Who turns off coach power? Re: Norcold

[krivanj]

I have the infamous Norcold 1200 refrigerator. Before the dealer upgraded to the latest and greatest recall last week, I was having trouble with the thermal sensor "black box" faulting. When I called Norcold, they said turning off the coach power would let the box see a low voltage, and it might go into fault mode and need to be reset.

Since the dealer upgraded to the latest recall (he said we were two behind!) I have not had any trouble with the box, but I have not turned off the coach power, which I normally would do if I wasn't going to use it for a week or so.

Who regularly turns off their coach power, and have you had any Norcold black box problems because of it?

Thanks in advance...

[dougrainer]

krivanj wrote:
I will reiterate my question, and I thank all who have posted replies: The Norcold tech who answered the phone told me that turning off power to the whole coach might cause the black box to enter fault mode for low voltage. I do know about the magnet trick to remove the fault, but wondered if that happened to people on a regular basis when they turned the poser back on. It sounds like it does not happen too often, but sometimes it does.

I am curious. You actually talked to an authorized NORCOLD Tech or you called a number that you thought was a Norcold Tech line? The reason I asked is, Norcold as a company policy does NOT talk to retail customers about operational issues and problems. I have asked this question of posters on this forum before and when pressed admitted they did NOT call the real Norcold company Techs, but a number they found on the Internet. They assumed the Phone tech was with Norcold. Doug

[dougrainer]

Kiwi_too wrote:
Are you referring to TNCSTP 120803-B?

This is a NO CO reset. The OP is talking about his recall box tripping and not allowing operation of the refer because of loss of 12 volt power. You WILL get a NO CO on older Norcolds from a gradual loss of 12 volt power and then have to do this reset. But this was not caused by ON and OFF of 12 volt power. Doug

[kab449]

With my previous fifth wheel I had my share of problems with this refrigerator as you describe. When looking for this coach I wouldn't even look at any that didn't have a residential refrigerator. Love it, works great.

[krivanj]

I will reiterate my question, and I thank all who have posted replies: The Norcold tech who answered the phone told me that turning off power to the whole coach might cause the black box to enter fault mode for low voltage. I do know about the magnet trick to remove the fault, but wondered if that happened to people on a regular basis when they turned the poser back on. It sounds like it does not happen too often, but sometimes it does.

[w4phj]

"Who regularly turns off their coach power, and have you had any Norcold black box problems because of it?"

I do and never a problem with my 1200. It is normally off and is turned on the day before a trip. Coach stays plugged into 50A with the master switches off.

[AllegroD]

Are you referring to TNCSTP 120803-B?

[doxiemom11]

That may be the key. Turn the refrigerator off and then shut the power off for the house batteries. When ready to use again, make sure batteries are charged before turning on the refrigerator.

[dougrainer]

You misunderstood what Norcold told you. Slow battery voltage loss can cause problems. Doing a instantaneous OFF and ON of 12 volts will not usually cause any problems. Older Norcolds(not just the 1200) had a problem with control board problems locking out (NO CO) when the dc voltage slowly went from 12 volts down past 9 volts, power converter inop and the battery slowly went dead. If you are worried about this, just make sure the refer is OFF when disconnecting the system. Doug

[egh33]

I always turn off the refrigerator and the power to the coach when I am not be going any where in a month or so.
but I did have the problem of the top freezer working fine but the lower part would not cool.
I had it all checked out and was told by the repair man I needed a new cooling unit. so I took matters in to hand and found a thing here on the web that said the control box on the back of the fridge maybe locked up and it told me how to re-set the control box. So I did and it now works fine. I can't publish it here on this site because I upset a lot of people and they told me how wrong I was in trying things I found on a web site so I removed it.
But mine is working fine.
Yes, I had a low battery also.

[past-MIdirector]

Never had a problem with turning off/on the coach power but I have been told low battery voltage can cause issues.