Forum Discussion

dshinnick's avatar
dshinnick
Explorer
Oct 02, 2013

Norcold Refrigerator Problems

Hey All-

Ok, here's my situation. We have a Norcold Refrigerator model 1200LRIM in a 2005 Holiday Rambler Ambassador, and here's our recent history:

1. We've been parked and on 50AMP service for the last month. All was fine.

2. About an hour before we left that park yesterday, the reefer started beeping and displayed a "no co" ( no cooling) message. I turned it off, back on, and it settled on LP, though we were still hooked up to 50AMP. I tried forcing it to AC, and it said "NO AC", so I put it back to AUTO, and it landed on LP again. I thought, fine, we can run on LP til we can get it fixed. We left that park and headed north.

3. After about 2 hours I stopped for lunch, heard the beeping again, saw "no co", and this time it would not work even on LP. So, I turned it off.

4. On the phone with a Norcold tech, he walked me through the process of resetting the circuit board. I noticed that the fuse on the board had blown, so I replaced that as well. After doing these two things, the reefer went to LP and seemed happy. After about 3 hours, more beeps, back to "no co", and the fuse on the circuit board is blown again.

5. The tech I had been talking to seems to think that the heating elements have gone bad. Another tech said no, that fuse is a 12-volt fuse, and bad heating elements would not cause it to blow.

So, here I am, stuck in the middle, with melting ice cream. If you're knowledgable about such things, would you share an opinion and suggestion?

Thanks Much-

Dave
Class A
  • Executive45's avatar
    Executive45
    Explorer III
    Oct 03, 2013
    Just a point of clarification. Inside the circuit board box are TWO fuses. One is 12VDC and the other is 120VAC. Which fuse kept blowing? I'm not in the "use it til it blows camp". This usually leads to bad and expensive repairs. There's a reason why the fuse keeps blowing. That should be addressed and repaired before using the fridge.

    There is a short somewhere that's causing the problem. I would suspect the problem crops up after the elements get hot. This points to two areas, the heating elements and/or the circuit board itself.

    Start with some easy stuff first. Pull off the outside inspection door and run a check of EVERY wire and CONNECTION behind that panel. Make sure they're tight and not corroded. Look inside the circuit board box, where you found the fuses, and look for any discoloration that might indicate short circuiting or damage. Determine which fuse continues to blow....12v or 120v..that might help in tracking the problem further.....Dennis
  • 2ndhom's avatar
    2ndhom
    Explorer
    Oct 02, 2013
    First things first!!! Go to a Walmart parking lot and sell ice cream cones (this will get rid of your ice cream melting problem) which will help pay for repair cost if any.
    Second ... replace your fuse again and this time try turning the cold temp to the warmest number so the fridge does not run so long. This may limp you home until more time available to play with it.
  • mccsix's avatar
    mccsix
    Explorer
    Oct 02, 2013
    Buy a small dorm fridge till you can sort it out. Just did this on our big trip to Maine this summer. Notcold would be marginal in the freezer and 50-60 in the fridge section, so we finished the trip with our small fridge...worked out OK cost us $80 till we got home then replaced the cooling unit.
  • prism's avatar
    prism
    Explorer
    Oct 02, 2013
    dshinnick wrote:
    Hey All-

    Ok, here's my situation. We have a Norcold Refrigerator model 1200LRIM in a 2005 Holiday Rambler Ambassador, and here's our recent history:

    1. We've been parked and on 50AMP service for the last month. All was fine.

    2. About an hour before we left that park yesterday, the reefer started beeping and displayed a "no co" ( no cooling) message. I turned it off, back on, and it settled on LP, though we were still hooked up to 50AMP. I tried forcing it to AC, and it said "NO AC", so I put it back to AUTO, and it landed on LP again. I thought, fine, we can run on LP til we can get it fixed. We left that park and headed north.

    3. After about 2 hours I stopped for lunch, heard the beeping again, saw "no co", and this time it would not work even on LP. So, I turned it off.

    4. On the phone with a Norcold tech, he walked me through the process of resetting the circuit board. I noticed that the fuse on the board had blown, so I replaced that as well. After doing these two things, the reefer went to LP and seemed happy. After about 3 hours, more beeps, back to "no co", and the fuse on the circuit board is blown again.

    5. The tech I had been talking to seems to think that the heating elements have gone bad. Another tech said no, that fuse is a 12-volt fuse, and bad heating elements would not cause it to blow.

    So, here I am, stuck in the middle, with melting ice cream. If you're knowledgable about such things, would you share an opinion and suggestion?

    Thanks Much-

    Dave

    Need new circut board.Fairly commen problem.Average about $200 and easy to change.Jusat draw a diagram of which wires go where unless u have a picture of the board which u look up online
  • Heisenberg's avatar
    Heisenberg
    Explorer
    Oct 02, 2013
    Try tightening all of your 12V connections especially grounds. Look for corrosion.
  • allbrandauto's avatar
    allbrandauto
    Explorer
    Oct 02, 2013
    your problem is in the 12 volt system may be circut bored inside fridge light anything fed by 12 volts put fused amp meter between fuse see how many amps its drawing if its more than the fuse rating unplug things to amps go down that's were problem will be

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