Norcold 1200LRIM won't stay off

[grldst]

Fridge will not stay shut off. I hold down the off/on button for 3 seconds, and the fridge shuts off, but after 2 to 3 seconds it starts up again. Have tried different modes, AU, AC, LP, same results. Tried different temp settings....same results.

Only way I can keep the fridge off is to unplug the 12 volt power wire from the control board on the back of the fridge.

What is the issue here....the "optical control" on the front of the fridge, or the "main control board" on the back of the fridge, or something else.

Aside from the above issue, the fridge cools and works fine on all modes. There are no error codes.

[grldst]

Okay, I unplugged the 50 amp cord, shut off the invertor and all the lights....as soon as the 12 power is applied the fridge propane burner ignites.

There is now no response from the optical control for ON/OFF. The rest of the controls respond ie: temp, modes. It appears to likely be the "optical control" or "control board" that is malfunctioning.

For the immediate...as long as the fridge works sufficiently, I am just going to unplug the 12 volt when it is stored. Future plans are to replace with a Samsung.

Thanks for all the replies.

[ArchHoagland]

Doug mentioned a defective Fluorescent ballast. I had a bad one that caused my garage door opener to fail so I'd check that out like he said.

I would also run an extension cord from shore power and plug the refrigerator into that with all the power shut down in the RV.

[dougrainer]

As another stated, you are getting AC ripple thru the DC. Since you have an Inverter/Charger, that will rule out a Converter cause. Now, there are a few other items that can cause this type problem on OLDER units. The most often cause is a defective Fluorescent light ballast. Are you doing your tests with ALL the interior lights OFF. If not, you make sure all the interior lights are OFF and then reset the Refer and see if it will now turn on and off correctly. IF you change out both rear and Optical boards to current, the odds are the problem will go away as those are the only 2 items that will be affected by AC ripple and causing your problem. Now, you state you spend upwards of 2k or more replacing a functioning refer for this problem? Online it appears the Control kit for your refer is from $225 to $350. Also, what I would do, is run a simple 12 volt ON/OFF lighted switch from the rear of the refer to a spot inside the RV and just KILL the power to the refer when I wanted to shut it down. WHY spend a lot of money for a simple solution????? Doug

[23hotrodr]

I had a similar problem with a different model Norcold with electronic controls. I was told that it was most likely ac ripple current in the 12 volt dc power. My rig had an old magnetek converter in it and I replaced it with a new Progressive Dynamics converter. It solved the problem.

I believe that someone earlier in this thread mentioned that it sounded like this very problem. I'm sure my old Magnetek converter had bad filter capacitors that were letting in the ripple current and the new PD converter solved it.

I'm not a tech person, but I believe you can test for the ripple current by checking the 12 vdc voltage with a digital meter set on the ac voltage setting. Hopefully someone else can tell you exactly how to do a test for the ripple current. Good luck-- Mick

[ArchHoagland]

Are you using an inverter?

[grldst]

I disconnected the AC today, and as soon as I plugged the DC wire in the LP burner ignited.,.and the control panel will not shut it down. So....after reading Roger's post, I guess I will also just live with it.

I can see going to a RV tech and ending up with the same result that Roger did. After reading "Executive's" info on his conversion to residential, I am seriously thinking of going that route.

Anyone looking for a used Norcold 1200 that doesn't stop working???

[Roger_in_VERMON]

I originally replaced the control panel that did nothing to help. I had the upgrade done by the RV tech. He could not understand what was going on. One month ago I had a different RV tech look at it he could not figure it out either. He said unplug both the AC and DC as I have been doing. Since it has been like that for the 11 years we have owned it and it runs fine other than shutting it off we just live with it. Good Luck

[doxiemom11]

Unplug both AC and DC so there is absolutely no power from anywhere, let it sit a few minutes and then plug dc then ac back in. It may reset the circuit board. That did work for us a couple of times when we had other problems.

[grldst]

I've got to update my personal info....no longer have the 1997 Sig...have a 2002 Exec.

Norcold Serial: 913014FB

Norcold tech has responded that it may be the AC trickling current into the DC. They did not offer a solution, but said to check this, unplug the AC current and see if it still won't shut off. They further state I need to take it to an authorized service center and have it diagnosed.

I will do there AC disconnect check today...I believe I did this the other day, but don't recall if the inverter was off or not.

[dougrainer]

Per Norcold. NEED Serial number. IF yours is still the 1997, odds are you will need a control kit upgrade. That means a NEW Rear module and a NEW optical come in the kit. They no longer make the Rear and Optical for your year model. Doug

[crasster]

It may sound like a strange question but has the fridge been doing this for a while or did it just start doing it when the country has had this insane cold front go through?

[grldst]

Roger...now I don't feel so all alone in this world...lol!!

Did you ever come up with a solution, or are you just living with it?

I unplugged my "optical board" and the fridge runs/cools?

Going to check the "control board" behind the fridge tomorrow.

[Roger_in_VERMON]

I had the same problem I had to unplug from the AC and unplug the DC wire

[grldst]

Thanks Doug...I'll give that a try.