Norcold n1095 fridge issues

[bwanna2016]

hi- a few days ago (may 14) it was determined my cooling unit was shot. i bypassed the circuit board to see if that would cool it down. nope. propane- nope. thermistor is good. i am travelling to wisconsin and i was setting up an appointment with a mobile tech. when i explained the symptoms and the troubleshooting, he thought because there was no visible yellow powder or ammonia smell, he thought maybe the control board was the problem. my question- i bypassed the control board and hot wired direct (during this time i had unplugged the original fridge cord). should i have left the fridge cord plugged in?

[Old-Biscuit]

Force cooling bypass ALL controls ..the AC power, the Upper Display, the lower circuit board, the thermistor/thermostat etc

Directly wiring the element,,,running for 12 hrs....no cooling
Cooling Unit is toast regardless of no ammonia smell (could have leaked at any time and dissipates fairly quickly) and/or no yellowish residue
(which only happens if leak is in 'perk tube' (boiler section) or absorber tubes/tank
***Areas where liquid coolant is present
Top section/condenser/freezer/food coils have Ammonia/Hydrogen so if leak occurs up top.....no yellowish residue (sodium chromate rust inhibitor due to water being part of the coolant solution ie: Weak Ammonia Solution)

[bwanna2016]

thanks again for the response. i am getting conflicting info. i emailed rv cooling unit warehouse(amish fridge folks) and their response was the control board has nothing to do with cooling. he said it's only job was to switch heat sources. unplugging the AC cord from the PC did nothing to BYPASS for testing. his exact words. he also said if the fan was not running( fridge is in the slide out), the fridge would not cool and testing is a waste of time. i don't mind buying another cooling unit, but i want to make sure my problems are resolved.

[Old-Biscuit]

Circuit board uses 12VDC to CONTROL every function of fridge
It communications back/forth with upper display
It senses if AC is available or not...
It swaps to GAS if AC is not available
It controls heating cycles based on thermistor/thermostat input
It controls AC to element
It controls DC to gas valve/spark electrode

I think it does a heck of a lot more then just swap heat sources

Unplugging the AC from circuit board just makes the AC not available
DIRECTLY wiring the element leads into the 120VAC outlet DOES force cool cause the circuit board (which controls all heating sources etc) has been BYPASSED and element is CONTINUOUSLY energized heating the ammonia and FORCE cooling cause the circuit board is not controlling the heat source.

Force cooling for 12hrs with element directly energized verifies 2 things
1) If cooling unit is CAPABLE of cooling
2) If it is then circuit board is bad---if NOT then cooling unit is toast due to obstruction/blockage inside the cooling unit or it has LEAKED

Period........




Yes the External fan is important for cooling when installed in slideout
BUT even if fan did not run...fridge would still cool down when forced cooled.....not as cold as it could be ---freezer would be 10*F and food compartment would get below 50*F
IF the external fan didn't run


Fridge NOT cooling down ---forced cool......bad cooling unit
Simple

[bwanna2016]

old biscuit- thank you very much. reading all of your explanations throughout the years has been comforting. got a lot of confidence in the info you share. amish fridge will be on the way.

[Old-Biscuit]

You did verify the external fan DID run when attempting cooling...correct??

[bwanna2016]

yes

[bwanna2016]

got the amish cooling unit installed yesterday. the tech found at the base of the burner box the dreaded yellow powder so our original unit was shot. 13 year old fridge. if i get 13 years out of this cooling unit i will be happy. thanks again