Norcold N621 Refrigerator/Freezer not working--'07 Nash 17C

Hello everyone,

I have a Norcold N621 (N621L) refrigerator/freezer unit that is not working. There are no error codes. Everything looks perfectly normal on the panel. I have plenty of propane in the tanks, and my batteries are fully charged. The trailer has hardly been used, probably 6/7 times or so, with only a two days on each trip.

I've never had a problem with the unit until this morning when I woke up and opened the refrigerator and freezer. All of the frozen was thawed, and the refrigerator wasn't producing cold air either.

I have turned the unit off/on multiple times, disconnected the battery....waited about 10 minutes hoping that it would cycle the power on the refrigerator... still nothing.

I have gone through the manual, but everything else points to error codes which my refrigerator/freezer does not have.

Every time I turn unit off and then back on I hear a clicking sound which indicates that it is firing. However, as I indicated earlier, it simply does not produce cold air.

The propane heater works, as does the stove, and my hot water heater. All of the propane appliances work in this trailer except for the refrigerator/freezer.

I haven't had a chance to test The refrigerator/freezer with any other method of power like a generator or shore power...just propane. This particular refrigerator/freezer has an auto sensor and it picks up the propane with no problem...

I power the unit on, press the mode to Auto, it auto senses the propane, makes a little clicking sound as usual and then nothing. All appears normal, just no cold air.

I tried bypassing the auto sensor mode on the unit and just manually chose LP, but still no cold air coming from the fins in the refrigerator or the back of the freezer. No noise.... just silence. I can't remember if the unit made any noise in the past, but if it did it was extremely minimal and I didn't remember it.

There are no smells coming from the unit indicating that there might be a problem with the coolant... etc....and I've gone on various forms and can't find anything amiss.

Again, everything appears to be completely normal, just no cold air.

Does anybody here on the forum have any suggestions, or ideas?

Thank you very much!

Sent from my iPhone

tinstartrvlr
Explorer
May 08, 2017
Have you moved the trailer lately? Maybe the cooling solution has settled and needs to be shaken up. Take it out for a ride and see if that loosens the solution up. Just a thought from something I read somewhere once.
rrupert
Explorer
May 08, 2017
Have you checked to see if the flame is lit and/or if there is any heat produced from it? It seems that it is not lighting. It could be that a cleaning is in order. Consult you manual on that.
Shelborne
Explorer
May 08, 2017
Thanks TinStar, Yes I have moved the trailer over 150 miles and the problem still persists.
Shelborne
Explorer
May 08, 2017
Thanks Rrupert, no I haven't checked to see if the flame is lit or if it is producing heat. I will read up on that a bit more....I just located the manual for it, as the manual either didn't come with my rig or I misplaced it.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
May 08, 2017
Here is the Service Manual ......Installation, Operation & Troubleshooting (covers your model)

Check out pg 13....Propane Gas Ignition Failure (Block diagram)

Clicking.......dirty burner, misaligned spark electrode, wrong gap (1/8"--3/16"), bad spark electrode etc.

You have spark but no ignition. SO problem is at burner/gas valve etc.
Open burner cover and watch it.

Service Manual
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
May 08, 2017
tinstartrvlr wrote:
Have you moved the trailer lately? Maybe the cooling solution has settled and needs to be shaken up. Take it out for a ride and see if that loosens the solution up. Just a thought from something I read somewhere once.

:H
Not sure where you read that?

Coolant doesn't need to be 'shook up'

Absorption Fridge 101
tinstartrvlr
Explorer
May 08, 2017
OldBiscuit, I don't remember where I read that. It had to do with the sediment buildup, from not being used or moved for a long period of time, that can plug the tubes and cause poor or nonexistent cooling. Moving it, (driving) or taking it out and turning it upside down for a while supposedly loosens up the sediment and puts it back into solution. Ya know, kinda like shaking up a bottle of Italian salad dressing.

I'm pretty sure I read it on the internet somewhere, so it has to be true! :B
1492
Moderator
May 09, 2017
Moved from Forum Technical Support
Shelborne
Explorer
May 09, 2017
Thanks everyone for the information.
Old-biscuit, thank you for the manual.

The propane ignites on the unit, I can hear the propane engage and burning... I called Norcold and they suggested that I detach the thermistor inside and see if that helps any after eight hours of leaving it on the maximum setting.

I didn't realize that this refrigerator unit was so sensitive. Norcold said that it wouldn't operate if it was on a 6° angle.... it's parked in a storage lot at the moment, and I believe the angle was more than 6° so I took out my leveling blocks and leveled it a bit more. When the unit failed, it was completely leveled, verified with a bubble leveler... Front and back, side to side.

I called Northwood and they suggested that I clean out the burners because they might have gotten a little bit of debris in them and The burners aren't doing the job they're supposed to. I'm not really sure how to do this, because I've never done it before, the Northwood tech said use a vacuum? He was extremely helpful, and definitely seemed like he knew what he was doing. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this stuff.

Where do I even begin to clean it? I will look in the manual, but if anybody has worked on this particular type of unit before, any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

I'm very dissatisfied with the Norcold product.... I've barely even used it (maybe 6 times if that) stocked it full of expensive groceries on our last camping trip to Seward, and woke up the next day to have everything completely thawed and ruined. Then we had to do without a refrigerator and freezer the entire trip. Major bummer.
dougrainer
Nomad
May 09, 2017
tinstartrvlr wrote:
OldBiscuit, I don't remember where I read that. It had to do with the sediment buildup, from not being used or moved for a long period of time, that can plug the tubes and cause poor or nonexistent cooling. Moving it, (driving) or taking it out and turning it upside down for a while supposedly loosens up the sediment and puts it back into solution. Ya know, kinda like shaking up a bottle of Italian salad dressing.

I'm pretty sure I read it on the internet somewhere, so it has to be true! :B

Cooling units cannot have chemical settling that needs to be shook or moved. Doug