Norcold Controller Board-Lil help pls

[BikerGirl]

So, after hours and hours of reading to educate myself on this problem, I decided to dig in to troubleshoot.

main problem is the NoCo. I am trying to do the board reset; I have the older board, so I am using (I believe) PIN 11, as 15 has a wire in it; (read somewhere that the older board is PIN 11, not 15).

using a small thin wire, pushed a 1/2" stripped end into PIN 11, then touched the other stripped end to the blade next to where the neg wire was re-attached to. (one of the GND...)

I get nothing. no click , no reset. am I doing the procedure right?

thanks,cheryl

[jdecastro]

My 2000 model has a wire on pin #15 but it is the reset pin. Have done it.

[BikerGirl]

got a tech (Dino) on the phone yesterday. apparently what I thought was Pin 11 is actually Pin 15. he suggested that the board is shot. so, we will have to think of our options here.

does anyone know how to tell if the cooling unit is too old or how to tell if there are any leaks? is there a pressure test or something?

thanks

[Rex]

BikerGirl, if the cooling unit has a leak you should see some yellow power on it and that may be near the burner. That or the smell of ammonia is the sign the unit is toast.

With a bad board you are looking at $200 + for a new board. I had to replace my board last year on my 2001 vintage fridge. They no longer make a board that will work with the eyebrow on the door so had to replace both to get the fridge operational.

It may be time to think about replacing the fridge with a residential type. If you do, make sure you get an energy star rated unit. Also going less fancy (no digital features) should give you no problem with this type working with your modified sine wave inverter if that is what you have. Some of the fancier fridges will still work with that type inverter also.

[SKP Kirk]

If you do not already have a copy, you can get the instructions for that proceedure from Bryant RV.

Does the (Dino) mean that the tech was with the Dinosaur Electronic supplier of after-market replacement circuit boards? And why do you now believe that the circuit board is bad? Did you remove power from the circuit board before doing the reset that was wrong? Has any part of the symptom changed? Remember that if you get help from someone who wishes to sell parts you may want a second opinion before you buy the parts.

[Radarman]

I have the Norcold model 1200LRIM, and have had to do the Control/Power Board reset once. As SKP Kirk says, the step-by-step procedure is available as per the service manual at the link he provided. For the 1200 model series, it is on page 18 of the service manual. I believe I had to do it twice before I heard the "Click". You should be able to hear it. These original Norcold boards can handle years of use, and I suspect it is probably OK. I don't recommend the Dinosaur replacement board even thou it has an on-board "NO-CO" reset switch. Tried that=lasted 1 day and quit completely. Also terrible customer support from the company.
Also highly recommend you replace your Thermistor that is clip-mounted on the inside fin assembly if your frig.'s temperature range is starting to swing too hot or too cold from what it was before. I carry a spare now. Thermistor is cheap, easy to replace, and available on E-Bay. To troubleshoot it, the Ohmmeter procedure with glass of ice works very well. Ohm readings should be very close to the chart provided. Hope you get it going.

[BikerGirl]

thinking the board is bad because it would not reset after I jumped to short Pin 15. I only had a wire that was 14 guage (not really sure it went all the way in), and still have to go get a small 22 gauge wire before finalizing that the board is toast. the tech was from dinosaur electronics and a tech, not a sales person; he said he could do further diagnostic of the board if I wanted to send it to him.

don't have any amonia smell or yellow powder residue. I am thinking of doing the change out of the board and the amish cooling unit. there has been a lot of good feedback of the two on this board. I've watched a few utube videos of the process and believe I can get though it. we will see...