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Old 09-07-2024, 05:16 PM   #1
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Norcold Freezer Kind of OK, Fridge not

Tried to post but didn't seem to take. Try 2
We are on the 6th week of our trip and I noticed that the vents in the fridge are only at about 43 degrees, the freezer back & bottom plates are showing 19degrees. Even then, some things in the freezer are not as hard as they were.
I switched from AC to LP to see but no difference. Burner is working & it seemed that the AC heaters were hot before I switched. I'm using an IR temp reader and a thermometer in the freezer (showing about 25 degrees) All temps are Fahrenheit. Prior to today, the fridge thermometer showed about 34 degrees and the freezer was about 20
We just (a week ago) picked up a bunch of meat and would hate to lose it.
Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance
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Old 09-07-2024, 07:02 PM   #2
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it may have went into a defrost mode.
Try shutting off and back on, I believe that resets the defrost timer.
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Old 09-07-2024, 08:20 PM   #3
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Which exact fridge model number? Norcold makes a lot of different ones.

Is it in a slide?

Ray
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Old 09-08-2024, 08:07 AM   #4
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Now it seems to be OK

Thanks for the replies.
Woke up this morning to find temps back to normal.
I did not know that there is a "Defrost" mode, have to look into that.
As for the model, it's 1210IMD - 4 door that came with ice maker & water dispenser (both removed or disconnected)
I do know that my rig was slightly forward (bubble touching line but not over) and leaning right (bubble about 1/8th bubble over line 7/8th within the lines) Using a torpedo level.
I leveled it again so bubbles were within the "lines" even though I thought that I was still in the "safe zone" This may have been the 2nd or 3rd time in the past 6 years of owning that I was not almost or perfectly level (I tend to be anal about that)
So, thanks to those who relied, and thanks to those who will have ideas on this.
Safe travels all!
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Old 09-09-2024, 09:46 AM   #5
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additional thoughts

1). Have you added ventilation fans to either exterior or interior of fridge compartment?
Exterior to help the updraft cooling of unit. Inside to keep the air circulating.

2) has the thermistor wire on interior fins been dislocated <or> moved ? Vertical positioning varies the temp setting.

3) any excessive heat from exposure of sun on galley side of coach? I’ve added two muffin fans just under roof vent.
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Old 09-09-2024, 10:41 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ikeshel
I did not know that there is a "Defrost" mode, have to look into that.
As for the model, it's 1210IMD
We have a 1210 as well.

Every 49 hours (not 48 hours) the Norcold 1210 and apparently the larger 2118 will shut the cooling unit off until the fridge reaches roughly 42 degrees F to defrost the fins. (Some sites say the maximum "cooling unit is off" period of time is four hours but Norcold is silent on that themselves.)

Unfortunately this also causes the freezer temp to also increase, sometimes into the low 20's.

Then the fridge turns the cooling unit back on.

But depending on the time of day the fridge and freezer temps may continue to increase until the cooling unit catches up.

Because Norcold chose 49 hours, the start of the defrost cycle changes one hour every two days.

So if you turned the fridge on at 10 AM then two days later it turns itself off at 11 AM. Two days later it turns off at noon, etc.

What I would do is turn our 1210 off about 9 PM on the first day of a trip, leave it off for about 30 seconds, and then turn the fridge back on. That resets the defrost cycle timer so it runs overnight instead of in the heat of the day. Of course, every few weeks I had to repeat that as the defrost start time started to occur in the morning.

What you can try right now if the temps seem high AND the fridge has been turned on for at least two full days is turning the fridge off for 30 seconds and turning it back on. That resets the start of the defrost cycle to "now" so if a defrost cycle is in progress right now, it stops and the cooling unit turns on.

Make sense?

Quote:
I do know that my rig was slightly forward (bubble touching line but not over) and leaning right (bubble about 1/8th bubble over line 7/8th within the lines) Using a torpedo level.

I leveled it again so bubbles were within the "lines" even though I thought that I was still in the "safe zone" This may have been the 2nd or 3rd time in the past 6 years of owning that I was not almost or perfectly level (I tend to be anal about that)
Lose those levels. Install a bubble level app on your phone that will read in tenths of degrees. I use Bubble Level from Gamma Play on my Android phone. Real bubbles and lines on a bubble don't mean squat; real measurements of the degrees does.

Set the phone on a counter next to the fridge or a similar location. If you are less than 3.0 degrees off-level front of RV to rear of RV you're golden (because most RV fridges are installed "sideways".)

Our driveway is 2.5 degrees front-down and our fridge fires up and cools normally. I have an ARP Fridge Defend installed and it shows the same boiler temperatures as when perfectly level.

I won't run the slides unless I'm within 0.5 degrees of level but the fridge is perfectly happy.

Ray
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Old 09-10-2024, 07:13 AM   #7
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Fix the Norcold Issues

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ikeshel View Post
Tried to post but didn't seem to take. Try 2
We are on the 6th week of our trip and I noticed that the vents in the fridge are only at about 43 degrees, the freezer back & bottom plates are showing 19degrees. Even then, some things in the freezer are not as hard as they were.
I switched from AC to LP to see but no difference. Burner is working & it seemed that the AC heaters were hot before I switched. I'm using an IR temp reader and a thermometer in the freezer (showing about 25 degrees) All temps are Fahrenheit. Prior to today, the fridge thermometer showed about 34 degrees and the freezer was about 20
We just (a week ago) picked up a bunch of meat and would hate to lose it.
Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance

Another option you may not be thinking of, do you have an ice maker?


The Norcold 1200 series runs the electrical and water lines out the back of the freezer. We have seen in many cases where the hole that the ice maker lines exit is not sealed nor insulated well.



We suggest removal of the ice maker to help the freezer run better and give you more room for storage. We use a little 120VAC ice maker that we run off our solar when dry camping and use shore power when we can.



Because you stated that the fridge started working fine, I will make the following statement:



Most of the issues you are facing can be fixed by adding our control.
We deal with most of the issues you stated, such as stopping the defrost cycle, adding engineered blower fans, and controlling the cooling unit so it cannot destroy itself.


Comment: The angle that the cooling unit can function off level depends on many factors such as: fridge orientation to off-level; ambient temperatures; wind and wind direction; ....



Hope this helps, Paul and Mao
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Old 09-10-2024, 08:15 AM   #8
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Thanks

Really appreciate the help.
We were full time up until 18 months ago and this was our first long trip since.
The 49hour shut off makes sense as to what happened, and I'll be paying attention to that.
I have removed the icemaker, disconnected water supply and sealed the hole.
I also have a bank of fans (3 - 3" ) on the fins. I have not yet installed one in the back.
Because of the suddenness, this threw me for a loop. I have a mechanical & electrical background as well as having repaired whole house gas fired A/C units (yes - I'm THAT old) so your responses have helped me understand and will be paying attention in the future.
Many thanks
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Old 09-10-2024, 09:16 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fridge Defend View Post
The Norcold 1200 series runs the electrical and water lines out the back of the freezer. We have seen in many cases where the hole that the ice maker lines exit is not sealed nor insulated well.
This makes sense. I'm servicing the ice maker on my Dometic NDR1292 and just discovered the other day while removing the ice maker that the sealant around where the icemaker supply line enters the freezer had a huge gap allowing outside air into the freezer.
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Old 09-11-2024, 07:06 AM   #10
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Norcold Mechanical & Electrical Background

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ikeshel View Post
Really appreciate the help.
We were full time up until 18 months ago and this was our first long trip since.
The 49hour shut off makes sense as to what happened, and I'll be paying attention to that.
I have removed the icemaker, disconnected water supply and sealed the hole.
I also have a bank of fans (3 - 3" ) on the fins. I have not yet installed one in the back.
Because of the suddenness, this threw me for a loop. I have a mechanical & electrical background as well as having repaired whole house gas fired A/C units (yes - I'm THAT old) so your responses have helped me understand and will be paying attention in the future.
Many thanks

Glad to be of help, with your mechanical & electrical background I think you can appreciate controlling the boiler temperature to prevent failures that lead to fires.


When the boiler overheats not only does the fridge temperature rise rapidly due to the heat from the boiler being transferred into the fridge and freezer, this problem does not correct itself on its own. This is because the flow of refrigerant is what keeps the boiler cool, and sustains the continuity of the system.


Happy travels, Paul and Mao
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