Norcold N8X

Freeman · 11-18-2022, 04:16 PM

We have a 2018 Jayco Greyhawk 26y with a Norcold N8X refrigerator. A year ago, the refrigerator and freezer stopped working, and we replaced the main control panel outside and the Thermister. That fixed the problem restoring the refrigerator back to specs with the freezer at zero degrees and the refrigerator at 35-40 degrees with the control on the front set at 3.

While driving from our home in VA to our home in AZ this year, we were boondocking. The generator had been running during the day and at around 7:00 PM we turned off the generator for the night. That left just the propane furnace, the refrigerator, and lights running off the house battery. At around 6:00 AM the next morning, the smoke detector started beeping. The house battery was completely down — everything out — couldn’t start generator. We started the engine and let it charge the house battery for 30 minutes — generator started — everything came back up — except the refrigerator would not run on electricity mode; it would flip to and run only on propane mode. This was the case for the next three days regardless of whether we were boondocking on the generator or plugged into shore power.

On the fourth night, we plugged into shore power and the refrigerator went to electricity mode as normal. But, the freezer goes only down to 20 degrees and the refrigerator goes to 40-50 degrees with the panel set all the way to five. (Mind you, the battery issue and the refrigerator issue may be totally separate with no cause and effect, and we have replaced the house battery.)

Those of you who are more experienced—any ideas? After speaking with Norcold, our service person has offered the following options: to replace the control panel on the front of the refrigerator, to replace the coolant system outside, or to replace the whole refrigerator.

Florida Ranger · 11-18-2022, 10:34 PM

Same thing happened to my 2018 Greyhawk 31fs last year. Since this was my 3rd Class in the last 6 years since retiring and all of them being New , and they all had the Nogetcold refers in them this time I Replaced my N8x model with a Residential refrigerator and have never been happier. When driving down the road we allways run the generator because we run the Roof A/C we live in Florida and it’s mostly hot here and we do not like to sweat..I bought the Refer at Lowes and installed myself pretty easy,,only cost $359 lot less than repairing Norcold. Plus it is 10 cubic ft refer….Good Luck….

ARoamer · 11-19-2022, 06:55 AM

Here's a few thoughts and ideas....

First, verify that good 12VDC is available, all connections, supply side and grounds, are tight and corrosion free. Low voltage will make the control board do undesirable things.

If it switches to LP when 120VAC is available I'd think it isn't "seeing" that 120VAC is available. Does the 120V plug icon light up on your control display? Check 120VAC wiring. Possibly a control board issue.

When the thermistor is disconnected from the fridge controller, the fridge should run 100% of the time. You could check cooling performance that way. Verify your door seals are sealing properly.

Every RV fridge I have owned cool better on LP than electricity.

Norcold units go into a defrost cycle approximately every 2 days. If it is turned off and turned on the defrost cycle countdown is reset.

jyh818 · 11-19-2022, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Florida Ranger

Same thing happened to my 2018 Greyhawk 31fs last year. Since this was my 3rd Class in the last 6 years since retiring and all of them being New , and they all had the Nogetcold refers in them this time I Replaced my N8x model with a Residential refrigerator and have never been happier. When driving down the road we allways run the generator because we run the Roof A/C we live in Florida and it’s mostly hot here and we do not like to sweat..I bought the Refer at Lowes and installed myself pretty easy,,only cost $359 lot less than repairing Norcold. Plus it is 10 cubic ft refer….Good Luck….

Which model residential refer did you use? Do you have a photo of the finished installation?

I would like to replace mine as well. Thanks.

Florida Ranger · 11-19-2022, 03:16 PM

Magic Chef 10 cu ft. 2 door Top freezer. I just went outside and looked could not see a model #..Purchased January 2021 Home Depot $359.00.. Measure your hole for the refer,, then go to thier website and look for a refer with the closest dimensions to yours. Will probably be about 1/4” to 3/8” smaller than your hole that is what you want ,,a piece of small molding will cover up gap if needed. I used a wide piece of Vinyl tape looks good..To get old refer out and new refer inside the refer door might have to be taken off.You will have to remove camper door hydraulic stopper arm so door will fold flat on outside of camper….

Eaglelmc · 11-20-2022, 04:27 PM

FR: I'm with you, we did the same, have a 2019 Redhawk, the norcold gave us fits from the start, went to Home Depot and bought a magic chef on sale for $285, added an inverter to run on while driving, havent been happier, went from 8 to 10.5 cu ft also.

mini4mw · 11-30-2022, 03:06 PM

stealing the thread a little (or a lot)

I'm about to put in a 10cu residential. Also tired of leveling and temp issues with the N8XRT. I've lost a few fridges of food due to poor to no cooling.

Those that put in the residential, did you just plug in to 120 outlet that is there and have to run gen/require shore power to run or did you put in a 12v inverter?

I bought a 1200W inverter and plan on running a new circuit from the DC panel to the fridge with the inverter and move the original 120v outlet nearby. Then while driving I'll use the inverter, let alternator charge battery and I can move the fridge to the 120 outlet when I'm plugged in or using generator (if I want/need to, reduce load on the converter). I will test when the fridge gets here, but I'm concerned on the amps on the 12v side. The fridge is listed with a max of 115v @6amps or 700W. At 12v that's 60amps.. (rounding numbers up a little)

I'll validate amperage before I try and replace the fridge starting with a warm fridge and plugging into a wall circuit and then an inverter tied directly to AGM house battery.

My 20cu residential in the basement only pulls .5 amps average (2-3 years old) and the main fridge (13 years old) pulls 4 amps when the condenser runs. That would be 5-40amps on a 12v circuit. It just seem out of place that a residential fridge needs that may Watts even if it is warm..

Freeman · 11-30-2022, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freeman

We have a 2018 Jayco Greyhawk 26y with a Norcold N8X refrigerator. A year ago, the refrigerator and freezer stopped working, and we replaced the main control panel outside and the Thermister. That fixed the problem restoring the refrigerator back to specs with the freezer at zero degrees and the refrigerator at 35-40 degrees with the control on the front set at 3.

While driving from our home in VA to our home in AZ this year, we were boondocking. The generator had been running during the day and at around 7:00 PM we turned off the generator for the night. That left just the propane furnace, the refrigerator, and lights running off the house battery. At around 6:00 AM the next morning, the smoke detector started beeping. The house battery was completely down — everything out — couldn’t start generator. We started the engine and let it charge the house battery for 30 minutes — generator started — everything came back up — except the refrigerator would not run on electricity mode; it would flip to and run only on propane mode. This was the case for the next three days regardless of whether we were boondocking on the generator or plugged into shore power.

On the fourth night, we plugged into shore power and the refrigerator went to electricity mode as normal. But, the freezer goes only down to 20 degrees and the refrigerator goes to 40-50 degrees with the panel set all the way to five. (Mind you, the battery issue and the refrigerator issue may be totally separate with no cause and effect, and we have replaced the house battery.)

Those of you who are more experienced—any ideas? After speaking with Norcold, our service person has offered the following options: to replace the control panel on the front of the refrigerator, to replace the coolant system outside, or to replace the whole refrigerator.

Update: we replaced the thermistor. The freezer went down to 10 not to zero. The refrigerator went to the safe zone for food 35-40. It continued working at the level for two days. Then for the past three days temperatures increased — 60 in refrigerator and freezer at 25. The fins in of refrigerator even started dripping. Now — day four the temperatures have come back down — freezer 12 and refrigerator 38 - 42.

Bayoutalker · 12-10-2022, 01:00 PM

I replaced my fridge this year with a 12v compressor model. It is larger cubic ft and cools much better. It fit in the same spot with no modifications.

**norty1** · 12-10-2022, 04:04 PM

Mine will be that way also as soon as it quits working. So far no sign of that happening.

Question: Which model did you go with?

Oops, I just saw the 12v part. I was looking at a 120v model.

Still interested in your experiences with it.

Bayoutalker · 12-10-2022, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norty1

Mine will be that way also as soon as it quits working. So far no sign of that happening.

Question: Which model did you go with?

Oops, I just saw the 12v part. I was looking at a 120v model.

Still interested in your experiences with it.

We have the GE, I'm not sure the exact model. We bought it at Camping World. I went with the 12v as the wiring was already in place and it will run while traveling off of the battery. No need for an inverter.

https://www.campingworld.com/ge-9.8-...el-125267.html

**norty1** · 12-10-2022, 05:06 PM

Do you notice any difference in the noise when running? Also is it attached to the rig by brackets or screws?

Bayoutalker · 12-10-2022, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norty1

Do you notice any difference in the noise when running? Also is it attached to the rig by brackets or screws?

If I pay close attention I can hear a slight buzz but normally I don't notice it. It does cool much better than my old Norcold. It is not made to be attached but a couple of "L" brackets on the rear is sufficient. It sure helped to have almost 2 more cuft. though.

It was also almost $600 cheaper than a new Norcold.

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