No cold Norcold

[Greg Kamper]

After our last trip to sunny Phoenix last weekend for the race we experienced a warm Norcold fridge. On the trip back my wife read to me all sorts of fixes, the most common was to replace it with a residential fridge. She found some repair manuals online and we learned about the thermistor. When we arrived at home I tested it with ice water and my warm hand in the service mode of the fridge. The temp reading on the fridge went up and down, but it was slow. I then left it hanging and left the fridge on. several hours later I check inside the fridge and my thermometer was 32 deg. I then clipped it back on and it went to 40 deg after a few hours. I then took it off and it again went to 32. This was on AC, not propane. Yesterday the new thermistor arrived. I blew out the back of the fridge and the burner with compressed air, installed the thermistor and ran it on propane. After 6-8 hours the temp stayed on 32 deg at the middle temp setting. The fridge was empty and the coach is in my shop and the weather has been in the low 70's. I will report how it acts after next week dry camping. Hopefully this was the fix it needed. Even when it was not cooling the fridge the freezer maintained 0-2 degrees and made ice, even dry camping in 95 deg Phoenix last weekend.

[Bob Stone]

Greg I had a similar problem with my Norcold last week while dry camping in the desert near Yuma. I had the cooling unit replaced last year after it quite cooling altogether so I assumed 'here we go again'.
The bottom part of the refrigerator warmed to above 50 degrees but fortunately the freezers just barely kept their contents frozen.
With ambient temperatures reaching nearly 100 degrees, full sun on the refrigerator side and with doors open more often for cool beverages and restocking with warm beverages I believe the cooling unit just couldn't keep up. Once I reoriented the coach with the refrigerator wall facing north and with somewhat cooler weather the temperature in the refrigerator now gets down to 32 degrees when set at the coldest setting.
As my four door refrigerator has two separate freezers (I've removed the ice maker from the one side) I now pre-chill items such as bottled water and other beverages in one freezer before putting them in the less efficient lower part of the refrigerator.
I'm glad to read that you have solved your problem by replacing the thermister.

[Joe Rhea]

Lack of cooling in the hotter climates could be caused by lack of condenser cooling. There are a couple of fans mounted on the condenser coil controlled by a clickon. If you don't hear the fans running they proberlly aren't. You can put a small fan facing up in cabinet to aid in air flow.
You do not need a lot fo air flow around 400 cfm. will let you know if you have a fan problem.

[Greg Kamper]

Well, our trip to the coast was a good one. It was our first trip that everything worked correctly, including the fridge. I had it on the 3rd highest setting and it was 33-34 degrees. It was cool weather though, maybe 75 Deg at the highest. I did buy a temperature activated switch to run a fan at the top of the vent,  but I'm not sure exactly how to wire it up yet. I have a couple months to figure it out.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Greg,
Suggest you remove the shield on the roof to see if you have factory installed fans. Most will have 2 muffin style fans above the coils. The additional fan is normally mounted below the coils to push rather than pull air. It can be rather easily mounted by removing the access panel on the outside of the coach. Good Luck!
Steve

[Greg Kamper]

I haven't removed the top vent cover yet. I can look up the side vent and see the muffin fans on the condenser tubes, but I don't have any on the top to suck the hot air out. I have two fans that I robbed out of some old computers that are 12v. I just need to find a good voltage source that is close so I don't have to make a long run to the battery. I did think about maybe getting a 12v transformer and using the 120v outlet that the fridge is hooked to on one of the plugs and leave the other for shore power, but I'm not sure what is easier yet...

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Greg,
There is 12v at the back of the reefer. Not sure if it will handle the fan draw though. If you have existing muffin fans, they are the ones I was referring to (and I think they are 12v units).
Steve

[Joe Rhea]

Greg:
 Are the two existing fans coming on?
They are getting their voltage from the control board. There is a clicks-on mounted on top of the condenser coil in the positive side. You should be able to see it from the top after the vent cover is removed. You should be able jumper across the click-on and bring the fans on. The fans should come on around 130 degrees and shut of at around 110 degrees. There is a 5 amp fuss on the flapper heater/ fan circuit. If you are not dry camping a lot it would be simpler to get a 120 volt fan and install it.
 

[Greg Kamper]

I have heard them come on, on rare occasions. I would guess that the temps that you mentioned are when they've come on. I would think it would be better if it came on 10 deg sooner.