Forum Discussion

jplante4's avatar
jplante4
Explorer II
Jun 26, 2015

Fix for Norcold not running on propane

The old Norcold in the Sahara cooled off fine on AC, but would not run on propane. The symptom was the burner would light but pop off after a few seconds. I hoped the box would hold the cold for 5 hours but no such luck. I tried cleaning the burner in place, then I tried to remove the burner to clean it, but it was obvious that the old aluminum tubing would just fail as soon as I put a wrench to the flair nuts. So I ordered a new burner/orifice assembly from norcoldparts.com and made a new tube. About $60 in parts, but I did need to buy a new tubing flare kit because I destroyed my last one making rigging for a sailboat (don't ask)

Class A
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer II
    Jun 28, 2015
    The igniter serves as both the ignition point and the flame sensor. There is no separate thermocouple, so only one wire is needed.
  • vegasfoodguy's avatar
    vegasfoodguy
    Explorer II
    Jun 27, 2015
    jplante4 wrote:
    Terry - is that the igniter wire or the thermocouple? Either way, good point. I'll wire tie it to the other wires. Eventually it'll chafe through.


    I was thinking igniter.
  • turbojimmy's avatar
    turbojimmy
    Explorer
    Jun 27, 2015
    The plumbing in my '84 Norcold is all still in good shape. I replaced the cooling unit last year, but all of the propane stuff is original. I wondered about those aluminum lines - they seemed pretty sketchy when I removed and reinstalled them.

    After my brother's burned down to the wheels a couple of weeks ago (FD says propane leak at the fridge), I'll be checking those connections a bit more often.
  • jplante4's avatar
    jplante4
    Explorer II
    Jun 27, 2015
    Terry - is that the igniter wire or the thermocouple? Either way, good point. I'll wire tie it to the other wires. Eventually it'll chafe through.
  • vegasfoodguy's avatar
    vegasfoodguy
    Explorer II
    Jun 27, 2015
    Move your igniter line away from all that metal piping, the spark will jump to nearest ground.

    Terry
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Jun 26, 2015
    They just don't make things like they used to.........only 19 yrs of service. Cheap piece of junk :B

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