Help with fridge

[sasq40]

So I got myself a new camper, and i didn't check the fridge before I bought it. Now I can't get it to work in any setting. I tried in propane and in 110. The old owner said it worked last year. The unit is a norcold n611. I went to the back and when I have it in propane the pilot or nothing come on. Right now I have to board bypassed and plugged the heater directly in. The chimney part is around 100-104f,and when I aimed my gun at the propane line it sat around 150 oddly enough. I've had the unit plugged in for about 4 hour and the fridge is sitting around 85,and outside of the fridge is around 80. How long should it take to see progress. I'm assuming my fridge is no good at this point ??

[SidecarFlip]

Always good to have a happy ending....

[sasq40]

thanks for all he help!

[kohldad]

Yeah! Thanks for letting us know it's working now.

[sasq40]

Seems to be working great now! Freezers already at 0f and the fridge is around 40!

[sasq40]

Ok pretty sure I did a hard reset, ground to pin 2.and went back k. And it's still in no cool mode. Also one of the black relays or what ever they are on the board is making a load humming noise.

Edit :With the help of my wife was able to get it to go out of no cool mode, light up with propane after a few goes to get the air out of the line. Fiingers crossed!

[sasq40]

I tried turning off the switch and back and no luck what the hard reset, remove the fuses and the control board? Or just pull the 110 and 12v power?

[dougrainer]

sasq40 wrote:
Ok the fridge is about 10 degrees cooler then outside. But the on light is flashing 5 times. That means it's in no cool mode right?

Yes, that means the Cooling unit protection has kicked in. You have 1 try at reset. Turn the refer OFF for 15 seconds, then restart. IF you have NOT fixed the No Cool problem, it will then go to a 2nd No Cool and lock out the control board, You will then have to do a Control board HARD reset. Doug

[doxiemom11]

We have successfully reset ours when it did something strange by unplugging both the AC and DC plugs in outside access. Let it sit a few minutes and the plug DC back in first, then AC. It seemed to re-set the control board which you will need to have working for the refrigerator to work. You also need good batteries and the controls use DC power to operate. It does take several hours to cool and the freezer section will cool first before the refrigerator part starts to get cold.

[sasq40]

Ok the fridge is about 10 degrees cooler then outside. But the on light is flashing 5 times. That means it's in no cool mode right?

[Old-Biscuit]

Level when running it IF Stationary/Parked.
Running it while driving os OK because the movement of truck/rig keeps coolant flowing.

Bypassing the control board by unplugging the 120V AC element leads from bard and plugging them directly into a 120V AC outlet is a method used to test if cooling unit works. Plugged directly in the element heats continuously causing cooling unit to flow without any shutting down. IF cooling unit is working properly then the freezer section will go to at least 0*F (or lower) and food compartment temps will be 38*F (or lower...possibly down to 32*F)
Does NOT hurt or cause any damage.

IF cooling unit has blockages then 'test' will show.....freezer temps good/food compartment temps warm. Bad cooling unit---replace

After 4 hours freezer section should show signs of cooling...after 8 hrs food compartment----after 12 hrs temps in both S/B cold.




With rig level and leads plugged back in.....you should see cooling by this evening and fully reach temps by tomorrow AM.
Temp set point at MAX

Good luck!

[JC2]

sasq40 wrote:
yep it had 12v, brand new battery's, checked with my multi meter at the board and i have 13-14vs. The fuses are all good checked that with my meter as well. Couldn't get the unit level in the driveway so moved it onto the street and plugged everything back into the computer to see how it works now that everything is level. Really hope it just works as our house fridge stopped working last night so cant afford two fridges!

You are aware that rv fridges usually take 12-24hrs to cool down to operational temps. Freezer area first followed by the fridge box last.

[sasq40]

yep it had 12v, brand new battery's, checked with my multi meter at the board and i have 13-14vs. The fuses are all good checked that with my meter as well. Couldn't get the unit level in the driveway so moved it onto the street and plugged everything back into the computer to see how it works now that everything is level. Really hope it just works as our house fridge stopped working last night so cant afford two fridges!

[Reddog1]

Moved to Tech Issues.

Wayne
Moderator

[SidecarFlip]

+2 An ammonia fridge will not work with the heater bypassed (110 volt) it must have the control board working to work.

You don't say how old the camper is. Older Norcold's had some board issues.

Must be level within 1/2 bubble on a carpenters level (or better).

Remove the cover on the board and check the fuses first, check your fuses on the converter panel as well.

Really nothing to fail as far as the refrigeration unit is concerned other than leaking and if it is leaking, you'll smell the ammonia and see the yellow traces of the sulfur solution on the backside. If you have that, it's cooling unit time. They very seldom spring a leak.

Cool down from ambient takes at least 24 hours. Sometimes less depending on thermal efficiency (heat transfer from the rear mounted condenser to the ambient air flow).

10 degrees out of plumb is way too much inclination.