Norcold fridge

[ux4it]

Hi All.
I'm having problem with my fridge. I pulled it out of storage a couple of weeks ago as we are heading out on the road this Thursday. I plugged my trailer into house power and turned my fridge on using AC.(this was last Thursday). It was working great. a bottle of water I put in the freezer froze solid. Yesterday, it stopped cooling. I switched it over to propane thinking that would fix the problem, but to no avail. The propane burner lights up no problem, and stays running(for hours and hours) but the fridge still does not cool down. I went up on the roof and removed the cover for the venting and found no trace of any type of plug or debris. Clean as a whistle. For the life of me I can't find out what the problem is. Is my fridge hooped? I do not smell any type of strange smell(ammonia or otherwise) but have been told these absorption fridges don't really give off much of a smell anyways. Has anyone else come across this situation. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Grumpy]

Is the freezer still working? The thermistor could be bad. (little wire clipped to the inside fins)

[Brownie]

Sorry to hear about your refer problem. I had the same problem several years ago while staying down in southern Texas. I called a local mobile RV tech, who came out to take a look at it. He opened the lower vent cover and found the whole interior of the area (the back of the fridge and coils) was covered in a light yellowish/tan powder. He told me that's a sure sign that the coils have sprung a leak and emptied themselves of the ammonia gas that's used to cool the fridge. He said he's seen brand new units arriving at dealers that have bad coils. And Norcold only warrants the coils for 1 year. Fortunately, he had a source for rebuilt coils at 1/2 the price of a new fridge - and they come with a 2-year warranty. Mine lasted 8 years before the unit went out again last fall. I just replaced the whole refer with a 10.1 c.f. residential fridge from Hotpoint. Got it at Lowes, but Home Depot carries the same unit (if you can find anyone to wait on you).

I'd open up the lower vent and check for the amber-colored dust. If you find it, (unfortunately) you're in the market for either new coils or a new fridge.

Sorry for the bad news. Hope your problem is something more simple . . . like a control board or something!

[SloPoke]

Is / Was the RV leveled when it stopped working?

[ux4it]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Is the freezer still working? The thermistor could be bad. (little wire clipped to the inside fins)

The freezer is not working either unfortunately.
Good idea though.

[ux4it]

Originally Posted by Brownie

Sorry to hear about your refer problem. I had the same problem several years ago while staying down in southern Texas. I called a local mobile RV tech, who came out to take a look at it. He opened the lower vent cover and found the whole interior of the area (the back of the fridge and coils) was covered in a light yellowish/tan powder. He told me that's a sure sign that the coils have sprung a leak and emptied themselves of the ammonia gas that's used to cool the fridge. He said he's seen brand new units arriving at dealers that have bad coils. And Norcold only warrants the coils for 1 year. Fortunately, he had a source for rebuilt coils at 1/2 the price of a new fridge - and they come with a 2-year warranty. Mine lasted 8 years before the unit went out again last fall. I just replaced the whole refer with a 10.1 c.f. residential fridge from Hotpoint. Got it at Lowes, but Home Depot carries the same unit (if you can find anyone to wait on you).

I'd open up the lower vent and check for the amber-colored dust. If you find it, (unfortunately) you're in the market for either new coils or a new fridge.

Sorry for the bad news. Hope your problem is something more simple . . . like a control board or something!

No smell or dust of any kind in or around the back of the fridge.
Thanks for the reply.

[ux4it]

Trailer is level front to back and side to side.
I forgot to mention the trailer is a 2019, so it's only 5 years old.

[Kevin Cooper]

The thermistor, the printed circuit board, and the high heat sensor are all out of being the issue. You stated that the propane came on and ran for hours. You checked and no obstructions for air flow. You found not powder material at the bottom. Sounds like the refrigerator is done. Very unfortunate.

[JimD]

Since the flame stays on it sounds like it is trying to cool. See if there is any frost buildup on the tubing. If there is buildup, try tapping with a wood stick to clear it.

One last item to try is called "burping" the fridge. If there are air bubbles in the ammonia, that could prevent it from circulating which is what cools the thing in electric and gas modes. Unfortunately it requires removing the fridge and turning it upside down. Do a Google search for "Burping RV Fridge" for information.

[watchout]

You don't necessarily need to remove the fridge to "burp" it. With the fridge off, you can take the trailer for a drive. Find the steepest grades available, uphill, downhill, sidehill, whatever. After bringing it back and level, let it sit for a hour before firing up. My Norcold used to stop working like this and a 15 minute drive always worked. In my case, the absorption unit was EXTREMELY sensitive to level, it had to be within 1 degree front to back, instead of the Norcold spec of 3 degrees. So, if slightly out of level, it would stop cooling after a few hours of normal operation. It would also stop cooling if I hit a long steep grade for say 15 minutes. Worth a try.

[FISTEP]

Originally Posted by watchout

You don't necessarily need to remove the fridge to "burp" it. With the fridge off, you can take the trailer for a drive. Find the steepest grades available, uphill, downhill, sidehill, whatever. After bringing it back and level, let it sit for a hour before firing up. My Norcold used to stop working like this and a 15 minute drive always worked. In my case, the absorption unit was EXTREMELY sensitive to level, it had to be within 1 degree front to back, instead of the Norcold spec of 3 degrees. So, if slightly out of level, it would stop cooling after a few hours of normal operation. It would also stop cooling if I hit a long steep grade for say 15 minutes. Worth a try.

This is a new one for me. I will store this in my bag of tricks. Thanks.

[skids]

No one mentioned the Dinosaur control board replacement?

[Kevin Cooper]

Originally Posted by skids

No one mentioned the Dinosaur control board replacement?

Since he said the gas lit and ran for hours, do you still think PCB?

[Kevin Cooper]

Originally Posted by ux4it

Trailer is level front to back and side to side.
I forgot to mention the trailer is a 2019, so it's only 5 years old.

If you want to know the cause, watch this video. Three possible causes.
https://youtu.be/BUTXhB58Wo4?si=U0nzNUPXnRKEvmiW

[Ann-Marie]

As a kid in Australia our refrigerator ran on kerosene.
Once a year, or if it it was not cooling properly, we would empty it out and turn it upside down for 24 hours.
If the internal liquids get in the wrong places they are designed to sort themselves out this way.
Can't hurt if nothing else works

[FISTEP]

Originally Posted by Ann-Marie

As a kid in Australia our refrigerator ran on kerosene.
Once a year, or if it it was not cooling properly, we would empty it out and turn it upside down for 24 hours.
If the internal liquids get in the wrong places they are designed to sort themselves out this way.
Can't hurt if nothing else works

So, pop the trailer upside down? 😁

[Rsulliv1258]

I have had my rig 5 years and have same problem apparently it can be reprogrammed but it goes into a defrost mode. Last year while on the road turned the unit off fii ok r a minute and turned it back on after 4-5 days it worked fine. Before doing that I did change the thermostat put fans in the vent which did not help. Saw this fix and now every day I power off and back on and no longer have any issues. Would not be a bad idea to contact nor old see if they have a more perminant fix

[Johnynorthland]

I had similar issue 2 years ago, I tried all the above. But mine would cool on & off. I got tired of throwing money at it and throwing food out. Went to a 12V GE, fit perfectly, much more room inside it too that the absorption fridge. We just got back from a trip in Florida, 2 containers of ice cream frozen solid! I hug that fridge every time I use it!