Norcold Not Cold....Dag-Nab-It...

[LeeB]

My Norcold is a 1200LRM that has had both recalls done

We are on Vacation and plan on staying on Vacation for at least another 6 weeks. When we get home I will be replacing the unit with either residential unit or Amish Cooling unit. I will say I am leaning towards the Amish for a number of reason I don't really want to go into now...

But I need advice and tips to get us through the next 6 weeks. My Fridge is on 9 and only maintains 40* it had been running for 2 weeks now mostly on Electric. I moved the little "Tab" all the way up on the fins. The outside fans seem to run when they are suppose to. The fins on the inside does have a little frost but not much..

Right now we are at Dead Horse State Park in Arizona.

Thanks Lee

[LVJ58]

Is the 40* in your food compartment? I have a refrigerator type thermometer in our 1200 and it shows normal range for the food compartment to be in the 34*-40* range.

I replaced the thermistor sensor on ours last year, and the instructions stated to connect the sensor to the 20th fin from your right facing the cooling fins which I did, and so far it works OK, however the refrigerator seems to cycle periodically where the temps rise a bit but then return back to normal.

Too much frost on the cooling fins can reduce their cooling capacity.

Hopefully you can keep it working until you get to the final fix.

Best of luck

[LeeB]

Originally Posted by LVJ58

Is the 40* in your food compartment? I have a refrigerator type thermometer in our 1200 and it shows normal range for the food compartment to be in the 34*-40* range.

I replaced the thermistor sensor on ours last year, and the instructions stated to connect the sensor to the 20th fin from your right facing the cooling fins which I did, and so far it works OK, however the refrigerator seems to cycle periodically where the temps rise a bit but then return back to normal.

Too much frost on the cooling fins can reduce their cooling capacity.

Hopefully you can keep it working until you get to the final fix.

Best of luck

Yes 40* is in the food compartment however this morning it is 38 after being shut all night so that's some what of a improvment. Hmmmm my sensor is on the second fin from the right? It is attached to the ceiling of the Fridge by a bracket and I don't think there is enough wire to move it to the 20th with out taking the wire out of the bracket....

I have done searches on here looking for a "How To" on the Amish install and it does not look that hard my question is with the Amish Cooling Unit does it come shipped with the Ammonia/Freon already in it?

Thanks Lee

[MD556]

Hi Lee...
From what I understand the Amish Cooling Unit replacement is not that involved if you're handy with basic tools and follow the instructions. You will have to remove your refer to the inside of your coach. The problem may be that it is fairly heavy and awkward - maybe a 2 person job to get the refer out & back in place. I would suggest you talk to David Force @ Contact Us . We are going to have our unit replaced this summer, and since we're headed up thru Indiana anyway, I've already made arrangements with him to have it done at the factory. David is very knowledgeable and may be able to give you some tips to nurse your unit along until you're at a place & time that you can replace it. If you install the units yourself, they do come completely charged - a drop 'n swap operation.
Good luck...
Mike

[jimmyjnr]

I installed 2 small computer fans ( eBay $6) in rear of fridge one below each cooling coil , the difference is staggering .

["007"]

The Amish unit is ready to go once you have installed the wiring and control from the old unit.
Your existing temperature sensor on the 2nd fin to the right and approximately 1 1/2" down form top of fin should be OK as its been on mine for 10 years.
What you may want to check is the vent area behind fridge and see if you do not have a blockage at the top of vent area by insulation that has shifted off top of fridge or a baffle that might have let loose and falling across the vent area to direct the heat out of the vent chute through roof vent or sidewall vent if on a slide.
The fridge will cool down at night because of lower night time temps.
You say the fans are working if the day temps are not that high you will hear them cycle off and on as they should with normal operation.
If day temps are high they may run continuously to keep the heat out of the vent area which is normal but you could help further by placing another 12 volt fan to aid them further to get heat out of vent area.
The cooler the rear of the fridge gets will aid cooling in box portion of your fridge.
The freezer will always be cold its the box portion of fridge that has the most problems with cooling.
There is no need for the recall fix's from Norcold with Amish unit.

[MSHappyCampers]

My new Amish 1200 cooling unit is in shipment to us right now. Even with the recalls, I was concerned about getting into the exact situation you are in right now! I decided to go ahead and get the new heating elements and fans at the same time. I didn't need to spend the $1200 but figured it would be worth it in the long run for peace of mind in knowing I won't wake up (or not) some morning as a "crispy critter"!

[jlfbatonrg]

My understanding from a Norcold technician is never run the unit on temp setting 9. It causes the unit to try to run constantly and for some reason doesn't cool as well. We run our 1200 on temp setting 7 and our refrigerator temp is about 36 degrees. Our freezer section keeps ice cream frozen hard. Now, I am a fanatic about leveling the refrigerator . We always level with the level bubble in the freezer in the dead center. Hope this helps some.;

Jim

[Dutch Star Don]

LeeB.....I don't know why they put a 1-9 setting on these things. Anything above "5" is useless. Try turning it down to "4-5" and then everyday when you get up, turn the refer off for a few seconds and then turn it back on. Allegedly, the unit defrosts on a timer every 48 hours and warms up. By turning it off every morning, you skip the defrost cycle.

I think if you follow the above, it will get you a little colder through the rest of the trip. If you could get a thermistor either overnited to you or pick one up at a local shop, it may also help. Ours did what yours is doing while in Yellowstone a few years ago. The thermistor was part of the issue. They're about $23.00.

Several months ago, I was bored and was about to leave on a three week summer trip and wasn't ready to throw in a new refer. I decided to remove the small exterior fan I had and added two new four inch fans. I now turn them on, no matter what the weather, the moment we leave on a trip and don't turn them off until we get home. I swore the next time the refer even farted it was going to get replaced......I guess it knows.....it's been working well since, even keeping ice cream firm.

[Land Barge]

Here's something that happened to us like on the second trip out and thought we had the dreaded no cold. First night out and was something over 100*F outside, when we got to first stop freezer was cold but fins only wet and fridge luke warm on gas or shore power. We were on day one of a 7 day trip and had full provisions, so we began to worry.

Long story short, we had stock piled bags of cubed ice in both sides of the freezer floor when we provisioned up.

Took all the ice out and fridge began to cool normally. I normally bring a good bit of ice for my cool shirt when out of track, so now we place plastic ice cube trays upside down on the floor of the freezer so that ice is not in direct contact with the floor. Cookie trays or similar may work as well just something to get the hard frozen's off the floor.

I think the ice (cold) was confusing something and thinking it's cold enough no need for more. Subsequent trips we have not had any problems.

I'd be interested to know if you have hard frozens in contact with the floor and if it helps removing/raising them.

[LeeB]

Originally Posted by Diplomat Don

LeeB.....I don't know why they put a 1-9 setting on these things. Anything above "5" is useless. Try turning it down to "4-5" and then everyday when you get up, turn the refer off for a few seconds and then turn it back on. Allegedly, the unit defrosts on a timer every 48 hours and warms up. By turning it off every morning, you skip the defrost cycle. Don we are at Dead Horse State Park in Cottonwood Az. and the temps here are 20* from where we were in So. Arizona. Whats bad is my Fridge is in the afternoon sun. (To windy to put our awning.) It is 5:00 I turned setting down to 5 and turned it off and on. I will turn it off and on again in the morning. My question is now if I stop the defrost cycle won't the frost build up on the fins?

I think if you follow the above, it will get you a little colder through the rest of the trip. If you could get a thermistor either overnited to you or pick one up at a local shop, it may also help. Ours did what yours is doing while in Yellowstone a few years ago. The thermistor was part of the issue. They're about $23.00. When you say thermistor are you talking about the one one the fins INSIDE of the Fridge? I may be able to find one here in Cottonwood or somewhere close..

Several months ago, I was bored and was about to leave on a three week summer trip and wasn't ready to throw in a new refer. I decided to remove the small exterior fan I had and added two new four inch fans. I now turn them on, no matter what the weather, the moment we leave on a trip and don't turn them off until we get home. I swore the next time the refer even farted it was going to get replaced......I guess it knows.....it's been working well since, even keeping ice cream firm.

Thanks for your input Lee

[Stretch]

You guys reading all these recommendations of how to make you 1200 work better? A tip from one of the guys that made the change to residential. Get rid of that boat anchor. I have no idea why they don't work worth a damn, It is not that hard to replace it with one that works for 1/2 the price of a gas reefer.
We are on the 7 week being out in Arizona and Palm Desert. We don't even give the reefer a thought any more. And having Ice and water come out the door is a real plus too. what ever your reticence to change, put it behind you. You will NEVER regret it. If you have a bank of batteries and a pure sine wave inverter, you will be fine.......

[cannon man]

they won't work on a modified sine wave inverter???????????

[Drifter]

Our Samsung 197 has been plugged into our modified sine wave inverter circuit since last November. It has been the best upgrade that we have ever done, hands down the best.