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homeless · 06-10-2014, 02:33 PM

I bought my rig with a residential fridge in it. I didn't like the idea of having to pull a trailer load of batteries or having to be plugged in, so I took it out!! And replace it with a use Norcold. I understand an absorption fridge is not a refrigerator as we are use to in convectional living! But a very convent item for those of us that don't live by the umbilical cord! Anyway that is another topic, my positive topic today is my Norcold has fault codes that tell you when your about to go up in flames! So as a guy that runs his generator for two or three hours a day to keep things charge up, I one day notice a fault code on my Norcold that told me I had a voltage spike, and would not run on AC. Thinking my Norcold was an accident waiting to happen, I assumed the problem was a burned out electric burner. So one thing lead to another and I bought a cheep voltage meter to put in my receptacles to see what my voltages where. And low and behold it was pegging out when generator first comes on and would stay pegged until I turn on my two air conditioners. This gave me a reason to head to Onan to find out what my problem was. And they put in a new regulator on my generator and tuned up the unit. This has fixed not only a possible problem with all my toy charging gadgets burning up and has made my air conditioners run better. Now my air conditioners pop right on once the generator is on, before I had to wait for as much as a half hour of generator time to try to turn them on with out killing the generator. Before I went to Onan to have the service work, I had been told you have to wait for a time before you can try to turn on your airs. But Onan tells me its plug and play if your generator is working properly. If it had not been for the fault code on my Norcold I would have never notice the high voltage spick and I would have never found out that my air conditioners would start right up. Just some incite for those interested....

**CLIFFTALL** · 06-10-2014, 02:38 PM

Thanks for posting. Great story and happy ending.

Wayne M · 06-10-2014, 06:55 PM

Interesting on not having to wait for a time before turning on the AC's. I start the genny and wait a minute or two to let it come up to speed. Now you are saying that Onana says that is not necessary? Hmmm!

Considering the rigs that have the AutoStart feature installed, I can see where that would be true.

p.s., Knocking on wood, our Norcold 1200 series has been running great for 6 years when we got the coach new. We did have the recall fix installed.

Thanks for the info.

holdren · 06-10-2014, 09:08 PM

We have had our norcold 1200 for 9 years with no problems. Had the recall fix also. I think the problem is more factory install and owner maintenance than anything.

Muddypaws · 06-10-2014, 09:45 PM

I'm laughing my a$$ off right now. There is another current thread with about 10 pages of replies that is totally anti-Norcold. In it one of the more rabid 'you're gonna burn' people asks if there has ever been someone who removed a residential and put in an absorption refer. And here you are!

. You are not alone! We'd do the same thing.

We've been RV'ing for over 45 years and have had nothing but absorption refrigerators. Never had a problem I couldn't fix right away. I've never had to take one to a shop to be fixed.

Our current RV has the much maligned Norcold 1201LRIM. It took a little tinkering but it's now the best RV refrigerator yet. The box reaches 34F in less than 20 hours and stays there. Freezers stay at an arctic -18F. No noise, we're not chained to the post or running the generator every day.

09 harley · 06-10-2014, 10:01 PM

Those negative posts really get to me. I don't care what the product is, if it is mechanical there can be problems. We only hear from the squeeky wheel types. Most of us are happy with our Norcolds or whatever the product is.
Now I want to complain about my 7 way connector, it cost me $5.50 and only lasted 11 years. That is totally unacceptable and I will be contacting the manufacturer and try to find out what the problem is so you will never deal with that company.
It's Miller time so let's relax and enjoy the Spurs victory tonight.

Arch Hoagland · 06-10-2014, 10:49 PM

2pcs Blue LCD Digital Voltmeter AC 80 300V Voltage Test America Flat Plug 110V 220V free shipping-in Integrated Circuits from Electronic Components & Supplies on Aliexpress.com

I am in the process of building a 50 and 30 test plug for RV outlets and ordered these two digital voltage displays to check the voltage of each line.

I order a lot of stuff from that site....takes a couple weeks to get here but worth the wait.

I've always had Norcolds and never had a problem with any of them.

MSHappyCampers · 06-13-2014, 10:31 AM

Great info! Thanks for posting!

hes4all · 06-13-2014, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holdren

I think the problem is more factory install and owner maintenance than anything.

Very accurate statement.

I believe with the wrong installation the boiler temp will fluctuate to much causing most of the issues.

Ray,IN · 06-13-2014, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hes4all

Very accurate statement.

I believe with the wrong installation the boiler temp will fluctuate to much causing most of the issues.

I agree. When the installation instructions are read, you find the statement; if installation instructions are not followed exactly, you will have cooling problems. Not word for word, but that's what it says.