I've lost DC to refrigerator

[wbezemek]

I'm pretty sure this is a wiring issue unique to a 2006 Itasca Class A. My Norcold 1201 refer lost DC voltage after a Power outage at an RV park. I've checked the circuit breaker on the DC panel, even pulled the panel and metered the back to insure it was working. The DC wires that come into the control panel at the back of the refer do not have voltage. Other 12V DC in the RV works. Is there a hidden cutoff switch that is controlled by the CO2 detector at the bottom of the refer? It has it's green light ok. I've checked the in-line fuse for the sensor wire that runs from the battery to the invertor. no 12V to blue wire on left of this group of 4 wires

[Ranger Smith]

There is a fuse on the control board that might have blown.

[Indy Itasca]

Maybe the dc power board? Here is a link that might help:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/word-...ment-2757.html

Good Luck

[wbezemek]

Yes, I've checked both those fuses, too. Even though I don't see 12V coming into the board. I'm loosing it somewhere between that point and the back side of the 12V DC circuit breaker. I've been referring to all the Norcold documentation about the power control board, etc.. This doesn't show on the circuit diagrams provided in their trouble shooting manual.

[wbezemek]

Is this the recall board? I've found a couple references about resetting this with a magnet. I thought it was part of the ice maker stuff.

[wbezemek]

Yes indeed! This is the "recall board". The red light will be on when it has cut the DC power. The blue wire coming out of this is the blue I was checking at the power control board. With power on, the red light was on (meaning needs to be reset). I slid a strong magnet across the board just underneath the red light until there was a click and the light went out. The following link is for reference for others: Norcold 1200 Series Recall | NHTSA 10E-049 | Norcold Fix | Norcold Control.

[SCVJeff]

So does that mean it's fixed?

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by wbezemek

Yes indeed! This is the "recall board". The red light will be on when it has cut the DC power. The blue wire coming out of this is the blue I was checking at the power control board. With power on, the red light was on (meaning needs to be reset). I slid a strong magnet across the board just underneath the red light until there was a click and the light went out. The following link is for reference for others: Norcold 1200 Series Recall | NHTSA 10E-049 | Norcold Fix | Norcold Control.

A magnet does indeed reset the recall safety module. It does not rectify the cause of the module cutoff, which should be a concern.
FWIW, the Norcold frig coolant leaks have always happened while running on the 2 electric heaters, there are no recorded instances while on LP.

[wbezemek]

Yes, the problem is fixed. Power to the RV was cutoff by the utility service feeding the RV park. House batterys were too low to allow the refer to switch to LP mode. I turned the generator on while I fiddled with the batterys. Being unable to get them to hold a charge I replaced them. Somewhere in the process of trying to flip back and forth and not having battery power available the recall module flipped. I'm not sure when, as when I tried to look at the refer after fully charged house batteries were available, I had no lights on the front panel. There was a test switch over turning the generator off, going to the house batteries when I did hear a chatter from the refrig.

Life went down hill after that. As far as I know there is nothing wrong with the refer or the recall board. Of course, when we are using the RV again, I'll be keeping an eye on it.

[LEHAFER]

Mine has tripped out three times in the past four years. The first time it tripped was during a terrific rain storm and water got into the enclosure, the second time was due to me shutting off the batteries and the 12v dc was very low, the third time was while pressure washing the coach. The box reset with a magnet each time. As long as you know why the box tripped I feel you can safely reset it.
If it trips for no apparent reason I would recommend a technician. Just my humble opnion

[bobmac]

Mine tripped when I turned off the house batteries to work on them and the fridge was running at the time. The loss of the cooling fans when I shut off the house batteries allowed the chimney to overheat tripping the safety mechanism in the recall box. Sounds like yours did the same thing when the power went off and the batteries did not supply sufficient DC power. Evidently later models of the recall box were redesigned so that the box wouldn't trip when the power was lost. Gotta remember the same design guys likely designed the fridge in the first place so beware!