Three norcold cooling-unit failures in four months: Wonderful service from south co

[07WinVoyage]

THREE NORCOLD COOLING-UNIT FAILURES IN FOUR MONTHS: WONDERFUL SERVICE FROM SOUTH COAST RV; IS NORCOLD HIDING A MAJOR ENGINEERING DEFECT BEHIND A “MINOR” CONSUMER PRODUCT RECALL?

My wife and I own a 36’ 2007 Winnebago Voyage motor home, which we purchased new from a dealer in 2008. At the time of the purchase, we also paid for extended warranty coverage (five years; 50,000 miles). The motor home was equipped with a Norcold Model #1211 refrigerator, which appeared to work properly during the next three years of operation (in hindsight, however, we needed to operate the cooling unit at the maximum (level #9) in order to keep the refrigerator contents at proper temperatures).
During the spring of 2011, my wife noticed she could no longer keep the items in the cooling and freezing compartments at proper temperatures, even while operating the cooling-unit at the maximum level (#9). In early August, I took our motor home to South Coast RV, scrv@scrv.com (located near our home in Chula Vista, CA.), for an inspection and possible claim under the extended warranty. Chris Visconti at South Coast RV agreed that our refrigerator did need a cooling-unit replacement; however, our warranty company refused to pay for a new one so I agreed to the installation of a re-built Norcold unit. Shortly after its installation, as we were loading up for an extended trip, my wife reported again that the freezing and cooling compartments were not keeping items at proper temperatures. I returned to South Coast RV with the bad news. Chris Visconti was very apologetic and agreed we needed a second cooling-unit replacement. He also agreed to obtain another re-built Norcold cooling-unit from their supplier and install it as soon as possible without cost to us. We started our long trip two weeks late; however, we were happy that our second cooling unit appeared to operate satisfactorily, even though it, like the previous Norcold units, required operation at the maximum level (#9).
Unfortunately, this was not the end of the story. Within two weeks after returning from our trip, we suffered the third Norcold cooling-unit failure within four months. It had the same symptoms: failure to maintain freezing and cooling temperatures, even while being operated at the maximum level.
Chris Visconti at South Coast RV agreed we needed a third cooling-unit replacement. This time, however, he performed a service for us beyond the normal call of duty. After much effort, he talked our warranty company into paying the extra cost of acquiring a third cooling unit: this time a new PINE’S RV cooling-unit manufactured by one of the Amish enterprises in Amana, IA. They designed it with more cooling capacity, and it carried a five-year warranty. It has operated flawlessly. Unlike the Norcold, the PINE’S RV cooling-unit keeps items in the entire refrigerator at proper temperatures while operating at an efficient level #4 (instead of Norcold’s occasional operation at level #9).
Since we purchased our motor home in 2008, we received two notices of product recalls from Norcold (apparently required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission). Each notice related to fire danger caused by an unsafe elevation in cooling-unit temperatures. Norcold’s solution to the danger (approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission) was to install a high temperature override switch that automatically turned off the cooling-unit when it got too hot.
I suspect the real problem is that the Norcold cooling-units are defectively engineered in the first place, requiring customers to run them at the maximum level in order to get the cooling and freezing compartments to hold at proper temperatures. It seems logical to me that this could be the real cause of excessive heat in the cooling-units, leading to an increased risk of fire.

[muz newman]

I also have a Norcold ref freezer. The freezer seems ok but the refr must be on 9 to keep food cold enough. It has gone off a couple of times and had to turn off and then back on to start it. This is on a 2006 Damon.

["007"]

Welcome to you both to irv2.
The Norcold problems have been covered pretty much for the last four years on irv2, the recalls and more new recalls and the Amish cooling unit for better cooling.
With the Amish cooling units the Norcold recalls are not needed.
There have been fan problems added fans and fire extinguisher add ons because of fires.
Within this forum RV Appliances we even had people change out to residential refrigerators.
Its to bad you had all the problems and hope your new cooling unit will serve you well. thanks for your post, enjoy the forums and safe travels.

[Duner]

My Norcold is a Model 1201 four door made in 2003. I have had zero problems with it cooling and runs on setting 5 all the time. Thru the years here on the forum I have read about cooling problems resulting from improper venting in the back. There is some sheet metal ducting near the top that must be in the correct place or the natural flow of heat up the back side is inadequate.

Your problem may be related to the a venting issues.

Good luck,
Bill

On another note, while at the 1000 Trails in Palm Springs we saw the remains of a disastrous refrigerator fire. The couple and their dog made it out ok at 1:30 in the morning..... but the Alpha See Ya was totaled out.

[Duner]

Originally Posted by Duner

On another note, while at the 1000 Trails in Palm Springs we saw the remains of a disastrous refrigerator fire. The couple and their dog made it out ok at 1:30 in the morning..... but the Alpha See Ya was totaled out.

Here's a good link to the photo I wanted to show:

[lekhuset]

We also saw the remains of this motorhome. Thank heavens we installed the Samsung after our Norcold failed. We feel lucky ours failed during the day while we were home and thankful we had the recall done earlier. It is still too bad Norcold doesn't fix the problem.

[bldr11]

X2. I installed a Samsung after the Nocold failed. It was less expensive to buy the Samsung than it was to replace the cooling unit with a rebuilt.