Norcold - Freezer works but fridge doesn't - HELP!

[hddeuce1]

I have a Norcold fridge in my motorhome. The freezer will freeze but the bottom refrigerator will not even get cool. The fins at the top of the fridge are not cold. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[ga traveler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hddeuce1 I have a Norcold fridge in my motorhome. The freezer will freeze but the bottom refrigerator will not even get cool. The fins at the top of the fridge are not cold. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The expansion valve in the ref. bottom is much smaller then the freezer. It always stops up first. You are going to have to replace the cooling coil.

[texnet]

Before you go the route of replacing the cooling coil....

What is the outside temp? If it is above 100 or even close then it may not be getting enough air circulated to get it cooled down.

Do you hear the outside fans running (just above the outside grill)? If they are not running then it usually won't get cold.

Have you tested the thermistor on the cooling fins?

I had replaced the cooling unit with a amish unit on my 1200 a few months ago and it worked great... up until the temps in Texas got above 100. The freezer was freezing, but the frig was not getting cold. I put 4 cooling fans on the top outlet and now it cools like a champ.

[Sammie]

texnet is right on the money. If the outside temperature is 100 degrees plus and you don't have any fans to help in venting the cooling coils and condensor fins you can't expect to see very cold temperatures in the fridge. Also if your refrigerator is in a slideout the top vent is located on the side of your rig as opposed to the top of the motorhome. This side venting can be a problem because the hot air doesn't vent as easy (more fans can help). Here is a video I made that shows the fans I added when I did a conversion to an Amish Built cooling unit.

Sammie

Norcold 1200 to Amish Cooling Unit Conversion.mpg - YouTube

["007"]

Welcome hddeuce1 to irv2.
This thread will explain it all couple of fans may help.
Enjoy the forums.

[Fix it Dave]

Our Notcold 1211M has been exhibiting the same symptoms described by several here in this thread.
Last year when we were out west it almost but not quite stopped cooling. Fins at about 35 degrees. Then after several days it started cooling again. Now we are in Ohio with outside air in high 70 degree range it is doing the same thing. Gas or electric the same performance. Right now the fin temperature is 27 degrees at the right end and about 36 degrees at the left end of the cooling fins. Bottom of the refrigerator is about 46 degrees after being closed up overnight. The refrigerator has some good built in diagnostics built into the electronics. They show the fin tempature and that the power to the heaters is on all the time.
I am thinkng about the Amish cooling unit.
Is this compleetly different cooling unit?
Does it come with new or different gas and electric heating units?

[SUMDALUS]

hddeuce1,

Recommend you read the 8 part blog titled "Understanding Your RV Refrigerator." The first part is HERE. You will be most interested
in Parts II and III.

Hope this helps.

[Fix it Dave]

I took your suggestion and read "Understanding Your RV Refrigerator." . It is one of the best explanations of the absorption refrigerator I have read.