Warm fridge and freezer

Question

Well, I suppose I should have expected issues - it's an old MH (1993) and it sat over the whole winter, in storage.

We are prepping to drive back up north so I moved the MH to a full hookup site for a few days to check everything and pack to go back to Michigan. Water is fine, AC is fine but the fridge is not getting cold, at all, and it's been two days.

A few points:

Running on AC and the ammonia tank and lines are hot to warm - so the heater element seems to be working. On the first day it seemed that the freezer was working, though I don't have a thermometer. The fridge itself has not even cooled slightly in two days - the fins are warm to the touch. Now the freezer seems to be warm so neither one is working. The unit is level and, as I said, the ammonia is warmed up real good.

It is a Norcold 662, two way (no 12v operation). I just now flipped it over to propane but I don't expect any change since the heater element is working with 120v.

Thoughts?

donn0128 · Answer

Can you see any yellowish stains on the outside coils or smell any ammonia?

old-biscuit · Answer

As suggested........Inspect burner area for any yellowish residue/powderFrom your description your cooling unit has died

bordercollie · Answer

Telephone Norcold, have model and serial number handy, describe symptoms clearly. Our Dometic fridge cooling unit died at about 10 years old. We had a same dimensioned Norcold fridge installed. RV service had to remove new fridge and turn it upside down to distribute ammonia and get it working.

If you see yellowish stains or smell ammonia it may be that cooling unit needs replacement

teacher_s_pet · Answer

mikemc53 wrote:Well, I suppose I should have expected issues - it's an old MH (1993) and it sat over the whole winter, in storage.We are prepping to drive back up north so I moved the MH to a full hookup site for a few days to check everything and pack to go back to Michigan. Water is fine, AC is fine but the fridge is not getting cold, at all, and it's been two days. A few points:Running on AC and the ammonia tank and lines are hot to warm - so the heater element seems to be working. On the first day it seemed that the freezer was working, though I don't have a thermometer. The fridge itself has not even cooled slightly in two days - the fins are warm to the touch. Now the freezer seems to be warm so neither one is working. The unit is level and, as I said, the ammonia is warmed up real good.It is a Norcold 662, two way (no 12v operation). I just now flipped it over to propane but I don't expect any change since the heater element is working with 120v.Thoughts?I see you are in SE Michigan, sounds like it's time for a trip to Shipshewana Indiana to see Leon Hershberger @ National RV RefrigerationLeon can rebuild your cooling unit or sell you one if he has it in stock. Leon is an Amishman, but is not the maker of "The Amish Cooling Unit", he fabricates his own using heavier materials than OEM. He did ours in September 2012 and it's still working great. Ours is a Norcold 1200 and our cost then was around $950 removed rebuilt and reinstalled. I had him install a ARPrv Control  on our cooling unit last fall, now the temperature of the boiler can't get with in 250° of the normal cooling unit failure temperature.

lenr · Answer

X2 on Leon.  He has done AC for us and fridge rebuild for our son.  For those of you that haven't been by lately, he has moved the shop on to his farm, North of Shipshewana a couple of miles on the East side of the road.  He is not real good at calling back--I just call persistently first thing in the morning to get an appointment time.  He is defiantly worth the effort, and his prices are lower than anyone else.

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Warm fridge and freezer

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