The fridge in daughter and son-in-law's '98 Nash TT is on the fritz after working well just a couple months ago. Freezer is 4 degrees, but the fridge is in the 50's on both AC and gas. No ice buildup between top and bottom to impede airflow. We pulled the vent cap off and the coils look reasonably clean. Plenty of hot air up through the vent, though we didn't check the flue itself. We pulled the box around the burner and cleaned out some dirt and junk from there, but it wasn't affecting the flame. We used some canned air to blow off what we could around the burner.All that said, should he bite the bullet and put in a new fridge or would one of the "Amish" replacement cooling units be a better choice. Almost double the cost for a new fridge. Are newer units better? How hard is it to swap out the cooling unit as a DIY project?Thanks,Lyle

I'd go 12 volt electric.Next choice new cooling unit from the so called Amish. It can be diy

I have the same issue with a 2006 Dometic. Finally leaked all the ammonia. Been researching and looking on sales forums. Seems having a local shop rebuild with the Amish replacement is the best bet, and most cost effective. You can buy a used fridge for about the same as having someone rebuild one. If I can find a decent used one I might go that route, but hate to pay $1500 then have it die in 6 months or even 2 years. Not going the DC route, almost the same cost, but then you have to upgrade batteries, solar, etc. I boondock too much and just want a fridge to run without killing my batteries, or even needing to run the gen every day. There is not a cost advantage of DC over a compressor fridge from what I can see. Hope you find a good repair shop.

25 years on the original fridge is very good so it is not surprising if the cooling unit is toast. There are several u-tube videos that show people changing the cooling units. I will not hesitate to change my own if I need to before I get too old.

pianotuna wrote:I'd go 12 volt electric.Next choice new cooling unit from the so called Amish. It can be diyI am with them musical fish on thisThere are some very nice 12 volt or 12/120 volt Compressor units that draw LESS THAN FIFTY WATTS with the door closed (The dang light in the absorption units may well be 20 watts plus don't you know this gives you an idea of the power draw).I have a small chest freezer that's like that it eats 120 less I find the 12 volt cord... Had a power fail.. used a 12 AH LiFePO4 and a 300 watt MSW inverter and everythign frozen well.(Used a much larger battery/inverter pack on the Residential Fridge)I really like those high effiecency units.MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE POWER DRAW.Option 2 is the amish cooling unit.Some years ago when my Factory cooling unit went powder up (or down actually) I got an Amish.. Impressed I was with the quality.

Check door seal. The cooling unit is working, at least somewhat, as demonstrated by the freezer. Leaky door seals are a common cause of warm refrigerators.

Older Norcold fridge issue | Good Sam Community

laknox
Nomad
Aug 14, 2023
UPDATE: After running a test suggested by Old-Biscuit, we've decided that the cooling unit is toast. They'll just go back to old-school coolers for the rest of the year if they do some weekends. Son-in-law needs to set aside some funds to get the new cooling unit and some miscellaneous doo-dads. Opinion is that newer units aren't nearly as good as the older ones, at least as far as insulation goes, so he's saving the box and replacing the guts.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Lyle
Krusty
Nomad II
Aug 14, 2023
I have been having the same issue with my fridge of the same vintage. I took the fridge out and set it on the ground and flipped it over several times and gave it a good shake on each side and while upside down. I put it back in and it is cooling again. I had to do this once in the past for the same issue and it had worked good up until recently. And that was in 2006. Didn't cost anything and the fridge is pretty easy to get out. May work in your situation too
laknox
Nomad
Aug 14, 2023
Krusty wrote:
I have been having the same issue with my fridge of the same vintage. I took the fridge out and set it on the ground and flipped it over several times and gave it a good shake on each side and while upside down. I put it back in and it is cooling again. I had to do this once in the past for the same issue and it had worked good up until recently. And that was in 2006. Didn't cost anything and the fridge is pretty easy to get out. May work in your situation too

Hmmm... I'll mention that. I totally spaced out that I did that in my old Komfort! The classic "burping" the fridge. :-)

Did you turn it upside down and back upright multiple times?

Lyle
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 15, 2023
BobsyourUncle also had success with shaking the fridge by "rolling bumping". Worth a try.
laknox
Nomad
Aug 15, 2023
pianotuna wrote:
BobsyourUncle also had success with shaking the fridge by "rolling bumping". Worth a try.

Yep. We're going to give that a try. Not sure if they have any other trips planned, but their best friends have a habit of "let's go camping" on Wed. for a weekend trip. :-) Now that school's started, though, any camping will have to wait for long weekends and holidays.

Lyle
Krusty
Nomad II
Aug 16, 2023
laknox wrote:
Krusty wrote:
I have been having the same issue with my fridge of the same vintage. I took the fridge out and set it on the ground and flipped it over several times and gave it a good shake on each side and while upside down. I put it back in and it is cooling again. I had to do this once in the past for the same issue and it had worked good up until recently. And that was in 2006. Didn't cost anything and the fridge is pretty easy to get out. May work in your situation too

Hmmm... I'll mention that. I totally spaced out that I did that in my old Komfort! The classic "burping" the fridge. :-)

Did you turn it upside down and back upright multiple times?

Lyle

Yup, I did. I rolled it end over end several times and it spent time on each surface and got a good shake each time. I could hear the refrigerant sloshing around in there every time.

Forum Discussion

Older Norcold fridge issue

About Technical Issues

Related Content

norcold fridge beeping

Norcold Fridge on the Blink

NORCOLD fridge

Norcold N305 fridge not working

norcold fridge problem