Norcold Gone Bad?

[Retired and Happy]

Yesterday I went to do some general inside cleaning in my motorhome and smelled a bad odor. Turns out the reefer had quit and the meat in the freezer had gone horribly bad. I'm out there nearly every day so what ever happened, happened quickly. After cleaning out the mess, I began to check what was wrong.

The AC light was still on, indicating I had power to the unit. The insulated stack outside was hot indicating the heater was working? I switched to LP and left it for a while. Nothing. No cooling. I had noticed along the bottom of the outside compartment some yellow deposit which I took to be pine pollen. 'Tis the season around here. This morning I read that could be sodium chromate (yellowish-greenish), indicating a bad unit. I have not smelled ammonia.

If sodium chromate leaked, would it spread across the floor of the outside compartment? Or would it concentrate in the area of a leak?

What other testing can I do? I'm fairly well fluent in troubleshooting if I have a "go-by". I'd rather not hear the unit is bad. I just replaced a roof AC on my last trip.

[Jim Stewart]

It sounds like your problem is as use surmised, you will probably need a new cooling unit. It may be cheaper in the long run to find one on sale, for an installed price.

[Retired and Happy]

From my investigation I have been told several times I need a new cooling unit. I have found several companies and some companies with several different names that claim to sell remanufactured cooling units for the Norcold 6182. Does anyone have a preference or a company to avoid? The prices all seem to be in the $480-495 range, although some say the price includes a core charge which is refunded when the core is returned.

[Gary - K7GLD]

Some folks here speak highly of the units reconditioned by the Amish - might be worth a check...

[Retired and Happy]

I found one here RV Cooling Unit Warehouse.

This one claims to be Amish built with a better cooling gas and redesigned coil, and offers a rebate for the core witha 3 year warranty (others are 2 yr).

[Retired and Happy]

The reefer removal instructions from two companies (although both apparently copied from Norcold) say to remove screws along the face of the refrigerator and remove the doors. From the outside remove any bolts holding the unit to the frame of the MH. Mine had four bolts through metal side plates. After the bolts were removed, I found the plates were stuck together, but a little prying with a long flat blade screwdriver popped them "loose". Loose is a relative term because they are a tight fit. All Done.

I found some globs of silicon in the outside area, but did not loosen that because it does not look like it will interfere with removal. I also separated the LP line, unplugged the 120 v plug and removed the DC wiring.

Next it says there may be a bead of silicon along the bottom edge of the refrigerator inside the RV that needs to be cut with a razor knife. It looks like I would have to remove the facing to get to such an area. Will that cause any later problems? Has anyone done a removal and found a silicon bead? If so, how did you get to it to cut it?

With everything I have removed so far, the top moves about an 1/8 inch, but the bottom stays put. Are these IRV2 questions or do I need to contact Itasca?

[RV Wizard]

Ken, you should be able to pull off the bottom trim (probably black) after removing the two screws. this will expose the shelf on which the refrigerator stands. The silicone will be along the bottom edge. It is going to take some real good pressure to get the refrigerator out. A couple of people; one pushing and one wiggling and pulling the best they can.

[Retired and Happy]

Thanks Mike, I will try that today. I was also informed by one of the companies selling the Amish re-manufactured cooling units that Winnebago also puts a strap near the top of the fridge that requires removal of the roof vent to access. That's also on today's agenda.

[Retired and Happy]

Progress report: I removed the bottom trim strip and top strap (through the roof vent). I then found the silicon strip was hidden behind the wood cabinet facing which I had to cut to get at the silicon. This cut will be hidden behind the trim strip when I reassemble the unit. Using a piece of heavy coat hanger through holes in the skid strips and a piece of rope I was able to get leverage to pull the fridge out It is now lying in the floor of the MH awaiting time to remove the old cooling unit. It looks like the best deal I've found on the replacement is the Amish unit from RV Cooling Unit Warehouse that I found through ebay. Hopefully some removal time will come this weekend between other projects.

[RV Wizard]

Sounds like you are on your way. Be sure the new cooling unit has the baffle down in the flue; if not exchange it from the old one. If you have any questions, let us know.