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faucet1's avatar
faucet1
Explorer
Jan 22, 2017

Norcold 1200 RIM

The recall by Norcold whereby they put a safety switch on the back of the frig...the small control box has a red light on it. Is this red light suppose to be on if the box is working properly? Or is it suppose to be off and come on if the control box is not working? Mine is off.

28 Replies

  • prstlk wrote:
    Having the same Norcold - or more lovingly called Nevercold - it sounds like your cooling unit has failed.

    We have had 2 cooling units fail on us.

    What is happening with your unit is exactly the same it was with ours when it failed. Temps not where they should be. Fans not running.

    The 1st one failed in February of 2015. Thankfully our extended warranty covered it and we were only out the $100 deductible.

    The 2nd one failed in January of 2016. This was within the 1 year Thetford warranty. After much arguing with Thetford they finally agreed to send us a new cooling unit. Again the extended warranty paid the labor to replace it.

    If this is the first time the unit has failed on your rig you have had greater luck than most.

    Replacing the cooling unit is not cheap. Both of ours were around $2,200.00 each.

    Depending on the usage of your coach, i.e. full timer, winter only, occasionally, you might want to think about looking into a residential fridge. We will be installing one the next time anything goes wrong on our fridge.

    One thing to try is testing the thermister. You need to have an ohm meter for this.To do this you need to take the thermister out of the fridge. Put the clip end in a cup of ice water. Put the ohn meter clips on the other ends of the thermister. The Norcold website will tell you how many ohms of resistance it should have depending on your make and model of the fridge. If it is within range then the thermister is fine. Then leave the thermister out of the fridge for a while. If cooling improves with it out then it is likely the thermister.

    No matter what - it is very aggravating to have fridge issues.


    A defective Norcold Thermister will still OHM out correctly. The fans NOT running have no bearing on a bad cooling unit. They will run regardless as long as the Fan tstat is closed or your CU is bad. Doug
  • Having the same Norcold - or more lovingly called Nevercold - it sounds like your cooling unit has failed.

    We have had 2 cooling units fail on us.

    What is happening with your unit is exactly the same it was with ours when it failed. Temps not where they should be. Fans not running.

    The 1st one failed in February of 2015. Thankfully our extended warranty covered it and we were only out the $100 deductible.

    The 2nd one failed in January of 2016. This was within the 1 year Thetford warranty. After much arguing with Thetford they finally agreed to send us a new cooling unit. Again the extended warranty paid the labor to replace it.

    If this is the first time the unit has failed on your rig you have had greater luck than most.

    Replacing the cooling unit is not cheap. Both of ours were around $2,200.00 each.

    Depending on the usage of your coach, i.e. full timer, winter only, occasionally, you might want to think about looking into a residential fridge. We will be installing one the next time anything goes wrong on our fridge.

    One thing to try is testing the thermister. You need to have an ohm meter for this.To do this you need to take the thermister out of the fridge. Put the clip end in a cup of ice water. Put the ohn meter clips on the other ends of the thermister. The Norcold website will tell you how many ohms of resistance it should have depending on your make and model of the fridge. If it is within range then the thermister is fine. Then leave the thermister out of the fridge for a while. If cooling improves with it out then it is likely the thermister.

    No matter what - it is very aggravating to have fridge issues.
  • 1. Freezer should be BELOW 10 degrees
    2. Refer BELOW 40 degrees
    3. FANS MUST run for correct cooling on 1200 models
    4. The position of the Temp Thermister on the evap coils will have NO bearing on cooling, especially when you are 40 degrees too high on temp.
    5. Is the refer in a slide room? Doug
  • Was using AC when I noticed the problem. Switched over to LP thinking that might help. Same problem with both. I moved the temperature sensor over one fin to see if that made a difference, but still fans are not coming on if that might be the problem.
  • Does it cool better if using AC element?

    Poor cooling in LP....
    When was last time you cleaned/serviced the burner area?
    Dirty/obstructed burner slots will result in poor cooling
    Low propane pressure will also....11"WC



    Fridge in slide?
    Fans should be running based on 'condenser fin temps'
    Condenser is at top of fridge.....fan sensor/t-stat is attached to far right fin
    Closes at 130*F condenser fin temp to start fans/opens at 115*F

    Thermistor....
    Temp sensor inside fridge S/B be attached to 2nd fin from right

  • The reason for the question, the freezer is getting to about 30 degrees on LP and the frig compartment is only 62. I don't hear the fans running, and also was wondering if maybe the sensor inside the frig was not making good contact with the fins? I also looked for the fan sensor switch that is suppose to be near the control board on the back of the frig, but didn't see anything that resembled the illustration in the frig manual.
  • RED LED ON means the box has tripped. OFF means you are OK. IF ON, your refer will not function at all. Doug
  • RED LED ON means the box has tripped. OFF means you are OK. IF ON, your refer will not function at all. Doug