson learned check Alde in all modes before venturing on a long trip. I had only checked it on shore power before leaving.

Dalehelman said:

@jkjenn Out of level will not effect lighting the fridge. It will light. Out of level only disruptes the cooling process. 

It's also possible that the wind was sniffing it out. It was a darky and stormy night with hard, so d driven rain...

DurangoTaB

My experience is that the fridge is hard to light (doesn’t stay lit) when 1) it’s windy, and 2) if the T@B isn’t level front to back (which I believe is mentioned in the manual). Since I’ve put in the 2nd (“high altitude”) propane regulator for the Alde, it often takes one or two red light resets for it to stay lit (but then it purrs :-)).  We’re going camping one last time in SE Utah later this week...I’ll be sure to check that exhaust hose!  Seems like a safety issue that should be mentioned in the manual(s)...”red light” isn’t just low propane.

jkjenn

DurangoTaB said:

Seems like a safety issue that should be mentioned in the manual(s)...”red light” isn’t just low propane.

I believe the Alde manual describes the solid red light as an LP blockage. I inspected and could not see one, but, admittedly, the Alde is a challenge to access.