Another NOcold issue

[SteveLevin]

My 1200 is also brutally slow to cool the fridge. And it's only marginal in cooling in the heat of summer; at 80F or cooler it does okay on it's own, but I like my fridge fairly cool (closer to 32 than 40).

This summer I got a 5" "desktop" fan that takes 2 D cells (and moves a LOT of air), and started taking 500ml water bottles and freezing them in the freezer, then putting the 5" fan face down on the top rack of the fridge (above the deep area where we keep our gallon milk containers).

With the water bottles being blown over by the fan, even in 100+ degree heat (and the sun right on the side where the fridge is), keeping temps close to 32 wasn't an issue. And for a couple of dollars a day in D cell batteries, until we are ready to full-time, it's a darn cheap fix for us.

By taking about a dozen bottles and stacking them in the fridge with the fan blowing, we got the initial temps down to "safe for food" in about 4 hours or so.

It's a hack, but for now I'd rather push out the replacement, because we just aren't getting enough days of use, and who knows... when we retire we might end up with another coach anyway.

Steve

[chief02]

Once it does cool down, dont fill it with warm food or drinks or unfrozzen food in the freezer. That will absorb all the cold and will be hard to recover. Alway try to do the initial stocking with cold and frozen goods. Also check the thermister that is clipped to the internal cooling fins. It should be clipped on the 4th-5th fin from the right and the top third. Try sliding it up and inch. Look for thermister YouTube videos. Good luck.

[Lt Dan]

Originally Posted by ardbark

we're now 5 days into it. We've been in No. Cal for the last 3 days, much cooler here and its been limping along (set on 9). Lost the cottage cheese a couple of days ago and the milk is going bad quicker than normal. But just this morning DW turned it down to 8, said the (new) milk was getting frosty. Freezer still frozen solid.

I've checked the coil clearance and seems to be fine. Not sure how to check the vent other than the small bit I can see from the roof, but I'll have a peak this morning since we're heading to Morro Bay later today and I need to go up and get the Tailgater Sat dish anyhow.

Thanks for all the tips, I'll update as we go along.

Check to make sure you have good airflow in the back of the fridge. I don't know what size unit you have, but it should have one or two fans on the back to push air up the flue. You should be able to hear them running and feel some air being pushed up through the vent. Adding a small fan at the bottom to help push air in can help.

There have been a lot of posts about fans at the top to pull air out. Unless you completely fill the vent like Joe has done with his, you can create backflow.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/fridg...-218996-2.html
I had two fans in the top of mine and found the air was being pushed up into the roof cap and the majority was deflected back down.

Adding three small fans at the bottom blowing upwards did more good than the upper vent fans on my rig. The dohickey hanging down behind the intake vent is a temperature switch that senses the outside air and turns the lower fans on above 85 degrees.

It sounds like your cooling unit is working, but keeping the fridge doors closed, well sealed, some type of air circulation inside, and not packed to the gills is key. My DW has a habit of filling the fridge too much.

[nportner]

I always put a ten pound bag of ice in the fridge when first starting up. Really helps.

[ardbark]

We're back from the California trip now. The fridge made it through the 16 days set on 9, which should have been freezing the milk but only kept things cold enough not to throw away.
Between this thread and reading other 1200 threads on this site here are my takeways;

- The 1200 series of Norcold are generally a POS
- It will take days for the damn thing to cool down - be patient
- don't overpack the lower compartment else you will inhibit air flow
- even if you don't overpack the lower compartment there is no air flow
- Dry ice is your friend
- Finish the Norcold engineers job by adding circulating fans

All in all it is a friendly fridge. Ours constantly reminded us that the door was open (even though it wasn't). If it would have spent half as much time keeping my beer cold rather than telling us something was wrong I would have a happy camper.

All kidding aside, it seems that air flow (or the lack there of) is the key- both moving the cold air inside and evacuating the hot air out. Our cooling fins in the food compartment (set on 9) had frost on them so plenty of "cold" was happening, it just didn't get to the rest of the food section. I'm going to try and find some fans and see if that doesn't make it better. Someone mentioned battery operated fans, that's a good workaround, but if I have to live with this POS I'd rather wire in 12v fans and be done with it. Anybody figured out a clever way to snake 12v wires into the main food compartment to run a set of circulating fans?

[chboone]

This place sells condenser and evaporator fans.
Cooling Performance Enhancing Items - RV Cooling Unit Warehouse

Chuck

[DAJO]

Originally Posted by ardbark

We're back from the California trip now. The fridge made it through the 16 days set on 9, which should have been freezing the milk but only kept things cold enough not to throw away.
Between this thread and reading other 1200 threads on this site here are my takeways;

- The 1200 series of Norcold are generally a POS
- It will take days for the damn thing to cool down - be patient
- don't overpack the lower compartment else you will inhibit air flow
- even if you don't overpack the lower compartment there is no air flow
- Dry ice is your friend
- Finish the Norcold engineers job by adding circulating fans

All in all it is a friendly fridge. Ours constantly reminded us that the door was open (even though it wasn't). If it would have spent half as much time keeping my beer cold rather than telling us something was wrong I would have a happy camper.

All kidding aside, it seems that air flow (or the lack there of) is the key- both moving the cold air inside and evacuating the hot air out. Our cooling fins in the food compartment (set on 9) had frost on them so plenty of "cold" was happening, it just didn't get to the rest of the food section. I'm going to try and find some fans and see if that doesn't make it better. Someone mentioned battery operated fans, that's a good workaround, but if I have to live with this POS I'd rather wire in 12v fans and be done with it. Anybody figured out a clever way to snake 12v wires into the main food compartment to run a set of circulating fans?

I use the wire for the interior light for 12v power. Most muffin fans use very little current. I have 3 muffins fans that I use total current is a little over 1 amp.

[rmcb]

Ardbark,
I installed one of the clip-on fans sold by RV Cooling Unit Warehouse in my Norcold 1210. I used a long punch to poke a hole along side the condensate drain hose. I then snaked a piece of safety wire through that I attached the power wires to so I could pull them from the inside to the outside of the fridge, where I hooked them up to the external fan power wire and ground. After that, I shot expanding foam in around the wire to seal it up.
Hope that helps.

[Lt Dan]

Originally Posted by ardbark

All kidding aside, it seems that air flow (or the lack there of) is the key- both moving the cold air inside and evacuating the hot air out. Our cooling fins in the food compartment (set on 9) had frost on them so plenty of "cold" was happening, it just didn't get to the rest of the food section. I'm going to try and find some fans and see if that doesn't make it better. Someone mentioned battery operated fans, that's a good workaround, but if I have to live with this POS I'd rather wire in 12v fans and be done with it. Anybody figured out a clever way to snake 12v wires into the main food compartment to run a set of circulating fans?

I totally agree that air circulation inside the unit may be one of the major issues. I have had two of the little fans that clip on the fins and they helped a lot, but there was still a lot of frost build up between them and outside the area covered by the fans.

I just installed one of the units shown below from SmartRV products. I am impressed with the construction and the way it works. It uses two or three fans to pull air in the bottom and blows air out through holes all the way across the back creating a solid curtain of air flowing down over all of the fins. Whether it's two or three fans depends on the size of the refrigerator, and it comes with or without the LED lights built in. They also include a new drip tray that has a lowered front lip that doesn't block air flow like the higher lipped one does.

One thing to be aware of it requires a small hole be drilled in the back of the fridge near the bottom, no where near the cooling unit. They recommend hooking it to power to run all the time, but I modified it a bit and tied it in to the rear cooling fan circuit so that it shuts off when the door is opened.

I have not had a chance to try it out on a trip yet, but I can't see where there is any possibility it won't help improve the airflow inside. I will provide a detailed assessment after our next trip coming up at the end of October.

Here is their web site:
Fridge-Fix RV Refrigerator Fan - Never defrost your RV refrigerator again

[Seitz372]

Originally Posted by Lt Dan

I totally agree that air circulation inside the unit may be one of the major issues. I have had two of the little fans that clip on the fins and they helped a lot, but there was still a lot of frost build up between them and outside the area covered by the fans.

I just installed one of the units shown below from SmartRV products. I am impressed with the construction and the way it works. It uses two or three fans to pull air in the bottom and blows air out through holes all the way across the back creating a solid curtain of air flowing down over all of the fins. The two or three fans depends on the size of the refrigerator. It comes with our without the LED lights built in.

One thing to be aware of it requires a small hole be drilled in the back of the fridge near the bottom, no where near the cooling unit. They recommend hooking it to power to run all the time, but I modified it a bit and tied it in to the rear cooling fan circuit so that it shuts off when the door is opened.

I have not had a chance to try it out on a trip yet, but I can't see where there is any possibility it won't help improve the airflow inside. I will provide a detailed assessment after our next trip coming up at the end of October.

Here is their web site:
Fridge-Fix RV Refrigerator Fan - Never defrost your RV refrigerator again

I tried one of these fan kits and it was a very well made and easy to install unit. Unfortunately it didn't fix my fridge. My cooling fins just didn't get cold so the fans had no cold air to circulate.

Best buy dropped off the samsung 197 today. My fan kit is listed on Ebay if anyone is interested.

[Lt Dan]

Originally Posted by Seitz372

I tried one of these fan kits and it was a very well made and easy to install unit. Unfortunately it didn't fix my fridge. My cooling fins just didn't get cold so the fans had no cold air to circulate.

Sorry to hear that. It sounds like yours was a cooling unit problem. With the Amish cooling unit, my fridge will get down to 32 with no problem and the fins freeze over. I think it's primarily poor air circulation that keeps it from being more evenly cooled inside.

[ardbark]

Originally Posted by Lt Dan

... I have not had a chance to try it out on a trip yet, but I can't see where there is any possibility it won't help improve the airflow inside. I will provide a detailed assessment after our next trip coming up at the end of October.

Here is their web site:
Fridge-Fix RV Refrigerator Fan - Never defrost your RV refrigerator again

Now that looks like a VERY clever idea. Went to the website and read the installation instructions, it all seems pretty straight forward. $111 is a bit spendy for a couple of fans mounted in a plastic housing but I suppose somebody has to pay for the R&D that went into this product. Also looking forward to your report later this month.

Checked out Seitz's EBAY offer too. If there had been a buy-it-now price it would already be on its way to my fridge Guess I'm just not the bidding type, don't check ebay often enough. Maybe I'll give it a look in a few days.

cheers...

[ardbark]

Originally Posted by Lt Dan

...I just installed one of the units shown below from SmartRV products. I am impressed with the construction and the way it works.

One thing to be aware of it requires a small hole be drilled in the back of the fridge near the bottom, no where near the cooling unit. They recommend hooking it to power to run all the time, but I modified it a bit and tied it in to the rear cooling fan circuit so that it shuts off when the door is opened.

Here is their web site:
Fridge-Fix RV Refrigerator Fan - Never defrost your RV refrigerator again

I like the idea of using the existing fan circuit rather than having it run 24x7. Where did you find the circuit to tie into? Did you drill the little hole in the back like they recommend? From the pic you posted there doesn't seem to be any wires snaking down the back wall.

I just bought Seitz's unit off eBay, it will be here in a few days and I'd like to be ready with a game plan when it arrives

[Lt Dan]

Originally Posted by ardbark

I like the idea of using the existing fan circuit rather than having it run 24x7. Where did you find the circuit to tie into? Did you drill the little hole in the back like they recommend? From the pic you posted there doesn't seem to be any wires snaking down the back wall.

I just bought Seitz's unit off eBay, it will be here in a few days and I'd like to be ready with a game plan when it arrives

The circuit I used is the fan output on the back of the control board. You can identify it by looking for a white and black wire with smaller wires attached to each one. (See Photo) The small wires are the flapper heater wires. All you have to do is use a piggyback spade adapter and plug into the white wire contact, then plug the regular fan wire back into the piggyback spade. Your fan wires may be in a slightly different spot if yours is a different model or year.

Yes, I did drill the hole exactly where they show in the installation instructions, in the open area above the drip tray. The hole comes out inside the unit a few inches from the left interior wall behind the lower crisper bin. The wire just runs down the inside left side. If you want to camouflage the wire a bit better, you can change their red wire out for a white one. I've suggested that to the company and they say they are going to change to a white supply wire soon.

It's really very easy, since you are getting it used, you'll just need some heavy duty Velcro to attach it to the ceiling of the refrigerator. I had to move my light forward an inch like they show in the instructions, but that also is no big deal.

Is he including the modified drip tray with it? The one that comes with the unit has a lowered front lip for better air circulation.

Let me know if I can help.