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Old 10-18-2017, 03:33 PM   #1
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Exclamation Dead Norcold 1200 Rim Has Come To Life

I have the subject fridge that was pronounced dead by a Service Tech, but after standing the fridge on it's top for about a month, and flipping it back upright, now it is working. I had heard that sometimes a fridge might still be usable if the boiler is not solitified or crystalized rather. However, in my case I needed to get my RV ready for another trip so I just replaced the Norcold with a household type. Now I have a fridge that may have some life left in it. The coils look OK, and the heating element is working. That is what I used to retest the unit recently. The temp in the fridge went to 35 degrees in less than 12 hours and held for a couple of days while powered up. Of course that was in an enclosed bldg. where the temp was around 70 or less. The fridge is an 02, but appears to be in fair to good condition in appearance. I have always kept the unit powered up when not in use.
Is this something that someone might take a gamble on purchasing to replace their unit that truly has died?
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Old 10-18-2017, 04:14 PM   #2
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What was the fridge doing when it was pronounced dead?
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Old 10-18-2017, 04:44 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutt View Post
I have the subject fridge that was pronounced dead by a Service Tech, but after standing the fridge on it's top for about a month, and flipping it back upright, now it is working. I had heard that sometimes a fridge might still be usable if the boiler is not solitified or crystalized rather. However, in my case I needed to get my RV ready for another trip so I just replaced the Norcold with a household type. Now I have a fridge that may have some life left in it. The coils look OK, and the heating element is working. That is what I used to retest the unit recently. The temp in the fridge went to 35 degrees in less than 12 hours and held for a couple of days while powered up. Of course that was in an enclosed bldg. where the temp was around 70 or less. The fridge is an 02, but appears to be in fair to good condition in appearance. I have always kept the unit powered up when not in use.
Is this something that someone might take a gamble on purchasing to replace their unit that truly has died?

Service Tech declared it dead I would assume due to lack of cooling from blockage/obstruction.

All you have done is dislodge enough of the blockage to allow just enough coolant flow to allow cooling........FOR NOW

Sodium Chromate (anti-rust inhibitor) crystallizes when overheated and then plates out on the inside of cooling unit tubing.
This is accumulative and PERMANENT .
The crystals do not dissolve and get re-absorbed back into the coolant solution.......they WILL reattach and cause further issues

Would someone purchase it.....MAYBE but ONLY if FULL DISCLOSURE was made on PRIOR issues

Should it be sold.........to scrapyard
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Old 10-18-2017, 08:30 PM   #4
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Lightbulb

The unit had been cooling good. But, due to conditions beyond my control, I had to park on a steep slope for some time. Next day is when I noticed the fridge was not cooling. Called a Tech and after some checking he said it appeared/based on his findings that circulation had been blocked and possibly due to off level conditions. It continued to work off and on for a few days before I decided to replace it. Once the unit was out of the coach is when I turned it upside down as discussed above. Based on what I see now, I should have put the unit on it's top for a few days inside the coach at that time. I was in a position to do that. Hind sight is Great.
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Old 10-18-2017, 08:42 PM   #5
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I replaced my perfectly good 1200 series with a samsung just to avoid the problem that I see with a lot of coaches sitting in the salvage yards. Coaches that are in good shape except for the fact that there is a large hole burnt through where the norcold was located. It may have lasted for years but it only takes a few minutes to be very devastating in the case of a fire. We like the samsung so much better also.
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Old 10-18-2017, 08:53 PM   #6
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What was the fridge doing when it was pronounced dead?
Nothing?

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Old 10-18-2017, 09:03 PM   #7
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Dave, I had the Norcold Recall switch put on it to hopefully avoid the fire potential.
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Old 10-18-2017, 10:12 PM   #8
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You can buy a new 2 door Norcold for about a grand and a 4 door with ice maker for $3k. I paid $2500 for my Samsung home fridge. I guess if it's cheap enough someone might want to take a chance.
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Old 10-19-2017, 03:06 AM   #9
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Dave, I had the Norcold Recall switch put on it to hopefully avoid the fire potential.
Unfortunately, the Norcold Recall Switch gives a false sense of safety. The switch is designed to activate above 800 degrees F. It takes FIRE to reach those temperatures (in a natural chimney for ventilation). The Recall Switch will shut off power to the circuit board. The fire will be fully involved behind the refrigerator before any alarms go off inside.

Shame on Norcold for offering such an inferior recall safety device.
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Old 10-19-2017, 08:49 AM   #10
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I'm suspecting that if there's still RVers who are interested in keeping their NORCOLD 1200, they will research the FACTS on the NORCOLD safety device and also the other one, which is the ARPrv control. IMO what you can learn from the ARP website will impress you.
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Old 10-19-2017, 11:42 AM   #11
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I suppose those/the tubes on the back of the fridge get rather hot to the touch. I could feel the heat coming from the boiler etc. when I had the fridge connected for testing once I had flipped it back upright. In the past I hadn't noticed any heat buildup when checking the condensation drip cup. But, then I was actually lower than the fridge when standing outside the fridge vent opening.
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Old 10-20-2017, 10:51 AM   #12
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In addition, I was thinking that if someone had a need to replace a "spent" unit, this might be an idea for replacement, or if someone had a need for inexpensive replacement parts, this might be an idea also. If you only spent say a couple of hundred dollars for a usable/parts unit, I would think that would be a fair investment.

When I made this post I was interested in seeing if there might be someone who was in need of parts/replacement that could at least test their unit that might have problems w/o spending a fortune in new parts just to try and guess, or try and find a "Cheap Fix," for a non-operable fridge. Have a good day all. David.
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Old 10-20-2017, 09:25 PM   #13
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If your wanting to sell your Norcold, put it on EBay or Craigslist. A lot of folks who like living off the grid or have hunting shacks might be interested.



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Old 10-21-2017, 04:59 PM   #14
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In addition, I was thinking that if someone had a need to replace a "spent" unit, this might be an idea for replacement, or if someone had a need for inexpensive replacement parts, this might be an idea also. If you only spent say a couple of hundred dollars for a usable/parts unit, I would think that would be a fair investment.
I, personally, wouldn't buy an original Norcold cooling unit, even with the recall done. However, one issue with these is that the seals are not available separately, and if your seals are shot you have to buy a whole new door, and they're expensive.

So if your doors and seals are in good shape, there might be somebody out there willing to pay for them.
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