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bob_b's avatar
bob_b
Explorer
Sep 04, 2013

Nevercold now very cold, east fix!

Long story short, bought an '06 Bus from La Mesa Rv in Mesa, Az. They promised to fix refer which would not cool below about 44 degrees no mater the setting. They tried, replaced the thermister, still no luck. They suggested I find a repair facility here in Oregon so I contacted a local mobile rv repair service, Chuck's Mobile Repair. Chuck was GOOD! He removed the circuit board, hot wired the cooling coils directly to 110ac and noted the whole refrigerator became a freezer. It was 24 degrees inside! This proved the cooling unit was not the problem. He then checked the circuit board and determined it was good also. The "fix" came after he looked up at the coils visible from the outside looking up through the access panel. He first used duct tape for a temporary check and we noted the temps inside went right to 34 degrees and stayed there for two days. He came back and replaced the tape with a small piece of sheet metal which is visible in the photo. Problem solved! He said the clearance was too great between the coils and the wood surround which allowed the air flow to bypass the coils entirely.
I have searched the forums here and at Tiffin and noted many folks unhappy with their Nocold four door lack of cooling. Some posters have even replaced their cooling units and still had problems. I'm betting this "fix" will repair many of the problem refrigerators. Bob

Class A
  • ltm's avatar
    ltm
    Explorer
    Sep 05, 2013
    my 3 year dometic quit working ,took it to camperworld for repair. they said the low volt wire was broke , repaird started up on gas ,run for one hr and said the cooling coil was blocked.I was in the beginning of a 4 week trip, and camper world could not find a cooling coil or fridge in short time. I purchased a ice cooler an went on my way. a week later I tried to start up the fridge by connecting the elements direct to 120 volts,it would not heat, then turned to gas , after 4 hours it started cooling after10 hours the fridge is holding 34 deg and 2 deg. in freezer. I assume it was just a bad diagnostic.good for me their quote to replace was $3600.00
  • Cbones's avatar
    Cbones
    Explorer
    Sep 05, 2013
    It seems that airflow on these gas absorption units is very critical. I have a side by side Dometic that has both vents on the side of the coach rather than the more desirable roof vent. In any event I was never happy with the cooling of the fridge. When I was at Fleetwood having some work done I complained about the fridge cooling. The tech reconstructed the cooling area with sheet metal ducts that very carefully controlled the hot air leaving the top vent. In addition they sealed the box with caulking so the hot air had to travel only through the top fins and not just scatter about and sit stagnant in the square areas of the cabinet. In any event since this modification I can definitely say that the fridge is 1000% better. I can keep ice cream frozen in 100+ degree weather, and the fridge always maintains 34 degrees. The downside is that on these types of fridges, is that recovery is slow compared to a compressor fridge, but it will eventually get to proper temps. This is usually only a problem when loading the fridge after shopping. I am not sure who said it, but supposedly 10 seconds of of opening the fridge equals an hour to recover to normal temps. I have found this to be pretty accurate. Last bit of advice is to not overpack the fridge. The fridge requires proper internal airflow to allow the cool air to settle to the bottom of the fridge.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Sep 05, 2013
    Hate to burst your bubble, but THAT metal plate had nothing to do with the increase in cooling. Yes, that plate is nice to have, but the CONDENSOR coils that need the air are 4 feet higher up than that plate and the cooling fans are also up about 1 foot. The 2 cooling fans are what move the air over the condenser. Those round black tubes are NOT the part that needs cool air run over, but you do want the air to flow between them to help. That plate will help, but not to the extent you think it has. Doug
  • pigman1's avatar
    pigman1
    Explorer
    Sep 04, 2013
    Your fix was interesting. Did Chuck say if your original installation was or was not to the clearance specifications published in the Norcold installation manual? Also, how close to those specs are you with the new piece of sheet metal installed?

    On a previous rig I checked and rebuilt the rear of the fridge compartment to EXACTLY (within 1/16" or less) the measurements specified by Norcold and did not find any improvement in the Norcold's cooling ability. I'm wondering if Chuck has found a solution something that few before him have found, or if your box is different from the many who have not been able to find a fix that works.

    I tend to think that your Norcold is somewhat unique, as I can't see how this fix would have caused a refrig such as ours that worked for 2+ years and suddenly stopped working despite the compartment rebuild and 2 Amish cooling units.

    Regardless of how it happened, I'm glad your man came up with a fix that worked for you. I wish you continued good luck with it.
  • mccsix's avatar
    mccsix
    Explorer
    Sep 04, 2013
    Bob I sure wish I'd had seen this earlier. My 2011 frig is being replaced today and would have like to try this fix before replacing the whole cooling unit...oh well. From what I've heard from others I'll probably still have the opportunity to use it this year.

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