NORCOLD Refrigerator Power Question

[Dickson Dorr]

Hi Everyone! New owners of a 1998 Beaver Patriot Brandywine, and we are taking her out for the first time this weekend.
I have her at the house plugged into garage 110 shore power (20amp). I am trying to get the refrigerator to cool down using only AC power but the panel keeps giving a code of NO AC. It works fine on propane. Also it works AC if the generator is running.  But if I stop the generator it will go back to NO AC code unless I'm on auto then the propane will kick back on. 

The breaker for the fridge is ON. I turned on the inverter but I don't think that has anything to do with it. When I turn on the switch at the door for coach power all the lights come on so I'm assuming that I do have AC power or would they come on even if the inverter switch above the door was OFF? Thanks for the help!

Also now that I'm home a little follow up.  When plugged into garage 110/20amp I'm only getting power to 1/2 of the MH, the kitchen side.  I took a voltage tester to make sure.  When I fire up the generator, I have full AC power both sides and the fridge operates on AC power.  So from what I can see my fridge is OK, now to figure out why the MH only gets full power if the generator is running.  I understand about loads and amps so it is not a question of what can I run, it is why is only 1/2 actually powered up off low amp shore power?  We take it out this weekend and will have full 50amp service, so I will be able to do more testing but if anyone can help out with this it would be appreciated.   

Dickson and Kathy

[David T. Richelderfer]

My understanding is the refrigerator has two burners - one operates on propane and one on 120v AC.  But the refrigerator's brain only works on 12v DC power.  So, when the brain is in auto mode and sees 120v AC, then it will direct the 120v AC burner to operate.  Otherwise, with no 120v AC and in auto mode, it will direct the propane burner to operate.  In either case, the brain must have 12v DC.  Is it possible that the inverter is not delivering 12v DC to run the brain while plugged into the garage due to too low a power supply or too low of voltage?

You mentioned the coach has power 120v AC, on the kitchen circuit/s but not on the opposite side - the dining side.  Our refrigerator is on the opposite side of the kitchen and runs on a completely different circuit from anything on the kitchen side.  It's almost sounding like a problem with power to the dining side circuit/s.  But I certainly don't know why that is happening.

I have not had this problem, so I am simply throwing this out as a guess for another place to look.

What is your inverter - Magnum or Xantrex - and its wattage?

[Joel Ashley]

Sounds like the transfer switch is not closing both legs.  We’ve run our coach on as little as a 15 amp source (think Prineville fairgrounds 2007), just with highly discretionary device use. 

On ours the inverter switch over the door does not need to be "on" unless we are not on shore power and need some 110v device.  The fridge on most rigs is not run off the inverter;  the dedicated outlet it plugs into (seen from the outside rear fridge access) comes off a breaker in the 50amp Main breaker box.  The last breaker in there feeds the adjoining 30amp Main breaker box, aka the "Inverter Panel" because everything in it goes through the inverter and can be run off it when you aren't plugged in to shore power.  That said, on ours the inverter panel is on the same leg as the fridge and the front air conditioner among other hardware.

It's possible the inverter's charger is trying to charge up low batteries at the same time the fridge is first powered up and maybe something else is on besides, maxing out amps;  but that should blow a house breaker.

Did you try plugging into a house outlet on a different home circuit?  Did you run an extension directly to the fridge power cord in the back?  Just trying to isolate the problem a bit more.

I will leave any in-depth diagnosis to others more versed here, but need to say that the entry door “salesman’s switch” is for 12v only, and you should leave it on all the time.  It and it’s latching solenoid can wear and weren’t meant for regular use, just dealer convenience on the lot.  To store the coach, shut off your 12v Mains in the battery compartment area, NOT the door switch... leave it in the ON position always.  Some have even rewired the back of the switch so it can’t be turned off.

Joel

[Gerald Farris]

Dickson,
Your inverter only powers half of the 120 volt receptacles in your coach (not the refrigerator), so it sounds like you have the inverter on and you are not receiving any power from the shore power cord that you are plugged into. The first thing to check is that you have 120 volt power at the 50 amp cord going into the coach. If that is OK, go to the transfer switch and check for 120 volts in and out. If you have 120volts in but not out, you have a bad transfer switch. Since you have 120 volt power with the generator running, your circuits after the transfer switch are OK.

Gerald 

[Dickson Dorr]

Thanks all for some good tips.  I will check on these items tomorrow, starting with the outlet that the shore power cord is connected to.
Also I did try earlier to find the actual cord that is for the fridge and outlet that it is plugged into but no go so far.  If you know where this actually is located that would help me as well.
Thanks
Dickson

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Dickson,
The outlet for the reefer AC is behind it, accessible by removing the access panel on the outside of the coach behind the reefer. The circuit breaker is in your AC breaker panel, normally in the bedroom closet (in later coaches).
Steve

[Mike Tomas]

When plugged into garage 110/20amp I'm only getting power to 1/2 of the MH, the kitchen side.  I took a voltage tester to make sure.

You know? I'm wondering if the 120Vac adapter that your using to connect to the 120 outlet is providing 120 to only 1 of 2 legs of your 50A connector. it would certainly mean you would see shore power to only half of the coach, AND explain how everything works off the generator. Otherwise, if the dog-bone is sending the 120 to both legs, then I would have to agree with Joel about the transfer switch..

I bought this dog-bone off Amazon. It sure does send power to everything in the coach, and I use it at storage for the batteries and to electrically cool off the fridge:

Camco RV PowerGrip Dogbone Electrical Adapter with Handle
by Camco
Link: http://a.co/dsCIqbp

[Bob Stone]

I'll throw my two cents in but I haven't given this possibility a lot of thought. On my '05 Monterey there are two outlets in behind my Norcold. They operate differently in that I believe one is for the ice maker to operate off the inverter at 110 volts when the refrigerator is being cooled by propane whereas the other is when on shore power which provides sufficient amperage to heat the refrigerator's element.


Just a thought...


Bob

[Keith Moffett]

Hi Dickson and welcome to the Beaver family and Forum.

We had a 1998 Patriot.  A couple similar things happened in ours so this is what we did.
1)  In the middle bay on the passenger side should be an outlet.  Ours was brown plastic and just surface mounted so it stood out.  Look and see if this is GFCI.  If it is, trip and reset it a couple times.  Do you now have AC power to both banks inside?
2)  The original inverter in that was I believe the Xantrex.  If so it has two black toggles on the front lower left corner.  These are breakers.  Cycle them off and on a couple times.  Do you have power now on both sides?
3)  Your 110 breaker panel should be in a small cabinet at the top of the back wall in the bed room.

We lost 1/2 power twice while getting used to the coach.  Once it was the inverter breaker and once the GFCI outlet was tripped.  Hope this helps.

[Mike Shumack]

I wish you well in troubleshooting your Norcold problem.
I don't have this unit so I can't help, but whenever I read a post like yours, I go off and research the issue and try to learn about the equipment.

The reason I post now, is to let the moderators know that the "Norcold 1200" manual available on this site is missing page 10 (which happens to be the troubleshooting page for "No AC"). http://beaveramb.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Norcold_1200_Series_Refer_Manual.pdf

So if anyone has this manual, it would be desirable to send it to one of moderators so they can replace the document above that is missing the page, then the next Beaver owner with a Norcold issue can have access to a complete manual.

Good luck

[Bill Sprague]

Based on experience with the 1200 we had, I'm betting on the fuse.  Ours blew several times and later got so hot I had to replace the entire board.  The primary problem was that the fuse holder was weak and sloppy causing resistance.

I think the 12v circuit board is "seeing" the 120 volts, but not passing it to he heating element because of the blown fuse. If it didn't "see" the 120 it would operate on propane as if not plugged in and it would not display the code.

[Bill Sprague]

.....So if anyone has this manual, it would be desirable to send it to one of moderators so they can replace the document above that is missing the page, then the next Beaver owner with a Norcold issue can have access to a complete manual.

Good luck

I've still got original downloaded .pdfs for Operation, Repair and Ice Maker repair but forget how to upload them to here!

[Mike Shumack]

I can't speak for Steve, but the last time I had a manual to share, I just e-mailed it to Steve Huber and put it in the member's "download section".

[Gerald Farris]

Keith, Mike, and Bill,
You are complicating a simple problem here. The refrigerator and all of the circuits in the coach after the transfer switch are operating normally because everything operates when the generator is running. Therefore the problem is in the transfer switch or the shore power circuit only.

Gerald

[Stan Simpson]

I have a complete Norcold 1200 series service manual. I have sent it via email to Steve Huber.