Community Forums

Doucey · 06-08-2023, 01:04 PM

I have an issue with a Norcold Refrigerator. I was in the 3rd day of a trip and the unit quit cooling (both propane and electric). Went out an bought some coolers and finished the trip using them. When I returned home it was about a week before I could get it in for service so I just had the unit shut off.

Service called yesterday and said come and get it, that it is cooling fine in both propane and electric mode.

Any thoughts on why it quit and then started working. I don't want to be in the middle of trip and have it quit again.

Thanks

Bobby F · 06-08-2023, 01:24 PM

How old is it?

I've had the same experience several times with my 30-year-old Norcold. It dies, I frantically find cold storage for the food and start digging through it while asking for advice here. Then, at some point later, seemingly unrelated to my repair efforts, it resumes working fine.

Best guess (from the advice I got here) is that either the control board is dying (intermittently), or the control system wiring and/or wiring connectors are loose somewhere.

If I wasn't cheap and stubborn, I'd just replace the control board.

DustyDriver · 06-08-2023, 01:25 PM

When you “quit”, do you mean no power, or not cooling as efficiently? Our dometic has a defrost feature. Every 48 hours the measured temperature of the fridge will increase as much as 10 degrees for a few hours, then come back down. Very disconcerting to see until I read up on it.

DD

Old-Biscuit · 06-08-2023, 01:33 PM

Model????

Did 'service' find ANYTHING?

Did it indicate ANY error codes?

Doucey · 06-08-2023, 02:45 PM

It is a 2022.

Doucey · 06-08-2023, 02:47 PM

Not cooling. Power was on - in Auto. I tried manual AC & Propane. I verified the propane was heating, No error codes at all.

Doucey · 06-08-2023, 02:49 PM

Model???? 1210

Did 'service' find ANYTHING? No they plugged it in and it cooled on both AC & LP

Did it indicate ANY error codes? No error codes when it was not working.

153stars · 06-08-2023, 03:33 PM

Have you tested on both LP and elect. Burner could of been partially plugged . I would clean burner mix tube and LP orifice with alcohol.
If it was lit or heating at the time....Was it level at the time? Has it ever been running unlevel besides driving. They can get out of balance /water logged if not level. Worser case crystals can form out of water treatment chemicals and plug or temporarily plug unit. Foreign matter or deposits from/during manufacturing could stop the proper boiler process and then settle back down into boiler letting it operate again.

Doucey · 06-08-2023, 04:35 PM

Have you tested on both LP and elect. Burner could of been partially plugged . I would clean burner mix tube and LP orifice with alcohol.
If it was lit or heating at the time....Was it level at the time? Has it ever been running unlevel besides driving. They can get out of balance /water logged if not level. Worser case crystals can form out of water treatment chemicals and plug or temporarily plug unit. Foreign matter or deposits from/during manufacturing could stop the proper boiler process and then settle back down into boiler letting it operate again.

neither worked when I was on the road. The shop tested and said it was cooling on both.

It was level when it was not functioning.

NXR · 06-08-2023, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doucey

Model???? 1210

Did 'service' find ANYTHING? No they plugged it in and it cooled on both AC & LP

Did it indicate ANY error codes? No error codes when it was not working.

You need to INSIST that whoever is doing the service MUST call Norcold and talk to them. There have been numerous instances of failing Norcold cooling units in the last year.

Thetford shut down their US Norcold factories in Ohio at the end of 2022 and there have been many, many owners with bad cooling units. One I know of with a 2022 motorhome had two fail. The Forest River Georgetown service people requested on a forum that any owners with Norcold problems call them because they were seeing lots of failures but were certain they were not seeing all of them.

Our 2020 Norcold 1210 cooling unit failed in February, out of warranty of course, and I was having a mobile RV tech install a JC Refrigeration ("Amish") replacement. While they were working on mine the tech got a call. His eyes widened and he shook his head.

He said "We installed a brand new Norcold fridge for a customer a few weeks ago. He needed a new cooling unit but wanted to have a new fridge installed to avoid any problems. It started to cool so we left.

He called me a few days later and said it was not cooling properly. I called Norcold and that was them calling back. They are shipping me a new cooling unit. For a two-week old fridge. They said they could tell from the serial number that this fridge was one that only had a small amount of coolant installed by the factory."

SMH. I wonder if the workers that knew they were losing their jobs decided to sabotage the products to hurt Norcold.

Ray

ArtJoyce · 06-08-2023, 06:20 PM

Were the cooling fins in the back inside the fridge all iced up?

Old-Biscuit · 06-08-2023, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NXR

You need to INSIST that whoever is doing the service MUST call Norcold and talk to them. There have been numerous instances of failing Norcold cooling units in the last year.

Thetford shut down their US Norcold factories in Ohio at the end of 2022 and there have been many, many owners with bad cooling units. One I know of with a 2022 motorhome had two fail. The Forest River Georgetown service people requested on a forum that any owners with Norcold problems call them because they were seeing lots of failures but were certain they were not seeing all of them.

Our 2020 Norcold 1210 cooling unit failed in February, out of warranty of course, and I was having a mobile RV tech install a JC Refrigeration ("Amish") replacement. While they were working on mine the tech got a call. His eyes widened and he shook his head.

He said "We installed a brand new Norcold fridge for a customer a few weeks ago. He needed a new cooling unit but wanted to have a new fridge installed to avoid any problems. It started to cool so we left.

He called me a few days later and said it was not cooling properly. I called Norcold and that was them calling back. They are shipping me a new cooling unit. For a two-week old fridge. They said they could tell from the serial number that this fridge was one that only had a small amount of coolant installed by the factory."

SMH. I wonder if the workers that knew they were losing their jobs decided to sabotage the products to hurt Norcold.

Ray

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That is why year/model was important.

Doucey · 06-09-2023, 06:39 AM

Were the cooling fins in the back inside the fridge all iced up?

Not iced up at all

Country Road · 06-09-2023, 07:33 AM

Most of the problems with Norcold refrigerators show up during the summer. A lot of times the refrigerator temps correct themselves with the cooling and heating of the day. Sometimes, the freezer works, but the refrigerator is to warm.

We had that problem and found that the air circulation wasn’t sufficient as the air temp would rise. We took the vent cover off outside the coach and set a fan up to blow air on the unit. It lowered the refrigerator temp during the daytime by over 20 degrees.

Because we verified it was an air circulation problem, we installed an auxiliary fan made by Titan that is thermostatically controlled depending on how hot the outside temp is. Cost around $100 and install is easy. All problems solved.

Do the simple fan test to see if it helps your situation. By the way, we had replaced several parts prior and all seemed to not help. This may not be the problem in this case, but air circulation helped us.