Not sure what to do next - turned on propane Sunday to begin chilling the fridge. Confirmed the propane was running by igniting burner on stove. Arrived at RV storage on Tuesday to discover that refrigerator not chilled. Went ahead and loaded food, went to RV park and ran refrigerator off of electricity. Never chilled so we came home. Have an appt. on 10/28 to take RV in. Anything we can check in the meantime? Refergerator is only two years old - a Norcold - and RV is one month out of warranty. Took panel off back and removed a few cobwebs.

A two year old Norcold should display an error if it's not cooling. Does it?

Is the 12V system turned on and working properly? Is the fuse for the 12V circuit the fridge is on not blown? Both gas and 120V operation on typical RV fridges require 12V power for the control board. Since you were trying to pre-cool the fridge on propane power, I assume that you don't have electric power at your storage place and hence the 12V battery might not be being recharged there (and so is presumably disconnected to avoid being run down completely).

Chris Bryant, don't see anywhere to look for an error message.

DrewE, we will go back to storage in the morning and check for a fuse issue. You are correct, we don't have shore power at storage. When we are getting ready for a trip, we turn on the battery and propane, confirm the propane is coming through the line by turning on a burner on stove, and then leave. In 9 years of RV ownership with 2 RVs, this is the first time we have experienced this.

outdoorlovers wrote:Chris Bryant, don't see anywhere to look for an error message.We really need the model number. IF it is a 2 door refer, then the LED lights on the front will flash a code which is the error message. Other Norcold models have an LCD display that will show an error code. Did you have ANY indicator lights on at all? As another poster stated, you MUST have 12 volt power in the RV for the refer to operate, even on LP. Doug

Refrigerator Not Cooling | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

outdoorlovers
Explorer
Oct 08, 2015
We just came back from a 22 day trip in July. We turn the battery on, then propane As I said earlier, no flashing lights using propane or electricity, just never begins cooling. DH checked fuses, everything fine.
dougrainer
Nomad
Oct 08, 2015
outdoorlovers wrote:
Our refrigerator does not have a panel for error codes. There are just lights for on, auto, etc. They are on like always, no flashing, no cooling on either gas or shore power although lights are on. Will check for fuse when we go to storage later this morning. Thank you everyone. This is new to us and both of us are electrically challenged.

If the front panel lights are ON, then the fuse is good. How long has it been since you used the RV? It is possible it is a leaker. Look for yellow stains by the rear back burner. Doug
PS, If it is a leaker it will still flash the NO CO code which is 3 fast blinking LED lights on the front panel. The codes are the blinking LED lights on the front panel How many time they blink tells the error code.
outdoorlovers
Explorer
Oct 08, 2015
Our refrigerator does not have a panel for error codes. There are just lights for on, auto, etc. They are on like always, no flashing, no cooling on either gas or shore power although lights are on. Will check for fuse when we go to storage later this morning. Thank you everyone. This is new to us and both of us are electrically challenged.
outdoorlovers
Explorer
Oct 08, 2015
Yes, it is level.

I copied the images from Google. Sorry if I had the wrong image for the fridge. It is the standard fridge that comes in Jaycos for our 5th wheel. Nothing fancy. We only have the LED lights on our fridge so it is either the N61 or 81.
eHoefler
Explorer II
Oct 08, 2015
Is the unit level??
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Oct 08, 2015
OK.....

You show a N64/84 series fridge but a control panel for a N61/81

N61/81 just has LED Lights
N62/82 & N64/84 have a 'display' window

ALL of them will give 'error codes' when fridge is not functioning properly.

HERE is a service manual that covers the 'N Series' with troubleshooting guide/solutions and how the error codes are displayed.

Print it out and then troubleshoot......at least you will have a better understanding of your fridge & at best you may find/correct issue w/o having to take to dealership.
outdoorlovers
Explorer
Oct 07, 2015
Refrigerator

Optical display

Yes, the lights were on and no flashing.
outdoorlovers
Explorer
Oct 07, 2015
wolfe10
Explorer
Oct 07, 2015
Indeed, start by checking for 12+VDC at the back of the refrigerator (outside access door).

It will not run on propane or 120 VAC without 12 VDC to run the PC board.
dougrainer
Nomad
Oct 07, 2015
outdoorlovers wrote:
Chris Bryant, don't see anywhere to look for an error message.

We really need the model number. IF it is a 2 door refer, then the LED lights on the front will flash a code which is the error message. Other Norcold models have an LCD display that will show an error code. Did you have ANY indicator lights on at all? As another poster stated, you MUST have 12 volt power in the RV for the refer to operate, even on LP. Doug