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Old 08-13-2014, 05:40 PM   #1
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Oh God, The NORCOLD cancer got me....

Last night, my Norcold (2001) vintage went out and showed me a NO AC fault code. I then switched to propane, and 2 hours later got a NO CO (ld) fault light indicating it was not cooling correctly. This morning, I discovered that fuse F3 on the control board was blown, replaced it, reset the control board and it worked on AC correctly about 2 hours and then threw a No-COLD fault code again. I will mention that I am at 9,000 foot elevation where I am parked, and wonder if that is an issue.

Here are my questions.

1. If I decided to install a Samsung or comparable residential refer/freezer, what has anyone paid an installer to do the install? I am one month into a 3 month tour of Colorado and am not going to tackle that change myself on the road. Does anyone know how much I could expect to pay someone to remove my NorCold 1200 LRIM and replace it with something like a Samsung Rf197??

2. Since I am in Durango, CO at the present, does anyone know someone or some company that you would recommend within maybe New Mexico (Albuquerque) or Colorado (Grand Junction - Denver - Colorado Springs - Texas. If you know someone who does this change, either private mail me or give me some ideas of who you might recommend that is not half way across the country.

3. I can get a new Norcold 1210 LRIM installed for ~ $2,600 and I will have a new 2014 NorCold. I am trying to get a handle on what a change to a residential is likely going to cost in comparison to that figure. I know what a Samsung is going to cost me....the install cost is the unknown.

Any other suggestions or comments appreciated.

Gary
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Old 08-13-2014, 05:55 PM   #2
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Gary, are you sure it is not just a control board? If no ammonia is leaking possibly a Dinosaur Electronics Home. High quality circuit boards for RV appliances. would solve the problem until you get home to do a refer swap.
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Old 08-13-2014, 05:56 PM   #3
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Well unless the cooling unit has failed (And you'd know if that happened) at most you need a new control board. Why spend a comma (as in 1,xxx.cc) when you can spend a C-note or two and fix it?
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Old 08-13-2014, 09:00 PM   #4
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Now is the time. Switch to a residential, with water and ice dispenser in the door.......maybe $1500 brand new. Including installation won't cost much more than replacing the propane monster. If the old one won't go out the door the will take the drivers window out. No problems
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Old 08-14-2014, 07:22 AM   #5
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The control boards now come in sets. You can get it cheaper from Northwest RV in Eugene Oregon. We saved over $100 getting it from them in person so even with overnight shipping and no tax you'll save a bundle. As a side note ours did not like running correctly on propane when we were in the Tetins and Yellowstone
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Old 08-14-2014, 08:08 AM   #6
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Thanks to all who have replied so far. I am a bit surprised because my assumption is that this is just not a controller board problem, but involves a new cooling unit. I have gotten into the controller board as the first problem we noticed...... the "no AC" error code, was produced by blowing fuse F3 on the control board. That was fixed and has not reblown. I also did a manual reset of the control board by shorting pin 15 to ground and that was successful. Now the control board seems to be working nominally (at least the electronic readout part of it). Also, I can feel the AC heater elements inside the foil over the boiler area are doing their job of heating the boiler up to appropriate heat. However, there is absolutely no cooling being done in the refer.... zip.....nadda.....nothing. We have a thermometer in there and temp in the refer with nothing in it kept climbing all day yesterday. That tells me, maybe I'm wrong, that the cooling unit is just not functioning although the electronics in the Norcold are looking 100% nominal. Am I incorrect in this understanding? Someone in a post said that it sounded like the ammonia path must be blocked somehow. Is there any relay that turns that path on and off?

I never smelled the smell of ammonia, in the refer, or outside.

So, I have not been reading this as a control board issue, but as a cooling unit issue. If there is some valve in this system that controls the flow and that is controlled by the control board, then maybe I have been developing the wrong understanding all along. Does the control board control something other than the heaters and the propane and auto-detecting the presence of AC?

Gary
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Old 08-14-2014, 08:16 AM   #7
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Old 08-14-2014, 08:20 AM   #8
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I have re-read Bob Nodine's excellent series of posts and comments on replacing his Norcold with a Samsung rf-197 and there must have been 10 others guys on the list that then stated they were buying one, and were beginning the install themselves. It sounded like all of them did the change. I assumed that someone, out there who was not willing or able to tackle the changeover would have someone like Lazy Days or their competent local RV shop do the install for them, and would have a rough idea of the costs and billable hours involved in paying someone else to do the job. That was my initial question, and I am surprised that there has been no response. My guess is that the costs of someone else doing the job might be prohibitive, and that is my main concern, because that is my only option outside of abandoning my trip.

Isn't there someone who has paid for a professional shop to do the conversion, or explored what a shop would charge to do the conversion??. If I need to sink $2600 into a new Norcold, I would be willing to pay more in total job to have the residential installed instead. Now, if this is really a control board issue, then I am off-base and need to continue to explore the repair of this unit. This is my first problem with the Norcold, which has worked like a battleship for the past 20 months. It has been no problem at all, until now so I am on my own in trying to figure out what to do next. It seemed like Monaco owners in droves have been moving to residential so that got me thinking that might be the path that I needed to follow. Living with ice chests is not what I got involved in diesel pushers to deal with !!!!

Gary
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Old 08-14-2014, 09:33 AM   #9
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Gary,

I had my Samsung residential installed by Elite RV in Oregon. We bought the Samsung from Sears and had it shipped up to Elite in Oregon. I think we paid approx. $1200 for the fridge. I am guessing on the actual figures because the receipts are in the motorhome which is in storage right now.

Elite removed the old Norcold and installed the new fridge (they removed the drivers window) for about $1000. They had to modify the opening slightly due to the furnace below. They did a fantastic job and the install looks like a factory install. We use straps to secure the doors while travelling.

The fridge runs off the inverter while travelling and we have travelled as long as 8 hours with no issues. This has to be one of the best mods we have done to the coach. We now enjoy cold drinks and hard ice cream plus tons of room for food.

Steve
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Old 08-14-2014, 09:50 AM   #10
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9000 feet may play tricks on your fridge, so personally I would wait making any costly decisions until you start "climbing back down".

We have twice spend time skiing in Breckenridge, CO and both times we have had our fridge do "strange things". This btw also applies to our on-board thermostat in the RV.

Just my 2 cents
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Old 08-14-2014, 09:51 AM   #11
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Steve

THANK YOU !!!! That is exactly the information that I am trying to get and you gave me one example of the cost. That is exactly what I needed, and I hope that some others give me their experience also. However, based on that, I am going to start calling big RV repair shops and start asking them their price to do the switch.

Anyone else that has had it done for them?

Again Steve, THANK YOU

Gary
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Old 08-14-2014, 10:17 AM   #12
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To Mr. "Danes on Tour"

Thank you also. That is very interesting and something I have been worried about.

A little known fact, I think (at least I had never heard this), but the repair manual for the Norcold 1200 specifically says that above 5500 feet, one should not attempt to use propane, and to depend only on AC power. We are currently 3500' above that height and I have been worried that maybe even the AC is not able to deal with this elevation. I had wondered if that led to the first problem, the blowing of the F3 fuse on the control board as the Norcold may have been working very hard, even on AC to keep the refer cold. So, your comments and observations are something that is certainly relevant as I have worried about that factor from the start!!

Since my goals in summer traveling have been to escape the blast furnace heat of NW Louisiana or north central Texas in July, August, and September, that limitation (if I could not depend on refrigeration above 5500') would be reason enough for me to make the change to residential, as that is exactly why I am traveling, and exactly where I want to spend the summer months. If I can't do that, then a change to residential is not an option, but would be mandatory.

I have looked for that issue (elevation) here on iRV2 and did not find it, so was potentially ruling it out as the explanation, but maybe it is part of the puzzle.

Gary
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Old 08-14-2014, 12:17 PM   #13
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Hi Gary. You and I communicated a couple of months ago re: ride height. So sorry to hear about the Norcold issues while on the road. We just got back from 2 months out west, including Colorado high altitude, and I know problems like this can really mess with your enjoyment.

Two comments. First, let me echo the fact that altitude has big time effects on a number of electronic devices, so it might be worth waiting to you're less than 5000 ft. as another poster suggested. We had issues with microwave, our plasma tv, and a brief error message on our Norcold in our 04 Dynasty. All resolved fine upon lower altitude.

Second, while the residential refrigerator is no doubt a nice modification, you will in all likelihood have power issues if you like to boondock or dry camp in national forest campgrounds for extended periods without adding additional house batteries. We have 8 in ours, which might work at a minimum if we ever upgrade, but from my reading of RV Cruzer, he upgraded his Tiffin to 12 house batteries primarily because of his residential refrigerator and love of boondocking. If you don't stray from a 50-amp hookup, that's not an issue, of course.

Best of luck, Gary. Our Norcold was wonderful on the trip, and the propane side came in very handy several times when we were dry camping or on a 30 amp hookup and needed additional power. Kevin
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Old 08-14-2014, 01:15 PM   #14
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Well if the control board is working, and the heater is heating, and there is not something like a bird's nest atop the flu, and it's not getting cold.

Yup, the cooling unit is about all that is left.

Page 2:

In addition to things like the Samsung everybody likes till it malfunctions, Both Dometic and Norcold have an all electric model, This unit runs on 12 or 120 volts (Auto switching) and when running pulls LESS THAN 50 WATTS.

For comparison: A dual 1156 lamp fixture is MORE THAN 50 WATTS.

They are a touch expensive... I have a portable freezer uses similar technology,, LOVE it. If I had to replace my Dometic, I would give these high efficiency compressor driven jobs some SERIOUS consideration.
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