Norcold n811 refridgerator not working

[USMA_Dad]

I have a Norcold n811 refridgerator and it suddenly stopped functioning. After my troubleshooting attempts I'm at a loss. The thermistor is functioning, the heating unit gets hot, the condenser fins at the top are hot to the touch, but the absorber tubes are not warm to the touch. I replaced the control panel and that did not make a difference. I have power to it and it works on ac and gas. No fault codes are being displayed. The 5a fuse on the control board was blown so obviously I replaced that. The fridge is mounted in a slide out and unfortunately the cooling fans are dead center in the back of the refridgerator and not accessible. I've been full-timing in the rig and never had a problem. The only thing I can think of is there's a blockage somewhere between the condenser fins and the absorber tubes. I tried wrapping on the tubes but nothing worked. .

Given the holiday weekend I can't get someone out here to diagnose so I welcome all suggestions and advice. Thanks in advance!

[dougrainer]

USMA Dad wrote:
I've searched for the fan and do not see it. According to the service model, my model (n811L) does not have a fan installed. Hopefully, Jayco installed the fan kit; however, again, I don't see it. I'm heading out again to search.

I've tapped on the condenser tubes/fins with a rubber mallet so we'll see if that helps. The Absorber tubes are still cold to the touch. In fact, see the picture for the condenser tubes' temps. it's strange the are not the same. Tube on the left runs down to the Absorber tubes and it is cold as well.

YOU said you had fans. Regardless, IN a slide room and no fans the refer will NOT operate to spec. Take a small fan and remove the upper outside door and have that fan blowing OUT and see what happens after 24 hours. BURPING WILL NOT FIX ANYTHING, IT IS A OLD WIVES TALE. if you "think" you have an air blockage(never heard of such a thing), just turn the refer off for 24 hours and restart. Your model has a NO CO fault system. NO CO means NO COOL and will trip a code and shut the refer off. As you have found out, replacing parts does not always fix problems. WHY did you replace the 5 amp fuse? What caused it to fail? Which fuse? The 12 volt power supply fuse on the module or the fuse for the 120 heating element? Doug

[USMA_Dad]

ljr wrote:
I recently had to replace my 1095. A phone support guy walked me through troubleshooting and said it was a blockage and I should replace.

In the course of Googling around for answers I came across something I didn’t try. It sounded a little crazy to me. It’s called “burping”. You pull the unit and set it upside down for 24 hrs. Then right side up for 24 and try it.

I still think that sounds nuts so take it for what it’s worth.

Did some searching about "burping" the fridge. It's most often used when there's an air bubble in the system from not being used. My fridge has been in full-time use since we bought the rig in 2012. Even when not camping, we kept the fridge on (we were weekend warriors before I started full-timing). Here's what I found on a different site:

"This 'technique' seems to work....but only for an air pocket that forms from a fridge that has been sitting unused for an extended period.

If you have a blockage (even a slight one) that is caused by solidification or crystalization of the sodium chromate that is a component of the refrigerant, then all you are doing is postponing the inevitable, as crystalline blockages will not dissipate and will get worse and render the unit useless eventually."

This does not sound good in my case.

[ljr]

I recently had to replace my 1095. A phone support guy walked me through troubleshooting and said it was a blockage and I should replace.

In the course of Googling around for answers I came across something I didn’t try. It sounded a little crazy to me. It’s called “burping”. You pull the unit and set it upside down for 24 hrs. Then right side up for 24 and try it.

I still think that sounds nuts so take it for what it’s worth.

[USMA_Dad]

[USMA_Dad]

I've searched for the fan and do not see it. According to the service model, my model (n811L) does not have a fan installed. Hopefully, Jayco installed the fan kit; however, again, I don't see it. I'm heading out again to search.

I've tapped on the condenser tubes/fins with a rubber mallet so we'll see if that helps. The Absorber tubes are still cold to the touch. In fact, see the picture for the condenser tubes' temps. it's strange the are not the same. Tube on the left runs down to the Absorber tubes and it is cold as well.

[dougrainer]

In a Slide out and IF the cooling fans are NOT working, then the refer will not cool. The good news is, you can access the Fan tstat from the upper door on a slide installed refer. BYPASS and jump the 2 fan tstat wires and if the fans run leave it bypassed until you can get a new tstat. Doug

[USMA_Dad]

Itinerant1 wrote:
If you don't have the service manual (google and download it) that has step by step for troubleshooting (you'll need a multimeter) that will eliminate any doubts of eyebrow board/ power board, thermistor, heating elements.
I just went through this with my N821 same thing no faults except for a '0' on the eyebrow display. No where could I find what it meant but after a bunch of internet searching found it was for the high temperature limit switch (on the exhaust tube) locked out the controls to turn the fridge on propane or electric. Disconnecting the 2 wires from the limit switch and used a jumper to bypass it, the fridge would turn on and run. *Do not run fridge like this it's a safety feature to shut down before a possible fire*. Waiting for new switch to arrive.
After pulling fridge out of cubby the heat shield that goes over the exhaust pipe slide down and started to block the tube.

I found the service manual and will go through the troubleshooting steps. Thanks.

I don't think it's the high limit switch since the Condensers are getting hot. That tells me the heating unit is working, plus the canister is hot to the touch. As mentioned below, I think I'll try the rubber hammer for a while. The trailer is level and everything was fine for months...until last Wednesday.

[USMA_Dad]

2oldman wrote:

USMA Dad wrote:
I have power to it and it works on ac and gas.

I guess you mean those are the two fuels it uses..?

Correct, it runs on AC and Propane.

[2oldman]

USMA Dad wrote:
I have power to it and it works on ac and gas.

I guess you mean those are the two fuels it uses..?

[Jim]

Usually the only time you'd get a blockage in the tubing is if you had parked for a while with more than an 8% tilt on the refer. Or if the refer had been shut off and left off for weeks. I've not heard of a spontaneous blockage under normal conditions but I suppose it's possible.

If either one of those scenarios is the case, and after you've eliminated other causes, then rattling the tubing with a rubber mallet for an hour or attaching some device that vibrates the tubing and leaving it there for an hour might help.

I did that with my brothers refer after he parked with it on a hill and left it on for a couple weeks without noticing it was on. Totally stopped cooling but I did an hour long rapping with a rubber mallet on the tubing brought it back to life. It's still working after 8 years.

Back in the old days, people would restore their refer by pulling them out, flipping them upside down, and letting them sit for 24-48 hours. That would often restore them. I prefer to do the vibration thing first.

[Itinerant1]

If you don't have the service manual (google and download it) that has step by step for troubleshooting (you'll need a multimeter) that will eliminate any doubts of eyebrow board/ power board, thermistor, heating elements.
I just went through this with my N821 same thing no faults except for a '0' on the eyebrow display. No where could I find what it meant but after a bunch of internet searching found it was for the high temperature limit switch (on the exhaust tube) locked out the controls to turn the fridge on propane or electric. Disconnecting the 2 wires from the limit switch and used a jumper to bypass it, the fridge would turn on and run. *Do not run fridge like this it's a safety feature to shut down before a possible fire*. Waiting for new switch to arrive.
After pulling fridge out of cubby the heat shield that goes over the exhaust pipe slide down and started to block the tube.

[USMA_Dad]

Jim@HiTek wrote:
Any ammonia smell from inside the freezer/refer? Any yellow residue on the tubes?

None whatsoever. No evidence of a leak anywhere.

I also bypassed the high end sensor (or whatever it's called) to see if that was kicking off the system and it made no difference.

[USMA_Dad]

None whatsoever. No evidence of a leak anywhere.

I also bypassed the high end sensor (or whatever it's called) to see if that was kicking off the system and it made no difference.

[Jim]

Any ammonia smell from inside the freezer/refer? Any yellow residue on the tubes?