Community Forums

TexasTwoStep · 02-27-2015, 11:44 AM

Refer quit cooling and tech came out today and said the cooling unit was plugged and needed to be replaced. Warranty went out in Jan. Thought about the new helium Atwoods but they don't make a 10 cf unit. My unit is gas/elec. because we boondock camp so much. Probably cost around $1,500 to replace cooling unit, hopefully Monday. Anybody got extra $$$?

drfife · 02-27-2015, 03:11 PM

If you have solar panels and a good battery bank you can get a residential fridge. The amp draw is amazingly low. Probably buy a new fridge with much greater capacity than repairing the absorption fridge.

chief02 · 02-27-2015, 05:44 PM

Look at the amish cooling units.

TexasTwoStep · 02-28-2015, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drfife

If you have solar panels and a good battery bank you can get a residential fridge. The amp draw is amazingly low. Probably buy a new fridge with much greater capacity than repairing the absorption fridge.

I figure those things have to pull at least 80-100 amps@ dc over a 24 hour period and that is more than I want to deal with on my set-up. Now my usage is around 80-100 amps/day with tv, hair dryer,charging stuff, etc. and that would increase it to around 160 ish. I only put in about 22 amps/hr in good sun conditions I would have to go to 6 batteries and 5 solar panels and have room for neither.

I've thought about the Amish units and I think the helium will solve the problems with dual use refers.

homeless · 02-28-2015, 06:44 AM

Take your rig down a bumpy road such as Interstate 10 across Louisiana, this should give it a good burping....

Dr4Film · 02-28-2015, 06:58 AM

Some people have removed them and turned them upside-down and given them a good shaking also.

There is LOTS of information about absorption refrigeration on the Internet.

Try some Googling and see what you can gleam.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

rockintom · 02-28-2015, 07:26 AM

Sorry to hear of your refer woes. I've also heard of some folks taking the refer for a bumpy ride or turning the cooling unit over and shaking. All that I heard of have had NOT limited long term success. Must refers had a another "stroke" shortly after the first. We've been lucky so far on our N1095 refer, when our RV refer dies (major issue)......we's going to a residential for sure. rockin'

Does anyone know what make and model of residential refer that replaces the N1095? Lots of info on that for the N1200 on the internet......but not on the N1095. Thanks!!!

chief02 · 02-28-2015, 08:20 AM

A little birdie just reminded me that a bad thermister would also cause the cooling unit not to cool. Try unplugging the thermister. If the unit begins to cool then the problem is a simple thermister not the cooling unit. The thermister is clipped to the fins on the inside rear of the fridge. Unclip and unplug it. If the cooling unit is good this will cause it to run full cold. Thermister cost about $40 I believe. You can find YouTube videos about them

rockintom · 02-28-2015, 08:31 AM

Thanks Chief........there are about a couple dozen things that would cause the refer to not cool. Hopefully the person who checked it out has eliminated those area prior to condemning the CU. A qualified person can do the checks in a matter of seconds!!!! rockin'

PS.....I'm servicing my fire extinguishers today!!

rockintom · 02-28-2015, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chief02

A little birdie just reminded me that a bad thermister would also cause the cooling unit not to cool. Try unplugging the thermister. If the unit begins to cool then the problem is a simple thermister not the cooling unit. The thermister is clipped to the fins on the inside rear of the fridge. Unclip and unplug it. If the cooling unit is good this will cause it to run full cold. Thermister cost about $40 I believe. You can find YouTube videos about them

And make sure to reinstall the thermistor in the same fin it came from. rockin'

dw8ite · 02-28-2015, 09:53 AM

Rockin- what do you mean when you say "servicing my AC today"? I thought one had to take them to a professional if they needed charging or servicing other than agitating them and checking the pressure.

rockintom · 02-28-2015, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dw8ite

Rockin- what do you mean when you say "servicing my AC today"? I thought one had to take them to a professional if they needed charging or servicing other than agitating them and checking the pressure.

Don, I'm looking at this thread and don't see anything about servicing A/C....fire extinguishers but not AC.

That said, when I do service the A/C, I clean the register filters in the rig about once a month in the summer. I did a nice write up with pix but it has been purged. Once a year I pull the outside unit cover and clean the condenser. I vacuum out with the brush attachment on our Dirt Devil. Sometimes you find lots of leaves, twigs, ect. in there if you been parked under a shedding tree. Other times not. If it's real bad, you have to use a special cleaner, but I've never had to. If I find very much stuff there, then I'll clean out the evaporator the same way about every other year. That's all I do. If you have the old timey chill grill, then snugging the A/C unit mounting thru bolts just a little to prevent water leaks inside rig. It's also a good idea to replace the big foam gasket between the unit and roof every 6-8 years for safety's sake. These pix are of the old '05 Excel. rockin'

TexasTwoStep · 03-01-2015, 06:29 AM

Has anyone had any experience with Norcold? Wonder if they would feel any responsibility since this unit went out of warranty Jan. 6? I plan on calling them on Monday.

rockintom · 03-01-2015, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasTwoStep

Has anyone had any experience with Norcold? Wonder if they would feel any responsibility since this unit went out of warranty Jan. 6? I plan on calling them on Monday.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Based on what you say, I'd think some kind of policy adjustment as one would think a refer should last longer than that. I've heard they ask for if the annual maintenance was performed. I'm sending you an email Gary. rockin'