Norcold refer trouble

Question

I'm new here but have been part of the RV fun since 1983 when my wife convinced to buy a 1963 Shasta 16ft TT. We havee come along way since then and gone through many RV's to find the perfect set up.

Now to my problem...We have a Couger High Country with a Norcold refer. It won't stay lit at higher altitudes. We dry came alot in the Medicine Bow NF to our west and it is above 5500ft, which I found is their limit.

Norcold's remidy is to plug in to AC, but I haven't been able to find a tree that has been wired for that purpose. They don't make a high altitude kit with a differant size orifice to my knowledge.

Anybody out there with this problem, and if so, what has been your work around solution? For the life of me I can't figure why a company would make a product that will travel the country and not function above 5500ft. That's about where I live for pete's sake.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

rv2go · Answer

I don't understand the 5500ft limit you state. We just spent over 6 weeks in Bryce, Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier. Most of our CG's were a lot higher than 5500ft and our Norcold 1210 worked great on propane.
What model Norcold?
Is the 5500ft limit something Norcold gave you?

weathermeister · Answer

I'll have to check the mod#. As far as the altitude limit, this is info I have gained from the net from surfing. I need to find the owners manual. I'm hoping that this is old info and Norcold has fixed the problem. From your reply, it seem so.

At anyrate, my dealer has been really good at working with us. Problem is, in town we are lower than when camping. It didn't fail at the dealer. Just looking for suggestions. I'd really like to get this worked out before our trip to Vegas and south central Utah in September.

accsys · Answer

To quote page 9 of the Norcold 12xx owner's manual:

When you operate the refrigerator on propane gas at altitudes
higher than 5500 feet above sea level:

- You may experience reduced cooling performance of the
refrigerator.

- You may experience burner outages.

To avoid these possible problems, Norcold recommends that
you operate the refrigerator on AC when at altitudes higher than
5500 feet above sea level.

Since I think the main problem might be reduced oxygen at that altitude, have you tried adjusting the burner assembly to allow more air? Just remember to adjust it back at lower altitudes.

1492 · Answer

Moved from Forum Technical Support

weathermeister · Answer

Thanks for the tip. I haven't tried that. I will check the manual to see if that is possible. I have  a mod# N811FRT. They do make a high altitude kit, but only for mod#  3163 units.

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Norcold refer trouble

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