Norcold Fridge - Freezer cold, fridge not
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Nov-27-2018 10:54 AM
Was dry camping all week at the beach, running the fridge on propane, on the last morning I noticed the milk was not as cold as usual.
Drove home, fridge still seemed a little warmer than it should be. Freezer seemed good and cold as usual.
Plugged into electric, checked the next day both fridge and freezer are good and cold.
Switched it back to propane, checked after another day and freezer was good and cold but fridge is not.
I'm level. Was level all week dry camping.
Any ideas on what to check?
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Dec-07-2018 01:13 PM
Flame was strong and blue, couldn't find anything that looked wrong.
Decided to test the thermistor by unplugging and letting the fridge run overnight - my bottle of water was slushy in the morning.
Bought and installed a new $20 thermistor and tested again overnight, new bottle of water is nice and cold!
Thanks all for the tips/pointers!
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Nov-30-2018 11:06 AM
mchero wrote:
Check the BACKSIDE of the fridge. Are the fan(s) running?
My Norcold 4 door did EXACT same thing when one if the 2 rear fans failed.
Was told MANY times it was the cooling unit.....NOT!
Will definitely check the fan(s), thank you!
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Nov-30-2018 08:54 AM
Just permanently hang one of those tiny remote temperature probes from one of the refrigerator's shelves and mount it's remote digital readout somewhere in the RV where it's easy to see (the signals between the two go right through the refrigerator walls). A quick glance at the digital readout screen tells what the air temperature is inside of the refrigerator any time all of the time.
We've had one of these setups inside the RV for a year or two and it works great. The replaceable batteries inside the probe and inside the digital readout seem to last a long time, too.
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Nov-30-2018 03:44 AM
My Norcold 4 door did EXACT same thing when one if the 2 rear fans failed.
Was told MANY times it was the cooling unit.....NOT!
Currently, Henniker NH
07 Fleetwood Discovery 39V
1K Solar dieselrvowners.com
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Prior:1993 Pace Arrow 37' Diesel
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Nov-29-2018 07:50 AM
dougrainer wrote:VetPartTimer wrote:
Appreciate all the info everyone, thank you kindly!
I spoke to Norcold Customer Service, they were very nice and provided much of the same advice that you all have suggested.
I'm going to start by unplugging the thermostat and letting it run overnight on the propane to see if that is potentially the problem because it is the easiest.
Given that the refrig seems to work fine on AC power, I doubt it's the thermostat (but you never know).
Next will be to check for a good blue flame, maybe the valve is dirty.
Hope to get to this over the weekend, will certainly update you all on my findings.
Thanks again!
You are not the only one that thinks the Thermister may possibly be at fault. BUT, that is nonsense. THINK about what you are thinking. The refer operates fine on 120. You have a problem on LP. The refer cooling unit and Thermister has no way of knowing WHAT heat source is ON. ALL it does is respond to the HEAT source. The Thermister is on the Evap fins. HOW would it know what heat source is operating the refer? It does not. Thermister's rarely fail and they never fail over different heat sources. Until you check the LP pressure AT the refer, you will never know what the problem is and you will just be wasting your time. Doug
Yes, I totally understand what you are saying.
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Nov-28-2018 04:33 PM
VetPartTimer wrote:
Appreciate all the info everyone, thank you kindly!
I spoke to Norcold Customer Service, they were very nice and provided much of the same advice that you all have suggested.
I'm going to start by unplugging the thermostat and letting it run overnight on the propane to see if that is potentially the problem because it is the easiest.
Given that the refrig seems to work fine on AC power, I doubt it's the thermostat (but you never know).
Next will be to check for a good blue flame, maybe the valve is dirty.
Hope to get to this over the weekend, will certainly update you all on my findings.
Thanks again!
You are not the only one that thinks the Thermister may possibly be at fault. BUT, that is nonsense. THINK about what you are thinking. The refer operates fine on 120. You have a problem on LP. The refer cooling unit and Thermister has no way of knowing WHAT heat source is ON. ALL it does is respond to the HEAT source. The Thermister is on the Evap fins. HOW would it know what heat source is operating the refer? It does not. Thermister's rarely fail and they never fail over different heat sources. Until you check the LP pressure AT the refer, you will never know what the problem is and you will just be wasting your time. Doug
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Nov-28-2018 04:28 PM
Big Katuna wrote:dougrainer wrote:Big Katuna wrote:
Shouldn’t be rusty yet but clean/ check flame height, clean flue.
Get infrared thermometer and establish actual temps on elec vs gas.
You NEVER use a IR thermometer to verify refer or roof AC temps. In a refer you put in a glass of water. After 24 hours you use a digital thermometer to measure the water temp. That tells you the actual cooling of the refer. Doug
I’m having no luck balancing a glass of water on an ac duct.
Well, follow what I stated:B I said "IN A REFER YOU PUT A GLASS OF WATER". Kind of hard for an IR thermometer to read AIR coming out of a Roof AC duct. If I ever stated to RVP or Dometic I read the Air temp of a AC with an IR thermometer, they would have a good laugh and tell me that is NOT the correct way for Air temp measurement. Same with Dometic and Norcold on refers. I do use it on the Refer Evap fins, because that will tell me the state of cooling. Doug
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Nov-28-2018 12:36 PM
VetPartTimer wrote:
Appreciate all the info everyone, thank you kindly!
I spoke to Norcold Customer Service, they were very nice and provided much of the same advice that you all have suggested.
I'm going to start by unplugging the thermostat and letting it run overnight on the propane to see if that is potentially the problem because it is the easiest.
Given that the refrig seems to work fine on AC power, I doubt it's the thermostat (but you never know).
Next will be to check for a good blue flame, maybe the valve is dirty.
Hope to get to this over the weekend, will certainly update you all on my findings.
Thanks again!
thermistor ----food compartment....measures Fin Temp
Electric or propane doesn't matter....same thermistor (thermostat also)
2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31
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Nov-28-2018 12:01 PM
I spoke to Norcold Customer Service, they were very nice and provided much of the same advice that you all have suggested.
I'm going to start by unplugging the thermostat and letting it run overnight on the propane to see if that is potentially the problem because it is the easiest.
Given that the refrig seems to work fine on AC power, I doubt it's the thermostat (but you never know).
Next will be to check for a good blue flame, maybe the valve is dirty.
Hope to get to this over the weekend, will certainly update you all on my findings.
Thanks again!
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Nov-28-2018 11:22 AM
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Nov-28-2018 09:19 AM
dougrainer wrote:Big Katuna wrote:
Shouldn’t be rusty yet but clean/ check flame height, clean flue.
Get infrared thermometer and establish actual temps on elec vs gas.
You NEVER use a IR thermometer to verify refer or roof AC temps. In a refer you put in a glass of water. After 24 hours you use a digital thermometer to measure the water temp. That tells you the actual cooling of the refer. Doug
I’m having no luck balancing a glass of water on an ac duct.
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Nov-28-2018 04:12 AM
1. LP pressure is not at 11.5 inches w/c. just 1 inch below will have a drastic affect on cooling.
2. The burner is dirty. Doug
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Nov-28-2018 04:11 AM
Big Katuna wrote:
Shouldn’t be rusty yet but clean/ check flame height, clean flue.
Get infrared thermometer and establish actual temps on elec vs gas.
You NEVER use a IR thermometer to verify refer or roof AC temps. In a refer you put in a glass of water. After 24 hours you use a digital thermometer to measure the water temp. That tells you the actual cooling of the refer. Doug
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Nov-27-2018 08:15 PM
Big Katuna wrote:
Would it work on electric but not gas if that happened?
Fans controlled by that thermostat run based on Condenser Fin temps....not on which heat source is being used
Fans ON...130*F fin temp
Fans OFF...115*F fin temp
1A in-line fuse on DC + to thermostat
2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31