Ready to buy a rebuilt cooling unit for it. But before I do - I want to make sure that the cooling unit really is the issue. Yes, it's 30 years old so it's a pretty good bet. But....On propane and 120V, I can hear the liquid moving through the coils. They don't get cold. It has a thermostat in the fridge. I'm wondering if it could be bad (either in addition to the coils or actually the cause of the no-cooling). How do the thermostats work? Do they cut the flame or electric when the fridge reaches the desired temp? Or does something else happen? My flame burns continuously and the electric element heats continuously but there is no cooling action.

I would not replace a cooling unit in a 30 year old refer.Thermostat is in the refer compartment. When it gets to the set temperature it will shut down either the flame or turn off the electric element.There was many recalls on Norcolds. Did they ever get done?You could replace cooling unit and that may not be problem. Older refers have their cooling liquid solidify and will not start again. I had an old unit that I took out and rolled on the ground. It worked for a while then completely died.I would get a new direct replacement unit. It will be much more efficient. To me it doesn't matter whether it is a Norcold or Dometic replacement.

On a working cooling unit you can not hear the fluid/vapor/fluid cycle going on.If you hear 'gurgling' it because cooling unit has blockage.30 yr. old fridge.....new cooling unit and it's still a 30 yr. old fridge (controls, burner, door seals etc.)Replace the whole fridge.

Thanks for the info - the answer to the thermostat question is what I needed. The recall has been performed - I checked the circuit board part number.This is a project rig that I picked up for $200 (Allegro M30). I've got around $2500 into the restoration (mostly in the new engine and 6 new tires) and it's finally road-ready. Everything works wonderfully except for the fridge. I'd like to fix it inexpensively - I don't plan to have this thing for more than a few years.I can replace the cooling unit, thermostat and circuit board for half the cost of a replacement fridge if I had to. The Norcold replacement fridge is $1,200. The cooling unit is $425, circuit board is $90 and the thermostat is $75. The heating element works as does the propane. Chimney is in good shape, door seals are so-so. I'd like to get a new fridge, but it doesn't make sense to spend that much on this rig - so long as I can repair it safely. I had been looking around for a used one, but chances are it would have the same problem.

A very common thing that happened to that era Norcold is that the foam insulation breaks down. The door will swell a bit, and the sides and top will show obvious moisture problems. I have worked on one that was recently rebuilt, yet not working. It was brought to me to troubleshoot. The problem was the box had near zero insulation left.

Chris Bryant wrote:A very common thing that happened to that era Norcold is that the foam insulation breaks down. The door will swell a bit, and the sides and top will show obvious moisture problems. I have worked on one that was recently rebuilt, yet not working. It was brought to me to troubleshoot. The problem was the box had near zero insulation left.I'll inspect it when I remove it. Door looks good, but there is a suspicious bubble in the back of the unit. It looks odd, but the shelf is actually constructed in a manner such that it goes around the bubble. It wasn't a previous-owner modification.I did the dollar-bill test of the door seals and it's good despite the hinge-edge seals having been crushed and deformed over time.EDIT: Looking at the "bubble" again, it can't be factory. Not sure what happened, but it clearly melted. The shelf was cut to accommodate the bulge. I'll take a closer look at it when I remove it. Otherwise, I don't see any swelling or other issues.I found a cooling unit for $245 shipped from a "picker" company. They snagged two of them from a failed retail store. They're rebuilt units from Nordic and for my 8310.

Norcold 8310 Not Working | Good Sam Community

30 Replies

mchero
Explorer
May 29, 2014
Cant anwser that question Turbo. My fridge was 07 vintage so it's still in rather good shape.
turbojimmy
Explorer
May 29, 2014
mchero wrote:
good Job!
You going to put some fans in the back for additional air movement? The body of that gas valve looks like it's starting to deteriorate.

Thanks! Yes that solenoid is looking sketchy. I know the newer ones have fans. I could do that. I assume they're thermostatically controlled?
mchero
Explorer
May 29, 2014
good Job!
You going to put some fans in the back for additional air movement? The body of that gas valve looks like it's starting to deteriorate.
turbojimmy
Explorer
May 29, 2014
Okay - after 2.5 hours the freezer is 8.5 degrees and the fridge is 38 degrees. The fridge in my house is 9 degrees in the freezer and 39 in the fridge. I think it's a success. I shut it down.
turbojimmy
Explorer
May 29, 2014
Installed it and plugged it in. In the 15 minutes it took me to put the doors back on, the back of the freezer was gathering condensation from the cold!

I need to hook the propane tank back up before I test that, but the cooling seems to work great when heat is applied.
turbojimmy
Explorer
May 26, 2014
Okay. The bolt holes were about 1/4 too high when I installed the unit. I measured old vs new and there was about 1/4 difference, too, from the foam edge to the bolt holes. So I hacked 1/4" of foam off of the bottom of the new unit. Upon installing it I noticed the drain tube was what was causing it to sit to high. The new unit didn't have a provision for the tube. Oops. I need to seal the bottom with spray foam now.

One of the tubes is jammed up against the feed for the propane burner. But, looking at the old one the paint is all banged up in the same area so it must just be that tight.

Pics:

I need to reinstall the chimney and other random sheet metal, but I'm getting close!
turbojimmy
Explorer
May 26, 2014
Ugh.

I messed around with that thing for almost 2 hours last night. I installed the new heating element, which was easy but the wires are too short. No big deal. It says 8310 right on the package. I'll just have to extend the wires to reach the circuit board.

I was by myself so it was tough to maneuver the new cooling unit. But, no matter what I did the holes don't line up. They're close but no cigar. The unit is sitting just a tad too high in the cabinet. I hacked out the remaining foam from the bottom of the cavity and that helped a bit. I got 2 screws into the unit where they attach on the back. While I was trying to get the ones inside the fridge to line up they tore out. No bid deal because there are a couple of other attachment points that weren't used that I can run some screws into.

I'm just not sure if/how I'm going to get this to line up properly. I used a 4x4 and a mini sledge to whack the back of the unit into the cavity as far as it would go and it was still a good distance from the back of the freezer and fridge boxes. It would never work that way. My brother is going to swing by and help later - I need a fresh set of eyes and perspective.
mchero
Explorer
May 21, 2014
If the cooling unit is 100% it will cool. Might want to do a final seal with the foam & then use the metal backed tape to Pretty up the seams. I was informed the tape is more for looks than practicality.

Yes, Need two people to hoise thes guys in & out of cavity.
turbojimmy
Explorer
May 21, 2014
mchero wrote:
TurboJim

My NEW cooling unit was a whopping 1200 but worth every penny. Ice maker pumping out the ice! LOL

It's definitely worth the cost and effort - I agree. I just hope mine works. Nordic said its age shouldn't be an issue so we'll see.
mchero
Explorer
May 21, 2014
TurboJim

My NEW cooling unit was a whopping 1200 but worth every penny. Ice maker pumping out the ice! LOL

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Norcold 8310 Not Working

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