Norcold Fridge on the Blink

Open outside access vent cover......

Do you see a RED Light ON.

Recall Box has tripped ALL 12VDC to fridge.
12V DC is needed for fridge to function.
Panel lights, controls, interior light etc use 12V DC

Did you wash RV recently.........or have heavy blowing rain.
Recall Box can fault if it gets wet.

Recall Box is a safety device to trip ALL heating sources (by tripping 12V DC) in the event of HIGH-HIGH+ stack temps

Recall Box can be reset.......
Strong magnet rubbed across face of box at top until click/light out

BUT one needs to ask themselves
Did it really trip (700*F)'
OR just a glitch??????????????

I did open the panel and saw no red light. We wanted to get our stuff into the park's refrigerator so I didn't spend much time trying to diagnose. I wanted to see if the fridge is getting 12v but I'm not really sure where to do that. I do have a voltmeter.

UPDATE

Just took my voltmeter outside. The small black box with the red light (which was part of the recall fix, right?) has two connectors on the left labelled "12V IN", and one connector on the right labelled "12V OUT". Using my trusty voltmeter, I determined that there IS 12v coming in. I then put one lead on the "OUT" connector, and the other lead to a ground, and got....nothing.

That is the Recall Box.........

What REV is yours?

They are now on 'E'

Faulty Recall......FREE Replacement

Call out a Norcold Authorized RV Mobile Tech.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
That is the Recall Box.........

What REV is yours?

They are now on 'E'

Faulty Recall......FREE Replacement

Call out a Norcold Authorized RV Mobile Tech.

Not correct. IF the recall box is defective, Norcold will pay for the replacement, but NOT the service call or labor. IF the recall box just needs a magnet reset and does reset, Norcold pays nothing. Doug

Im on revision "E" now and we just had severe weather for a day. Red light is on. I reset it but trips right away again.???

Do you have a large magnet? You might be able to reset the box with it..the relay in it is possibly stuck in the "power off" position.

lj2654 wrote:
Im on revision "E" now and we just had severe weather for a day. Red light is on. I reset it but trips right away again.???

You must have the 12 volt power to that box disconnected to do a magnet reset. Disconnect the input power wire to the recall box and see if the magnet resets it. Doug

UPDATE #2

I shorted between the 12V IN and the 12V OUT....and the fridge immediately came back to life. Yay.

I called Norcold, and they recommend taking the coach to a service center to have the FRIDGE checked out, to ensure that it's functioning correctly and didn't somehow cause the recall box to fail. And they won't pay the $200 diagnosis cost...

I know I could have left the the two power wires connected, bypassing the box, and let the fridge start to cool, but I just wasn't sure if that was a good idea. I've left a message with a (supposedly) Norcold authorized tech to call me back, but in the meantime, any thoughts? I know I have to have a dealer order a new recall box for me; I can't do it myself. In the 5 business days it takes for the box to get here (!), I wonder if I should leave the fridge on by continuing to bypass the box.

And I assume the magnet-reset trick won't work if the red light isn't on?

Thoughts?

Now that the 'fault' has been diagnosed. Let's start over and get his fridge working for him again. To do so, he needs a Norcold 101.
1. Norcold fridges have a known problem with overheating.
2. Norcold's 'fix' was to install a box that will shut off the fridge if it overheats.
3. Norcold has had to 'update' this box as previous boxes continued to fail.
4. OP has latest version, so that's good.
5. OP's fridge's box has failed for an unknown reason.

There are several fixes, all well documented on the internet including YouTube videos.

USE CAUTION IN USING ANY OF THESE FIXES. DON'T ASSUME ANYTHING - YOUR LIFE COULD DEPEND ON IT!

Fixes include using a large/potent magnet to reset the switch to bypassing the switch altogether. Making the assumption that water entered the switch box and tripped it could have disastrous results. With that in mind, I'll offer the following: The control board in the fridge may have to be reset, click on the link below and follow the instructions. If you're going to reset the recall box with a magnet, follow the instructions on the appropriate link below. There are many 'advice' options on the internet but ARPRV seems to be the easiest to follow. IMHO, if you reset the recall box and it trips again, call a tech in to diagnose why. It's for your safety.

Finally, my advice is to explore the option of replacing it with a residential. I did, like you, performed all the 'fixes' listed including replacing the cooling unit with a Amish one. Finally I trashed the whole thing and went residential. Much larger cu.ft. box in the same space and never worrying about it catching on fire. That decision is yours alone. Best of luck...Dennis


Norcold Control Box Reset

Norcold Recall Box Reset