Norcold refrigerator not working despite propane burning

[ichudov]

I have a 12 year old RV with a norcold refrigerator, serial CU1571912.

As it gave me the NO CO code in the past, I decided to give it one more go.

I have reset it via a jumper wire.

I made sure that the motorhome is dead level.

I powered it on. It does seem to "run". I switched it to Propane mode for simplicity.

I can see the propane flame burning nicely. I also can hear faint sounds of boiling or percolating inside.

However, after an hour of running, the aluminum heatsink inside the refrigerator has not changed its temperature. I measured it with a laser thermometer and it is not getting colder even by a degree.

I do not see any yellow residue inside the cooler cabinet.

Any idea what I can do at this point, will be enormously appreciated.

[Thetollies]

we moved our motor home about 6 miles. Was plugged into elec, so when we unplugged, put the ref over on propane. When we got to our destination, ref. will not come on in elec, or propane, its just like its dead. Seems like this happened before and the repair person said to do a jumper cable, and we do not remember what we jumped. Can any of you wonderful guys help us???

[ichudov]

The batteries are almost new and the RV was being charged all the time, from shore power or running motor. Always 13v or above.

[Jim]

ichudov wrote:
A little update. I took my RV on a trip to the Mammoth cave (400 miles exactly).

I also took a thermometer with me.

Here's the deal. The fridge IS working and it IS cooling. However, it is NOT cooling well. After about 8 hours, it cooled the inside to about 50 degrees F, whereas the freezer is well frozen.

Because of a safety check that results in a NO CO error if the fridge does not reach the intended temperature in 4 hours, I have to "hack" it to bypass that by turning the fridge off for a few seconds every couple of hours.

That restart resets the timer and the fridge at least does not shut off.

I will restart it at night also when I get up to pee or whatever.

I am not really happy but I can complete my trip.

That's a pretty common symptom when you have a set of house batteries that aren't feeling well. So at least check those soon after you travel a couple hundred miles and before plugging into shore power. See where their voltage is. If it's low, there's your problem.

[D_E_Bishop]

We have a 14 year old Model #N842IM, I removed the ice maker because it is better to have the space all the time rather than make ice a few times a year when we sit still. It freezes ice cream in round containers very well.

As of today I haven't had any reason to learn about absorption refrigerators so I cannot suggest a course of action. I did read here that it is possible that some scale caused by over boiling or out of level could come loose and block or partially block the tubing anywhere in the system. Maybe so, maybe not, I just read that.

[ichudov]

A little update. I took my RV on a trip to the Mammoth cave (400 miles exactly).

I also took a thermometer with me.

Here's the deal. The fridge IS working and it IS cooling. However, it is NOT cooling well. After about 8 hours, it cooled the inside to about 50 degrees F, whereas the freezer is well frozen.

Because of a safety check that results in a NO CO error if the fridge does not reach the intended temperature in 4 hours, I have to "hack" it to bypass that by turning the fridge off for a few seconds every couple of hours.

That restart resets the timer and the fridge at least does not shut off.

I will restart it at night also when I get up to pee or whatever.

I am not really happy but I can complete my trip.

[mcc1229]

We bought a 2005 Discovery new. It had a Norcold. Never worked. Took it back to the dealer under warranty several times. Spent money on boards etc. Got stranded several times (spoiled food). GThen I found this guy he did a custom rebuild on it for me about 8 years ago. It has worked perfect ever since. Will freeze ice cream. I hated everything about Norcold until they rebuilt. I wanted mine to be cold. I opted for the bigger fans, shrouding, icemaker delete, etc .My understanding is that for several years all the Nascar guys got this guy to upgrade their friges as soon as they bought a coach.
http://www.rvcrcarolina.com/index.html

[dougrainer]

PastorCharlie wrote:
According to a notice I received in the mail there is a Class Action Lawsuit for the Norcold 1200 Series, N8 Series or N6 Series.

Two lawsuits have been filed against Norcold Inc., Thetford Corp., and The Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp. There is a safety related defect in the cooling unit.

1. WHAT does that have to do with this thread?
2. This is a typical Class Action Lawsuit that will do NOTHING for the RV'er. ALL it will do is make the Lawyers rich and the RV'er will get a token amount, probably less than $100. Doug

[PastorCharlie]

According to a notice I received in the mail there is a Class Action Lawsuit for the Norcold 1200 Series, N8 Series or N6 Series.

Two lawsuits have been filed against Norcold Inc., Thetford Corp., and The Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp. There is a safety related defect in the cooling unit.

[dougrainer]

crasster wrote:
Another Norcold RV fridge issue.... WHEN RV fridges work correctly they take forever to get cold. Your freezer will probably never hit zero and may be 30 degrees after 24 hours. You need to wait more time.

Just a tip, once I went to a dorm & residential set of fridges in my coaches, my ice cream has been solid as well as my ice. You can run them on inverters while driving. The setback is boondocking. Sorry I vent because there are so many bad RV fridge stories and I got sick of eating slime ice cream out of my bowls by personal experience.

If you buy square/rectangle box type ice cream and have it against the rear wall of the freezer, you will get better results on ice cream. Doug

[dougrainer]

ichudov wrote:
Hello. I do not want to start a flame war here. I respect all opinions, but I want first to be done with troubleshooting my RV fridge.

My first question is "what is normal"?

What sort of temperature should I expect on the aluminum fins after, say, 1 hour of running on propane and seeing propane burn?

In real time-NOTHING on the fins after 1 hour. The Cooling unit starts at the top(freezer) and then goes down to the fins. You will feel cold in the back wall of the freezer after 1 hour. The freezer after 24 hours will be 0 to 5 degrees. The refer fins will be 10 degrees colder than the items in the refer---water is 36 degrees after 24 hours the fins will be 26 degrees. There is no way to speed up the process. You MUST wait 24 hours for a complete cool to set temp. After 3 or 4 hours you will feel cool/cold on the evap fins. Doug

[ichudov]

Hello. I do not want to start a flame war here. I respect all opinions, but I want first to be done with troubleshooting my RV fridge.

My first question is "what is normal"?

What sort of temperature should I expect on the aluminum fins after, say, 1 hour of running on propane and seeing propane burn?

[crasster]

Another Norcold RV fridge issue.... WHEN RV fridges work correctly they take forever to get cold. Your freezer will probably never hit zero and may be 30 degrees after 24 hours. You need to wait more time.

Just a tip, once I went to a dorm & residential set of fridges in my coaches, my ice cream has been solid as well as my ice. You can run them on inverters while driving. The setback is boondocking. Sorry I vent because there are so many bad RV fridge stories and I got sick of eating slime ice cream out of my bowls by personal experience.

[dougrainer]

Not a Yurt! wrote:
We have a similar problem with our Norcold. Works fine on A/C. Propane flame fires up and is nice and blue, but the refrigerator and freezer do not maintain the cold temperatures attained from A/C use. Ice and cold stuff is already in there, but no cold is happening from the propane option.

Anyone with comments from similar experiences and solutions are much appreciated. Especially solutions. And, no, please don't say, "Get a residential refrigerator." I am looking to the incredible number of experienced RV's out there to point out something that I may be missing. Your help is much appreciated!

If it cools correctly on 120 and not on LP, there are only 3 problems it can be.
1. LP pressure is low
2. The orifice/burner is slightly clogged and needs cleaned
3. IF the cooling unit has been replaced, there is a Spiral Baffle in the chimney right above the flame that dispurses the heat evenly to heat. IF that Spiral is gone or rusted out and destroyed, the unit will NOT cool on LP correctly. You have to pull the refer to verify this. Doug

[AidenJ]

I have no answers to your refer problems, but I do know it shouldn't take 24 hrs to start cooling. After starting ours on propane there is a noticable difference in 4 hrs or less.