Refrigerator repair

egh33 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

egh33 wrote:
You folks on here keep saying if the control box is locked out, it would not work at all. That's not what Norcold says. I hope they know what they are talking about. I am really sorry I even made this post.

Don't be sorry. You posted a good info link. There is NO LOCKOUT other than the NO CO code. IF you had the NO CO code, then you have to do what is called a HARD reset. Disconnecting power will not reset the NO CO code. IF you have a NO CO code, the refer will not even function at all. It will just flash the NO CO code. From your post, your so called Technician is NOT qualified at all. Do not use him in the future for anything. Doug

Here is what they said!!!
The next step is to reset the Control Board. In the case of the two failures above, the problem was not the thermistor. The control board had locked-up. Based on information provided by a refrigerator technician, locking-up of the control board is a very random occurrence. It is believed to be caused by low house battery voltage, but may occur from other reasons. First, reconnect the electrical plug to the thermistor that was disconnected in the first step. Then go outside and remove the refrigerator ventilation panel. With the panel removed you should see a black control box mounted on the back of the refrigerator below the cooling unit coils. You will see many wires running to this control box. But, near the center of the bottom you should see a set of white and black wires connected to the box by spade connectors. The black wire is the 12 volt source wire and may have a smaller black wire connected to it, or it may be single. Disconnect the black wire(s) at the spade connector. You may need some needle nose pliers to do this. Caution, do not let this wire touch a ground source or other metal, because it is 12 volts positive hot. Leave disconnected for 2 minutes or longer. This in affect will reset the control board.

WHO said this? The website you went to or Norcold. The reason I ask, is, Norcold DOES NOT talk and give repair info to retail customers. They would never state such a thing to a retail customer. OLDER Norcold boards had such a problem and it was caused by a SLOW 12 volt drop in voltage. They fixed this problem on newer boards over 10 years ago. This is a different reaction from disconnecting 12 volts and re applying 12 volts. The reaction was caused by a slow discharge coming from a battery system going dead or dropping below 12 volts. Also, the wiring running to the refer is NOT always Black and White. On a 1200 there are also a Black and White that have the smaller wires connected also that is in the center of the control box and THAT set is for the rear fans and some interior control wiring. You have to be carefull what you find and apply from the Internet. I clicked your link and THAT was NOT an official Norcold site or bulletin. Doug

I guess I am so wrong I just deleted all.

egh33 wrote:
You folks on here keep saying if the control box is locked out, it would not work at all. That's not what Norcold says. I hope they know what they are talking about. I am really sorry I even made this post.

Don't be sorry. You posted a good info link. There is NO LOCKOUT other than the NO CO code. IF you had the NO CO code, then you have to do what is called a HARD reset. Disconnecting power will not reset the NO CO code. IF you have a NO CO code, the refer will not even function at all. It will just flash the NO CO code. From your post, your so called Technician is NOT qualified at all. Do not use him in the future for anything. Doug

egh33 wrote:
You folks on here keep saying if the control box is locked out, it would not work at all. That's not what Norcold says. I hope they know what they are talking about. I am really sorry I even made this post.

What did Norcold say was the control box lock out? Iam trying to understand how the freezer worked but not the fridge? the control box runs the unit.There is no separate fridge/freezer controls so if the control box was not operating the whole unit would not work
not trying to argue just trying to understand exactly what was wrong and why that fixed your problem>?

Is there such a thing, as one of these RV fridges working for a few years with out having to do something to them.
Seams like every time you turn around, something is messed up on them.
Like on our 841, the AC heating element has gone out "AGAIN" & I just put that element in back in April, $76 bucks down the drain.

New one on the way from E Bay, one of them 39 buck jobs with free shipping, so we'll see how long that one last.

Atwood water heater control board went out, I guess around the same time as that fridge heating element, so I got one of the Dino Electrics units off e bay as well to replace that, see how good those are. At least the Dino unit can be repaired, not all sealed up like the Norcold unit.
Neil

deleted.

On any Norcold refer in the past 20 years, just disconnect the inside Temp thermistor plug and then run 24 hours. That will usually give you a good indication of the cooling of the refer. If it cools to specs but not with the thermistor plugged in, the odds are the Thermister is defective. A Defective Norcold Thermister will test (OHM test) OK, even tho it is bad. Doug

Ivylog wrote:
I agree that "locked out" would stop it from working completely. I have a steep driveway and forgot to turn my 1200 off when parked there before a trip. Freezer would cool but the refer section would not. Instead of turning upside down, I vibrated the rear coils with a really strong massager through the rear vent. This "burped" the unit and it started to work. After two years of only fair cooling I replaced the cooling unit with a Amish one. Vibrating or tapping on the rear lower coils has made several other units start to work here on the forums.

Burping or vibrating may make them "seem" to function. IF you have a blocked or partially blocked cooling unit---NOTHING will remove the block or make them function to 100%. They may seem to work, but that is subjective. What you may think is working is the refer NOT fully functional, but is working enough to make you happy. When the weather gets hot and the refer needs to function at 100%, it will NOT. I have posted a link to the Pics from one of the aftermarket builders that show what and where the blockage is before on another post. IF you have the Technical knowledge(I Do), then you know that any type blockage is permanent and you cannot burp or vibrate your way out of it. Doug

I agree that "locked out" would stop it from working completely. I have a steep driveway and forgot to turn my 1200 off when parked there before a trip. Freezer would cool but the refer section would not. Instead of turning upside down, I vibrated the rear coils with a really strong massager through the rear vent. This "burped" the unit and it started to work. After two years of only fair cooling I replaced the cooling unit with a Amish one. Vibrating or tapping on the rear lower coils has made several other units start to work here on the forums.

alot of frig problems can be solved by checking the door seal. ours puzzled us for a couple yrs. and two frig guys later,, I by accident was staring at it one day and noticed the bottom of the door was a bit open compared to the top. just for kicks I put a bungee cord across the door ,it,ll freeze in the frig compartment now.