Norcold fridge condensate drain plugged

Question

Hey all,I admittedly haven't spent much time on this but thought I'd ask before I got to far into it.I have a Norcold N811 fridge that we leave plugged in all the time during the camping season.  After our last camping trip I noticed the condensate tray in the back of the fridge was solid ice.  I turned off the unit and emptied and cleaned it and after thawing, the tray still had water in it suggesting the drain is plugged.Has anyone fished a thin wire or something through to snake out the line?  Do I need to be careful because the tubing is thin? Any thoughts?Thanks,

carl_n_susan · Answer

I had the same problem. I tried fishing a thin wire down the tube but it didn't want to go all the way. Like you I was concerned about damaging the the tube.

I accessed the drain tube from the outside and discovered there is a little plug on the end. It's purpose to to prevent creepy crawlers from getting to the inside of the refer. It is designed to let water pass, but in my case was plugged. I removed it and blew the line with an air compressor to verify it was clear. No trouble since.

brirene · Answer

Carl n Susan wrote:I accessed the drain tube from the outside and discovered there is a little plug on the end. It's purpose to to prevent creepy crawlers from getting to the inside of the refer. It is designed to let water pass, but in mat case was plugged. I removed it and blew the line with an air compressor to verify it was clear. No trouble since.X2. The plug can be removed and cleaned. It has a small drainage hole that you'll be able to see once removed. I just cleaned that, didn't have to blow out the line.

path1 · Answer

The above posters is probably better than what I did. But some peoples hose might be hard to reach or maybe they don't have an air compressor.

I cut a small piece of wire (maybe 18 gauge) and removed the plastic insulation on it. Then I had many little tiny strands of wire and took one strand and used it like a ram rod to clean out the drain holes.

dougrainer · Answer

The drain hose is easily found next to the Burner flue from the outside access door. It is a white hose. On the end of the hose is a plastic check valve. Usually, this check valve gets clogged. Just remove the check valve and clean it out and reinstall. Doug

johnm1 · Answer

I looked at the drain when I got home last night. I guess I'm used to Dometic fridges because the Norcold has a ~1/4" flexible hose that goes from the inside of the fridge (condensate drip tray) to an "evaporation" tray next to the burner flue/chimney thing. There's a small "anti bug plug" on the end of it. Not at all what I'm used to seeing on all of the Dometic's that I've had in the past.

Either way, I was able to gently blow backwards into the fridge and all seems OK now. Pretty much like Doug's post above.

Thanks for the suggestions!

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Norcold fridge condensate drain plugged

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