OK, did something dumb. Last Sunday we got home and I took things out of the MH. Emptied the frig and propped open the doors to the freezer and the frig. Shut everything down.Or so I thought.Last night I go out to the MH and discover that I never turned off the refrigerator. It had been running for 4 days with the doors open. And it has been over 100 degrees outside here in north Texas every day! I have a vent fan than run in the MH, but it was still in the 90's inside each day.I closed the doors last night after putting some frozen gallon jugs of water into the frig and freezer. (I do this whenever I start it up before a trip.) Now nearly a day later, it does not seem to be cold at all - I suspect whatever 'cooling' that I can sense is from the frozen bottles melting down most of the way.Is it toast? Or did I dodge a bullet?I spoke to one person who suggested that I just turn it off for 24 hours and see what happens when I turn it back on.This is a 2007 model Class C with a Norcold 6 cubic foot unit. Are 'current' models available any more efficient / better at cooling / keeping things cold than my 6 year old unit? If I am going to be facing a bill of 20-30% the cost of a new unit to repair, I would be inclined to replace if I could get better service from it.Thanks in advance!Martin

I did the same thing. Mine was level and it didn't hurt it at all. I really can't see why it would. They often run almost 100% of the time when it's hot outside anyway.Maybe just give it some more time? Hopefully it will come back.

If it was extremely unlevel that may hurt.Yes, I'd just shut it off for a while then try again. Before you do, see if the coils are pretty hot, indicating it's been running.

Forgot to mention that my driveway where it sits is pretty sloped.I typically never run it on my driveway for that reason.When I get ready to leave and want to start it up for cooldown, I bring it around to the front of the house where it is level - like I did last night.Martin

If it was out of level and ran that much then it's likely toast I'm sorry to say. :(

OK, assuming for a moment that it is toast, can someone explain the difference between Norcold models. I currently have a 611 installed. Seems that the 621 and 641 are the same physical size. I can see that the 641 seems to have doors with wrapped edges - which I am not interested in as I have a wood panel that matches my cabinets as the door insert. So what's the difference between the 611 and 621?

Do I need a new refrigerator? | Good Sam Community

martinandanne
Explorer
Aug 12, 2013
Turned it off on Friday afternoon. Drove it 250 miles Friday night. Saturday night we were parked overnight so we turned it on.
Sunday morning the freezer was cold - not sure how cold. But the frig showed no signs of being cold at all.

To those who wrote in - the house batteries were never dead or disconnected. And it didn't run out of propane, nor was the propane tank shut off. So I am pretty confident that it ran for about 4 days severely out of level with the doors open.

Martin
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 12, 2013
Hi,

Find a washboard road. DRIVE on it until the fillings are jarring out of your teeth. HOPE that knocks the blockage free. Test the fridge again. It if works--sin no more and keep the fridge level.
Travel2build
Explorer
Aug 12, 2013
Thought the way to get rid of a blckage is to take fridge out and lay on left side for at least a day but a week is better.
RoadXYZ
Explorer II
Aug 12, 2013
martinandanne wrote:
Turned it off on Friday afternoon. Drove it 250 miles Friday night. Saturday night we were parked overnight so we turned it on. Sunday morning the freezer was cold - not sure how cold. But the frig showed no signs of being cold at all.

To those who wrote in - the house batteries were never dead or disconnected. And it didn't run out of propane, nor was the propane tank shut off. So I am pretty confident that it ran for about 4 days severely out of level with the doors open. Martin

When our refrigerator was "toast" neither the refer or freezer was cold ... we just had the coil replaced by an rv service center.

We have a two-door refer and in the past we have had an issue with the refer door when we thought it was shut tight and it wasn't .. then the refer was not as cold as we thought it should be while the freezer door was shut tight and the freezer was cold.

And have had other times when our refer is on the afternoon sun side of the lot that it has appeared to be not as 'cold' as expected, but in the early morning hours it has been cold. Just my 2 cents worth.
martinandanne
Explorer
Sep 09, 2013
If anyone in the Dallas area is interested, I now am the proud owner of a non-functioning Norcold refer. Sitting in the warehouse at my work. Would rather give it to someone who might have some use for it rather than just put it out and let a scrap collector take it.

BTW, putting in the replacement was really easy - after I realized that I was going to have to pull off the door frame and the door of my Class C to get it to fit! But with the help of another fellow RVer at work, I got it done in a couple of hours about 2 weeks ago. The new one - while expensive - is much nicer than the OEM model that came in the MH.

Martin
mena661
Explorer
Sep 09, 2013
Which one did you get?
down_home
Explorer II
Sep 09, 2013
Is there a code on the little dispaly on front of the unit?
dougrainer
Nomad
Sep 09, 2013
Travel2build wrote:
Thought the way to get rid of a blckage is to take fridge out and lay on left side for at least a day but a week is better.

You can NEVER get rid of a blockage. All Burping does is remix the Ammonia charge and sometimes the refer will cool for a few weeks or month, but NEVER to its full capacity because of the blockage. The Blockage is as hard as a weld and is "welded" to the upper tube area and cannot be knocked loose or removed. Rebuilders cut out the tubing where the blockage is and weld a new tubing section in place of the blocked tubing. Doug
martinandanne
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
To answer the recent questions -

I bought a Norcold 641.

There was no code on the front. If you looked at the unit, you would think it was working just fine.

Martin

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