Norco fridge turns off on propane

[Dunebug]

Thanks in advance for any help and ideas you have to offer, hate to take anything to the dealer right now since it's so busy. Our Norco fridge turns itself off every night while on propane. In the morning it takes a few times to get it started, and there is a big wuff sound that was never there before & after a few wuffs it sometimes lights and and sometimes doesn't for a few more tries. We have cleaned and tightened what we can reach. Turns off every night... occasionally during the day but not often. Any ideas would be appreciated!
..

[Unplanned Tourist]

"Old Bisquit" is THE guy to go to on this forum.

With luck, he will see your post and reply.

[CharlesinGA]

You don't say how old or what model Norcold this is. Very possibly needs a good cleaning and blowing out in the burner area. Cobwebs, general crud buildup, etc may be inhibiting airflow in the burner. Could also be low gas pressure.

You also don't say what the ambient temps are where you are located. At night it may be cool enough that the fridge will cycle off, and then cannot start again. In the daytime, at high ambient temps, it may run all the time, so it doesn't have the opportunity to shut off and fail to start.

Do other gas items work ok? water heater, stove?

Age, model, temps, etc would help.

Charles

[Gigattime]

If you haven't tried compressed air to blow out the dust, spider webs, etc., I would recommend giving it a try and see if that fixes things.

[Old-Biscuit]

A few questions and some required info
*Model of this Norcold fridge
*Are you on shore power or running off battery
* what error codes are being displayed
*fridge reaches temp setting and shuts propane off...then can't relight/prove it lit so 'locks out'---3 attempts then 'No Fl' code
*when was last time you Cleaned the burner assembly?
1)removed burner tube and used a small bottle brush to clean it out 2)remove orifice and soak in alcohol then air dry...no poking anything thru it or blowing it with high pressure air
3)remove spark electrode and cleaned it with emery cloth to remove the soot/carbon
4)cleaned the flue/flue baffle
******blowing burner area with air can help blow out the dust/rust but will not clean burner assembly...spider webs can totally disrupt the fuel/air mixture)

[Dunebug]

Thanks for all the responses. It only happens on propane, and while we are using it continuously on propane, boondock, with no shore power. We replaced the regulator to see if that was the problem and both propane tanks were totally full on the last trip, all the other appliances work fine. We've cleaned everything we can find including burner plate et cetera.I'm embarrassed to say that I've read about the error codes but I have no idea where to find those.. It's a smaller Norco fridge in a travel trailer it's only 4 years old. Thanks!

[Dunebug]

And it works great all day long then turns off at night...maybe the solar?

[Old-Biscuit]

Boondocking.........stops working at night

Low DC Voltage

Model S/B on sticker inside fridge on side wall



FYI:
Fridge on Electric Element or Propane ---both cycle off routinely as temp set point is reached then back on when temp increases above temp set point

[Ljwt330]

I'll add one other thing.

If the igniter, which is powered by the DC current, is malfunctioning, you will get the hard to ignite symptom and the "wuff" sound you describe. That sound is too much propane being ignited and is caused by the burst of flame upon ignition. It can result in blowing out the flame of the burner, thus you have to repeat the process. The gas valve opens at the same time the igniter is sparking, but if the igniter is failing to spark, the gas will flow until the shut-down cycle has completed.

So, you may have two problems. One being low DC voltage at night, and the other an erratic igniter, which could be caused by the same low voltage situation. Could be the spark module for the igniter, or something on the control board as well. Since this does happen during the day sometimes, it may not be entirely a low battery issue.

[Dunebug]

Thanks so much for all the responses! The guys have the trailer out now and I am having them hunt down the error codes and I sent these messages to them, I knew u all would have great ideas!

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by Dunebug

Thanks so much for all the responses! The guys have the trailer out now and I am having them hunt down the error codes and I sent these messages to them, I knew u all would have great ideas!

Please report back the results and explain the fix. It is a great help to others.

[Vette Racer]

We've had this happen but only when above 7000 feet on our 10cf Norcold. Of course it states in the manual that they don't guarantee operation at that altitude. I found that bypassing the chimney sensor that was installed as part of the fire recall effort helps when this happens but I always hook it back up when no longer needed.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Vette Racer

We've had this happen but only when above 7000 feet on our 10cf Norcold. Of course it states in the manual that they don't guarantee operation at that altitude. I found that bypassing the chimney sensor that was installed as part of the fire recall effort helps when this happens but I always hook it back up when no longer needed.

Above 7000' would be an air/fuel mixture issue
Propane has a narrow range 2% --9.5%
RV propane is only 0.4psi and air is drawn in via venturi affect
Higher altitudes means less dense air available so flame can become fuel rich and cause ignition issues


Bypassing the stack High temp Sensor has NOTHING to do with air/fuel ratio
It measures coolant temp in the stack (perk tube/boiler section) and trips DC to fridge circuit board when it trips due to coolant overheating from lack of flow

If bypassing that Stack sensor makes your fridge work it is because you are having an overheating situation not an altitude issue

Off-level, ventilation, blockage etc cause overheating

[Dunebug]

Good thought but it happens in both desert 4,000 ft and mountains 10,000ft. We r thinking old biscuit and ljwt330 r onto something with the DC current and igniter. Will post one we get it fixed!