Norcold 621 Refrigerator AC malfunction

From a remark by a tech named Doug on another heating element thread, if you cannot get the failed one out, you can put the new one into another "slot" on the cooling unit. Last time I worked on one, the 120VAC element was very hard to remove but I finally got it out. The fridge was a Three Way, which adds a 12VDC element to that extra slot. But most of these fridges are only Two Way (LP Gas and 120VAC) leaving that extra slot.
The 120VAC element is two wire and there should be no continuity to its metal shell. If it develops that continuity as it heats up, it'll trip GFI. If it develops continuity (less than specified resistance of around 40 ohms) then it'll blow the 5A fuse.

Thank you all! Replaced the blown 5A fuse, fridge ran a few moments and then another code "A" (no AC.) Looks like I've got my work cut out replacing that heating element.

Sounds like the heating element. I had the same symptoms. It even would ohm out according the specs but would trip the GFI. Worked fine on the extension cord. As a heads up it took a while to get out wiggling back and forth with needle nose pliers, was very rusty. Good luck.

THANKS ALL! Gives me a direction to go this morning.

There is a 5A (3AG glass) fuse on lower board for the electric heating element

Element is a 300W element. (pulls 2.7 amps and ohms out at 40 ohms)

Fault Code 'A'----AC power unavailable to control panel
That usually means the 5A fuse has blown (provided you have 120V AC)

The 5A fuse blows due to a bad element

It is a fairly common problem in those refrigerators.

Electrical insulation failure in the heating element causes a ground fault.

You're looking at ~$125 for the part + 2 hours labor for the repair.

Can you unplug the fridge and hook it up directly to an extension cord to see if there is an issue? This would take all the other RV circuitry out of the equation to help you isolate the problem.

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