I have an 06 Alfa See Ya. Last night, I re-leveled the MH after being here for a month. This morning the Norcold is warm and it hasn't gotten better. (I don't know if the two are connected) Before this morning, it was working fine. All the lights are showing that it is on and there are no codes. The red light on the back of the unit is not lit.

Does it have fans in outside compartment?IF it does..are they working?Is in in a slide-out?What are outside air temps?Is freezer cold (0-10*F) and food section warm?Or is freezer & food section warm?Are you using propane or electric?How off level was MH before you re-leveled?

Not sure about the fans. Where are they located?We are in Santa Maria, CA = 70sHave used both propane and acWe were less than an 2 inches offThanksBoth freeze and food section are warmOld-Biscuit wrote:Does it have fans in outside compartment?IF it does..are they working?Is in in a slide-out?What are outside air temps?Is freezer cold (0-10*F) and food section warm?Or is freezer & food section warm?Are you using propane or electric?How off level was MH before you re-leveled?

Go and buy 10 lbs of dry ice (many grocery stores sell it and most ice stores) to save what food you have by putting half in the freezer and half in the refer section. The fans are outside and you should be able to hear them running at the outside vent. If you cannot hear them running put a 120V fan in the outside vent hole to see if this will get it to start cooling. If the fans are running disconnect the thermistor (mounted on the right fins on the inside) at the connector near the light. This will make it go to max cooling as it will not cycle off for 48+ hours. If this is 1200 the display will give you a lot of info so do a google search for diagnostics. Here it is.

Be sure to wrap the dry ice for the refrigerator section in a couple of pieces of newspaper, or it will freeze everything in there.

From what I understand, if your level enough to be comfortable in your RV, your Norcold should not be damaged. I ruined mine, but I was parked on a pretty steep incline.Do some quick research on the topic online. You'll find lots of videos on what to check. There should be an access panel to get into the back of your fridge from the outside of your RV. Check to see if your heat source is putting out heat. The heater has to heat up the solution in your Norcold pipes for it to work. That heat source can be electricity or propane. It's easiest to see if the propane is doing its job. If the flame is blue and your fridge is still cold, you may have problems.The best advice is look online for videos on how to troubleshoot your RV fridge. It only takes about 20 minutes to understand how they operate.Tom

Warm Norcold | Good Sam Community

dougrainer
Nomad
May 26, 2014
egh33 wrote:
If yours is like mine, which I just had new fans put in, it works fine when I first turn it on as long as I don't move the coach. I drove a little over 100 miles and it quit keeping the lower part cold. I took the out access panel off out side and placed a fan blowing on it and it cooled it right down. My freezer compartment stayed froze all the time but always after I drive a little with the fridge on gas it warms up in the lower compartment. I took it to the shop and they don't know why it does it either. I would suggest to you try the fan out side blowing in on the back of the fridge.

The cause of normal cooling while parked and then the lower refer rises in temp in transit is 1 or 2 things.
1. The CU on a 1200 has NOT been sealed correctly to the box. Norcold had a few 10/12 years ago that had this problem. This can be a problem if the CU has been replaced and the installer did not seal the CU to the box correctly
2. The evap drain pan hose does not have the check valve in the end of the hose and this cause hot air to be pulled into the refer.
3. A REMOTE cause would be the doors are not sealing correctly, but enough to allow adequate cooling without moving. Doug
dougrainer
Nomad
May 26, 2014
John S. wrote:
The sodium dichromate is what the use to prevent corrosion. It is also what causes the plugs. So if you have less on the cooling unit pipes (it adheres to them) and it flakes off then you get a plug. What happens is the lesser amounts causes a weak spot and then it goes from there.

I have been RVing for decades and the older propane fridges lasted much longer then the newer ones. Look at all the new cooling units needed.

That is NOT the reason you get "plugs or a blockage" in the CU. Running off level is what causes the coolant to build up and cause small blockages. ALL those little times over the years that you parked unlevel even for a few minutes or a few hours, this cause the coolant to start a small blockage and the fact that you do NOT notice it makes some thing they got away with running off level. BUT, after years of this, what some think is ALL OF A SUDDEN, they get low performance or no cooling and they think the blockage just happened. NOT SO. Doug
Gjac
Explorer III
May 26, 2014
John thanks for the explanation mine is 18 years old and still cools, I thought I was on borrowed time after reading all these posts about new cooling units and switching to residential. Several folks posted that the new cooling units(Amish) had thicker tubing and were less likely to leak. I guess that would be an advantage over a new Norcold or Domectic refer.
John_S_
Explorer II
May 25, 2014
The sodium dichromate is what the use to prevent corrosion. It is also what causes the plugs. So if you have less on the cooling unit pipes (it adheres to them) and it flakes off then you get a plug. What happens is the lesser amounts causes a weak spot and then it goes from there.

I have been RVing for decades and the older propane fridges lasted much longer then the newer ones. Look at all the new cooling units needed.
egh33
Explorer
May 25, 2014
If yours is like mine, which I just had new fans put in, it works fine when I first turn it on as long as I don't move the coach. I drove a little over 100 miles and it quit keeping the lower part cold. I took the out access panel off out side and placed a fan blowing on it and it cooled it right down. My freezer compartment stayed froze all the time but always after I drive a little with the fridge on gas it warms up in the lower compartment. I took it to the shop and they don't know why it does it either. I would suggest to you try the fan out side blowing in on the back of the fridge.
revump
Explorer
May 25, 2014
We got the Norcold fixed. It took a new cooling unit. Costly, but effective.

Thanks for your help.

Bob
Gjac
Explorer III
May 12, 2014
John S. wrote:
Did you look at a new propane fridge. They are about 300 bucks more. FYI, I dry camp more then hook up and have no issues with a residential in my class A. I run the genny to cook and make coffee an hour or so in the morning. To each their own. The issue is that the EPA reduced the amount of sodium dichromate allowed as it is a cancer causing material. So all new cooling units have a much shorter lifespan than older ones ever wonder why we are seeing so many failures.
How does reducing the amount of sodium dichromate cause more failures?
John_S_
Explorer II
May 12, 2014
Did you look at a new propane fridge. They are about 300 bucks more. FYI, I dry camp more then hook up and have no issues with a residential in my class A. I run the genny to cook and make coffee an hour or so in the morning. To each their own. The issue is that the EPA reduced the amount of sodium dichromate allowed as it is a cancer causing material. So all new cooling units have a much shorter lifespan than older ones ever wonder why we are seeing so many failures.
revump
Explorer
May 12, 2014
We do too much dry camping

John S. wrote:
A new fridge is only a bit more then a cooling unit. Might be a good time to look at a residential. You will have this problem again after a bit. The new cooling units have less protection in them.
John_S_
Explorer II
May 12, 2014
A new fridge is only a bit more then a cooling unit. Might be a good time to look at a residential. You will have this problem again after a bit. The new cooling units have less protection in them.

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