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Old 12-05-2021, 07:24 PM   #1
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Freezer works refrigerator not so much, HELP needed!

Freezer works refrigerator not so much?

Hi Folks. We’re making our annual holiday trip from south Florida to PA to be with our kids & grandkids. On day 4, we woke up to our refrigerator running at 50°, freezer was ok, but had a good amount of frost built up, (after two months of running it), so I figured that may have been the problem. I’ve read online if you have too much frost in your freezer the refrigerator will not work properly. So At our next stop we defrosted the freezer, throughout the food and start her back up. It seems the freezer is working again but after about five hours refrigerators only getting to 55°.


I’ve also read a faulty thermostat could be the problem, but I don’t know where it is, or if there is a part number for it.
LP fires up, the board switches properly when on auto, I’m at a loss, doesn’t matter if I’m on propane or electric either.


It’s a Norcold N8XRT


This is my 3rd rig with a 3 way, I’m ready to rip it out snd go 12V DC!
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Old 12-05-2021, 09:08 PM   #2
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Got any Fault Codes being displayed?

Is fridge being operated LEVEL?

Fault Code Info pg 27-36
https://norcold.com/wp-content/uploa...r_N7N8-1EN.pdf


Food compartment not cold
Is drip tray drain hose in good shape, with lug in end of hose and hose in drip cup next to burner?
*Warm air can be pulled in if NOT

Door seals....dollar bill test
lay bill over door seals, close door and then pull bill out S/B resistance to being pulled out. Try in numerous places around door
*Pulls out easy...seals bad, door alignment, door sag

Bad thermistor can affect overall cooling of fridge
Thermistor is temp sensor on FIN in food compartment --- 10th fin from right side

Bad circuit board can affect overall cooling....short heat cycles/thermostat error

Bad cooling unit can cause freezer COLD and food compartment NOT getting cold. Obstruction/blockage

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See my post (post #2) in this recent fridge cooling issue
Information/testing would be same for your fridge
*your model only has ONE heat element

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/norc...ml#post6007705
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Old 12-05-2021, 11:31 PM   #3
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Thanks old biscuit, I went to that trouble shooting post. I’ll try tomorrow when we are at our last stop.

I did test the thermistor with a meter, it tested good, but I see your recommendations to remove and run without. The absence of the thermistor does exactly what?
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Old 12-06-2021, 08:07 AM   #4
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I kept finding my thermistor off. Most likely from the wife or kids digging around in there. Some white tape took care of that.
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Old 12-06-2021, 08:09 AM   #5
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It may be totally unrelated, but when I had freezer working good but refrigerator not, it was a fan motor that was not running at proper RPM. This was a long time ago, probably 2-3 changes to the refrigerant they use now.

Note: Fan ran, and to the untrained eye, looked fine, but it had slowed down and was not moving enough cold air.
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Old 12-06-2021, 09:13 AM   #6
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I had the same problem with a Norcold 1200. Replaced the thermistor. Did all the testing. Finally pulled it out - it had the waterlogged insulation problem.

Tossed it out the door and replaced it with a Samsung RF18.
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Old 12-06-2021, 09:16 AM   #7
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Make sure you are 100% defrosted, not just what you can see from the front
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Old 12-06-2021, 02:29 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnynorthla View Post
Thanks old biscuit, I went to that trouble shooting post. I’ll try tomorrow when we are at our last stop.

I did test the thermistor with a meter, it tested good, but I see your recommendations to remove and run without. The absence of the thermistor does exactly what?
W/O thermistor there is no temp sensing for thermostat, so fridge runs on heat source selected based on time duration vs temps
Food compartment should get cold...cold enough to freeze items
IF thermistor is the problem
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Old 12-07-2021, 05:06 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit View Post
W/O thermistor there is no temp sensing for thermostat, so fridge runs on heat source selected based on time duration vs temps
Food compartment should get cold...cold enough to freeze items
IF thermistor is the problem
After 16 hours, the freezer when to zero, the fridge went to 36F. I added a few items and it went back up to 41F. I’m not sure if it’s working properly. so by what your saying I still have an issue.
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Old 12-07-2021, 05:14 AM   #10
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I’m ready to throw in the towel with these LP fridges! After dealing with them on 3 different rigs, I’ve had enough! Sure they work great, when they work properly, but it’s just too annoying to me. And NOW, after reading one article on LP fried fires, my wife will only let me run fridge on Gen power! And that’s after 6 years of always using LP underway! So I might as well go DC!

My only question is if your running the new DC Norcold fridge the night before travels, and your not on shore power, does it kill the coach battery?
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Old 12-07-2021, 05:22 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by Johnynorthla View Post
After 16 hours, the freezer when to zero, the fridge went to 36F. I added a few items and it went back up to 41F. I’m not sure if it’s working properly. so by what your saying I still have an issue.
O for the freezer and 37 for the fridge are considered "ideal" temperatures by the manufacturers.

Adding items in the unit will always raise the temperature temporarily. Just opening the door does it.
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Old 12-07-2021, 05:22 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by dons2346 View Post
Make sure you are 100% defrosted, not just what you can see from the front
Huh? I'm not following this, where else are you expecting ice to be that can't be seen by opening the door and looking in from the front?
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Old 12-07-2021, 08:50 AM   #13
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O for the freezer and 37 for the fridge are considered "ideal" temperatures by the manufacturers.

Adding items in the unit will always raise the temperature temporarily. Just opening the door does it.
Exactly.....

Absorption fridge recovery is slow.....but items still remain cold due to their mass
Warm items, opening door---lookie-louing allow the COLD to be displaced by the Warm air. Then heat cycle should run and cold food compartment back down.

FORCE COOL TEST to check cooling units capability to fully function.
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Old 12-07-2021, 08:13 PM   #14
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Huh? I'm not following this, where else are you expecting ice to be that can't be seen by opening the door and looking in from the front?

If you look at the inside if the freezer, you see the back of the freezer flat wall. The coils are behind that and in order to completely thaw the freezer, you need to get rid of the ice there. In the case of a Dometic, there can be a lot of ice behind the wall at the rear of the freezer.
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