Forum Discussion

Big_Blue's avatar
Big_Blue
Explorer
Jun 22, 2014

Mystery Leak & Inoperative Fridge - related?

Good Afternoon & Greetings to all;

I need your assistance, suggestions and experience.

New owner of a 2008 Winnebago Destination, the 39 footer with a diesel pusher. Barely over 20,000 miles. Bought it over eBay, flew down to inspect and close the deal on first/last Class A. The coach was immaculately maintained in show room condition.

As with any vehicle that is six years old, there are minor nuisance issues within my wheelhouse of experience. (Been RV'ing over the past 19 years through two pop-up tent trailers, a travel trailer & a fifth wheel.)

This situation has me briefly stumped and perhaps you may have experienced a similar situation and can guide me towards resolution.

The problem appears to be isolated to the passenger slide out. (There is another nearly unrelated issue on the drivers side.) This is not a chassis/engine issue, but is a coach concern. With the slide out, and refrigerator has been on, when closing the coach, there is a flood of water onto the floor by the door. The top side of the slide is dry.

Then the Norcold refrigerator, Model 1211IM goes into fault code L1.OP. According to Norcold, the unit has been repaired under the infamous recall, so no real help there. We went out this weekend anyways, after buying an ice chest. So the fridge wasn't run. It had been running on shore power before the fault cold, so the upper freezer compartment had chilled while the lower compartment remained warm.

But when closing the passenger slide today, there was still a minor water spill. It hadn't rained over the weekend, with a high pressure weather system, there was little dew to condense into hidden areas, yet, the problem remains.

What I am thinking is that there is a blocked drainage hose to the rear of the fridge. I have looked into both upper and lower exterior access points. They are both dusty dry.

My next steps, after reposting this over onto another forum are to thoroughly research all known knowledge on the Winnebago Destination and the Norcold Refrigerator history.

What are your thoughts?
  • If it is in the slide it could be a leaky kitchen sink flexible drain line. Unrelated to the refrigerator problems
  • 1. Just reset with the Magnet
    2. Norcold will NOT send any recall parts to a retail customer---PERIOD!
    3. You must go to a Norcold service center to have any type recall work done or replaced other than the Magnet reset. Remember, your unit may have tripped because you DO have a defective cooling unit
    4. If the refer was NOT on and you have a large amount of water and no rain, then the Icemaker supply system is the suspect. NOT from the icemaker water valve to the icemaker mold as it will not be there since the refer was off. Do a complete trace from the icemaker water valve feed to the supply in the RV. You will probably fond that pinhole. There will be NO drain type problem as the refer was NOT ON. Doug
  • wa8yxm wrote:
    Ok, There are two major Fridge makers for RF's. Norcold and Dometic

    In both cases inside the fridge under the fins SHOULD be a pan, full width, solid bottom save for a funnel shaped hole that drips into a drip cup, this cup is connected via a plastic tube to the outside compartment.

    On a Norcold it should rest in a cup on the outside (Evaporation cup) near the burner side of the fridge,,,

    On a Dometic the tube is supposed to be extended out the vent so it drips, drips, drips on the ground.

    IF the tube is not in the cup, or out the vent, then it drips on the bottom of the outside compartment.. This can cause issues with the electronics that live there, even if its only the connection board.

    Same if the hose is broken.

    It could also cause your leak.


    Good points. The lower tube is bone dry, so any blockage is above that. So it's a matter of getting to the place, hopefully from upper exterior access point.

    Tnx, K1BS
  • Found this closed thread.

    And yes, I was connected to shore power, and had a commercial power outage, the day that the error first occurred. Will be contacting NorCold tomorrow to confirm proper power or magnet reset. Or convince them to ship me a Rev E box to replace the Rev D installed. Or use the magnet procedure.

    Now, about the ice maker line. The valve under the fridge is at 90 degrees v inline which tells me that there is no water pressure from under the sink to the ice maker. Accordingly, there is no water in the maker. All accessible view points between the sink and fridge are bone dry. Good idea though. The house fridge ice maker line had one of those fine cracks several years ago. This was coincidentally after a tremendous wind driven rain storm. I searched for the leak in the attic before finding the real leak.

    During my research, I did come across a reference to a clogged drain line. (which is similar to the clogged drain line I found in my house geothermal system). So that challenge remains.

    I feel like I'm working on a complex Space Shutte'esque system right now, but am also enjoying the learning.

    ATBest. The challenge goes on.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Ok, There are two major Fridge makers for RF's. Norcold and Dometic

    In both cases inside the fridge under the fins SHOULD be a pan, full width, solid bottom save for a funnel shaped hole that drips into a drip cup, this cup is connected via a plastic tube to the outside compartment.

    On a Norcold it should rest in a cup on the outside (Evaporation cup) near the burner side of the fridge,,,

    On a Dometic the tube is supposed to be extended out the vent so it drips, drips, drips on the ground.

    IF the tube is not in the cup, or out the vent, then it drips on the bottom of the outside compartment.. This can cause issues with the electronics that live there, even if its only the connection board.

    Same if the hose is broken.

    It could also cause your leak.
  • When I had a similar issue with mystery water it was a pinhole leak in the plastic line feeding the ice maker. It's happened twice so I keep the necessary repair items in the lower outside fridge compartment.