Norcold 1200 LRIM not cooling on gas
This is intended as information and possibly help others, as these are very common RV refridgerators.
After returning to Arizona from a trip along the Oregon coast, the motorhome was parked in front of our home a few days as we were planning on leaving again.
I noticed the cooling fans were not running. At first, I started looking for an electrical problem, such as power to the fans. With some difficulty I was able to connect test leads to the thermastacic switch. Power was good. It was then I noticed how cool the area was and that the fan was only switched on at 130 deg F. The refridgerator was about 60 inside, but the freezer was still making ice! The flame at the burner looked good, a nice blue flame with a slight roar.
Doing some online research, I came across a series of videos produced by Roger and Onna Lee Ford. They very clearly explain the operation and trouble shooting of these units. They also claim that most cooling units now in landfills were mis-diagnosed and could have been repaired.
http://rvrefrigeration.com/
Based on that, I plugged into power and waited till the next morning, surprise, the fin temp in the food compartment was at 22 deg, and the fans were running. Switched back to gas and it slowely warmed back up to 59.
Knowing that the unit operates from one heat source, was enough to prove the unit is O.K. I then removed the burner assembly and cleaned it. Also vacuumed the box. Using a mirror I looked up the chimney, I could see up to the spiral device, it looked clear. Put it back together and it was an improvement. On gas, the fin temp in the food compartment would get down to 36 overnight. Still too warm.
An email to Onna Lee Ford produced a reply, she said to check the gas pressure for 11 inches of water column. Not having a manometer, was going to make one, but it happened we had a repair guy working on the ice maker of our house Kenmore. He had one and took a reading. It was right on at 11 inches. The service guy was familier with Norcolds and asked if I had the new upgraded burner. After some checking, found out that they replaced the original 8 slot burner with a 7 slot burner. Got one installed and in the first 15 minutes it was clear it was better. The cooling fans came on (would take at least two hours with the old burner) and the fin temps dropped to 39 in 30 minutes. By the next morning, fin temp. was 19 degrees! Freezer was 3 degrees in the ice maker compartment and there was a thin layer of ice in food compartment on the bottle water.
In summery, the gas performance was probably always marginal at best, but not noticed because we were usually on electric. When dirt fell into the burner its performance was seriously degredaded. After cleaning, it looked good, sounded good, but performance was still marginal. Its just by luck I found out about the newer burner.
Roger and Onne Lee were very helpful even though they werent making any money from me, would certainly go to their shop if you are in the area.
Hope this can help someone. Be sure to watch the videos, very informative.
After returning to Arizona from a trip along the Oregon coast, the motorhome was parked in front of our home a few days as we were planning on leaving again.
I noticed the cooling fans were not running. At first, I started looking for an electrical problem, such as power to the fans. With some difficulty I was able to connect test leads to the thermastacic switch. Power was good. It was then I noticed how cool the area was and that the fan was only switched on at 130 deg F. The refridgerator was about 60 inside, but the freezer was still making ice! The flame at the burner looked good, a nice blue flame with a slight roar.
Doing some online research, I came across a series of videos produced by Roger and Onna Lee Ford. They very clearly explain the operation and trouble shooting of these units. They also claim that most cooling units now in landfills were mis-diagnosed and could have been repaired.
http://rvrefrigeration.com/
Based on that, I plugged into power and waited till the next morning, surprise, the fin temp in the food compartment was at 22 deg, and the fans were running. Switched back to gas and it slowely warmed back up to 59.
Knowing that the unit operates from one heat source, was enough to prove the unit is O.K. I then removed the burner assembly and cleaned it. Also vacuumed the box. Using a mirror I looked up the chimney, I could see up to the spiral device, it looked clear. Put it back together and it was an improvement. On gas, the fin temp in the food compartment would get down to 36 overnight. Still too warm.
An email to Onna Lee Ford produced a reply, she said to check the gas pressure for 11 inches of water column. Not having a manometer, was going to make one, but it happened we had a repair guy working on the ice maker of our house Kenmore. He had one and took a reading. It was right on at 11 inches. The service guy was familier with Norcolds and asked if I had the new upgraded burner. After some checking, found out that they replaced the original 8 slot burner with a 7 slot burner. Got one installed and in the first 15 minutes it was clear it was better. The cooling fans came on (would take at least two hours with the old burner) and the fin temps dropped to 39 in 30 minutes. By the next morning, fin temp. was 19 degrees! Freezer was 3 degrees in the ice maker compartment and there was a thin layer of ice in food compartment on the bottle water.
In summery, the gas performance was probably always marginal at best, but not noticed because we were usually on electric. When dirt fell into the burner its performance was seriously degredaded. After cleaning, it looked good, sounded good, but performance was still marginal. Its just by luck I found out about the newer burner.
Roger and Onne Lee were very helpful even though they werent making any money from me, would certainly go to their shop if you are in the area.
Hope this can help someone. Be sure to watch the videos, very informative.
