Refrigerator/freezer issues

[prstlk]

We have a 2007 Holiday Rambler with a Norcold 4 door fridge, model #1200 LRIMSS.

We had the cooling unit replaced in February of 2015 with a new one (not re-built one).

We have always had to defrost the freezer compartment where the ice maker is located about every 4 to 6 weeks. The other side can usually go about 10 weeks.

About a week ago the ice maker slowed down on making ice. Used to fill the bin in 1 day. Now we might get 3 harvests of ice in a day.
But, everything on this side is rock solid frozen. We have checked the water like and there doesn't seem to be any kind of blockage in it and water is flowing to it just fine.

The other side is not freezing as well as a pack of hot dogs put in it over a week ago I can still squeeze and they give. They should be solidly frozen by now.

Now, the fridge doesn't seem to be cooling. I usually keep it set on the 5 setting and it seemed to always be just fine. Then I noticed things didn't seem to be as cold and it got up to 54 and we lost pretty much everything.

Then I put the setting on 6 and it didn't really change.

We have turned it up to 9 - the highest setting. Still does not cool down below about 47.

All of the above has been while it was on the AC setting.

We have now turned it to LP and it is now down to about 43. This is after running the LP for about 3 hours.

Any suggestions or ideas what might be happening.

Thanks in advance!

[dougrainer]

prstlk wrote:
Since coming back yesterday to the higher temps I have tracked them and the outside temp.

Time Fridge Temp Freezer Temp Outside Temp
4:25 pm 40 32 48
7:45 pm 40 28 42
6:40 am today 40 24 25
8:08 40 19.5 26

Tech coming again this afternoon so he called and said to disconnect the thermister which I have done

When this was typed
12:55 42 20 45

The freezer has never gotten down below about 15 and that was when the tech was out here yesterday morning.

As I stated, Unless you pull the refer and check the Thermal Mastic and the sealing of the CU to the box, you are just wasting time. The temps you posted, reinforce this. I lean Heavily towards a defective cooling unit. Does this unit have the recall kit installed? Doug

[prstlk]

Since coming back yesterday to the higher temps I have tracked them and the outside temp.

Time Fridge Temp Freezer Temp Outside Temp
4:25 pm 40 32 48
7:45 pm 40 28 42
6:40 am today 40 24 25
8:08 40 19.5 26

Tech coming again this afternoon so he called and said to disconnect the thermister which I have done

When this was typed
12:55 42 20 45

The freezer has never gotten down below about 15 and that was when the tech was out here yesterday morning.

[dougrainer]

Are you POSITIVE that the freezer temps is NOT below 32 degrees? As I stated, the freezer should be below 10 degrees. Also, the temp Thermister control does NOT regulate the freezer. The fact that the freezer will be above 32 degrees points to a lack of Thermal mastic or lack of correct amount of thermal Mastic when the cooling unit was installed. You can NEVER have too much thermal mastic. Why the 6 months of operation? maybe because between the Thermal Mastic and probably the lack of sealing the Cooling Unit to the box correctly, the refer has too many air leaks. I have NEVER seen a RV absorbsion refer have less than 50 degrees in the lower section and above 32 degrees in the Freezer. That goes back 36 years as a Service Technician. The problem is this, to check the sealing of the CU to the box and the amount of Thermal Mastic requires the refer to be pulled and the CU to be pulled. At this point, that is the only option. Doug

[prstlk]

Ok - the continuing saga of the possessed fridge...

We are now 6 weeks into a non properly functioning fridge.

4 weeks ago - called Norcold. They had small company pull out fridge and do all of these tests on it. They said doesn't seem to be cooling unit - maybe installation. Small company puts fridge back in and now it won't work on AC - only PL.

3 weeks - Norcold wants company to come back and pull out fridge again so that the compartment can be measured. WTF! Small company says no thanks - can't help any more.

Have since borrowed an apartment sized fridge and are storing frozen goods in 2 different freezers of co-workcampers and boss

Then until now - fridge fluctuates between 38 and 47 degrees. Freezer goes between 30 and 38.

The differences seem to be based on how warm it is outside. The warmer the day the higher the temps.

Last Sunday - drive to El Paso to have a "Norcold authorized service provider" check it out.

After driving 235 miles to get here we get all hooked up. Decide to give it one more try on AC and guess what - IT WORKS!

Now, the outside temps are cooler here - by about 15 degrees. Monday's temp was 64 with a low of 41. Temps were on the high end of normal yesterday afternoon but well within the normal ranges this morning. Go figure

Service man comes out. Checks temps, ventilation, thermistor, fans, wiring that he can see, seals that he can see and says all looks fine.

We leave for about 5 hours. Day is cool, around 45 to 47 but sun has been shining on that side, but not directly. We get home and temps are back up to 40 in the fridge and 32 in the freezer.

Has anyone else out there have this type of issue with their Nevercold fridge?

[jerryjay11]

In the meantime I would suggest, highly suggest, to call your extended warranty company and the guy in Arizona to advise them of your troubles. I wish you the best of luck in getting this resolved so you may continue your travels in the comfort you deserve. But unless you contact someone who knows how an absorption systems works you will be spinning your Travel Trailer Wheels and getting nowhere. Sorry for the pun! Again, Good Luck!

[prstlk]

jerryjay11 wrote:
One thing to keep in mind about these absorption type refrigerators is they do not require any type of electrical power to cool. All they need is a sufficient heat source in the burner tube to make them cool. The control of the box temperature and electronic ignition is what requires the electrical source. You could actually just run a sufficient flame in the tube and it will cool (assuming the cooling unit is good). Though it would get too cold (freezing temps in fresh food compartment, etc.) without a way to control its temp. So if you have sufficient flame which can be observed and it still isn’t cooling then the cooling unit is damaged or not installed properly.

As for it just being replaced with no issues until recently can be explained by a slow leak. Initially it works okay, but eventually enough leaks out to a point it doesn't cool properly. As a retired home appliance technician I here this all the time.


Just a note my wife and I drove cross-country and back and in the 5 weeks we were out our refrigerator never frosted up once. I turned the fridge on one week before departing so in all it ran 6 weeks without frosting.

Two reasons a freezer has partial frost up. 1) air leakage at point the electrical power and water lines come in and 2) loss of refrigerant. Did I say I was a retired HVAC/R Technician?

You said you have an extended warranty. That warranty should cover you anywhere you are so I would be in touch with them to get some local company to check it out.

P.S. If you are not comfortable with "hot" wiring the electric heater, bypassing the electrical controls, I would not advice you to attempt it. Your warranty company may deny service. But I know what I would do. Also nothing to stop you from calling the installer to inform them what is going on. They may be able to help.

I would love to just be able to call someone and have them come out but we are in west Texas for the winter. The area we are in is about 100 miles outside of Big Bend National Park. There is a small RV supply and service company here but having had them come out on the Thermistor replacement I am not sure if they have really worked on anything like this before.

We are work camping here and have 6 days off between our work days. May have to look into going into Midland/Odessa or El Paso for work. Not looking forward to doing that.

[jerryjay11]

One thing to keep in mind about these absorption type refrigerators is they do not require any type of electrical power to cool. All they need is a sufficient heat source in the burner tube to make them cool. The control of the box temperature and electronic ignition is what requires the electrical source. You could actually just run a sufficient flame in the tube and it will cool (assuming the cooling unit is good). Though it would get too cold (freezing temps in fresh food compartment, etc.) without a way to control its temp. So if you have sufficient flame which can be observed and it still isn’t cooling then the cooling unit is damaged or not installed properly.

As for it just being replaced with no issues until recently can be explained by a slow leak. Initially it works okay, but eventually enough leaks out to a point it doesn't cool properly. As a retired home appliance technician I here this all the time.


Just a note my wife and I drove cross-country and back and in the 5 weeks we were out our refrigerator never frosted up once. I turned the fridge on one week before departing so in all it ran 6 weeks without frosting.

Two reasons a freezer has partial frost up. 1) air leakage at point the electrical power and water lines come in and 2) loss of refrigerant. Did I say I was a retired HVAC/R Technician?

You said you have an extended warranty. That warranty should cover you anywhere you are so I would be in touch with them to get some local company to check it out.

P.S. If you are not comfortable with "hot" wiring the electric heater, bypassing the electrical controls, I would not advice you to attempt it. Your warranty company may deny service. But I know what I would do. Also nothing to stop you from calling the installer to inform them what is going on. They may be able to help.

[dougrainer]

You take them loose from the circuit board and make wire spade jumpers to combine the hot and neutrals and then connect to the power cord end than you unplug from the circuit board. If just 1 element is bad you will get low cooling. Doug

[prstlk]

mchero wrote:
What have the people that installed your DEAD cooling unit have to say?

The company that installed the cooling unit are located in Yuma Arizona.

We haven't called them because we aren't there this winter - we are in west Texas. Kind of hard to get them to come this far for a service call.

[prstlk]

dougrainer wrote:

prstlk wrote:
I have checked those and will work on them tomorrow.

We have checked the fuses in the front of the coach and the recalled switch to see if it is operating correctly and it is. Will check for the fuses in the board as well.

The weird thing is that we are not getting any fault codes or sounds from the control panel.

The other weird thing is that we are still getting frozen ice through the ice maker, yet not as much as we used to get in a day. We might get 3 or 4 harvests a day instead of being able to fill the bucket full in a day.

There are NO fuses that will cause this type problem. The recall will not cause this type problem. The recall will shut down the entire refer if it trips or malfunctions. The actual icemaker temps is BELOW 10 degrees for correct ICE production. If NOT below 10 degrees you will get slow harvest of ice as the cooling of the freezer is NOT to spec. The ONLY way at this point to test the system is to wire the 120 elements direct for 24 hours and then measure the temps in the refer. If NOT below 36 degrees, you have either a bad cooling unit or it is not sealed correctly. You have NOT answered my one question---Is this a Norcold cooling unit? Doug

It was a brand new Norcold cooling unit that was put in in February of this year. The extended warranty company wanted to put in a rebuilt one and make us wait a week to get it. As we were in Yuma Arizona at the time for the winter that would not work for us. We actually paid nearly $500 more to get a new one out of Phoenix the next day.

As far as it's installation - I find it odd that we have not had any issues with this unit until the 6th of this month.

Since February we have put on about 10,000 miles (6250 of them in Canada and Alaska) on the coach and not a problem at all. Also, we are full timers so this fridge is used every day.

How do we wire the 120 elements direct?

[mchero]

What have the people that installed your DEAD cooling unit have to say?

[jerryjay11]

I asked if any gurgling sounds when on? If no, then loss of ammonia is probably not the problem. If you lost ammonia in system you may not see or smell anything due to the pressure being low. I doubt it is a fuse because you have some cooling going on which would tell me the control is sending the power to the heater.

[prstlk]

Jerryjay,

The entire cooling unit was replaced in February of this year and we had absolutely no issues with it until the 6th of this month.

We have checked for any ammonia leaks and have not found any.

The doors have never fit truly tight but have not caused this type of issue in the nearly 2 years we have owned the unit.

DH will check the fuses in the power board tomorrow morning when it is daylight.

Just do not understand why we are not getting any kind of alarm. If we didn't do as much dry camping and bookdocking as we do I would replace this **** thing with a residential unit in a heartbeat. But that just isn't in the books for now.

[dougrainer]

prstlk wrote:
I have checked those and will work on them tomorrow.

We have checked the fuses in the front of the coach and the recalled switch to see if it is operating correctly and it is. Will check for the fuses in the board as well.

The weird thing is that we are not getting any fault codes or sounds from the control panel.

The other weird thing is that we are still getting frozen ice through the ice maker, yet not as much as we used to get in a day. We might get 3 or 4 harvests a day instead of being able to fill the bucket full in a day.

There are NO fuses that will cause this type problem. The recall will not cause this type problem. The recall will shut down the entire refer if it trips or malfunctions. The actual icemaker temps is BELOW 10 degrees for correct ICE production. If NOT below 10 degrees you will get slow harvest of ice as the cooling of the freezer is NOT to spec. The ONLY way at this point to test the system is to wire the 120 elements direct for 24 hours and then measure the temps in the refer. If NOT below 36 degrees, you have either a bad cooling unit or it is not sealed correctly. You have NOT answered my one question---Is this a Norcold cooling unit? Doug

[jerryjay11]

The icemaker requires a temp below 13 - 17 degrees to cycle by it's internal T-stat. Set any thoughts of the icemaker aside and sick to the thought the new refrigeration unit isn't working properly. That is if you have eliminated door seals. When a freezer has frost built up on one side over the entire freezer compartment it is generally a refrigerant sealed system problem. Listen for any gurgling sounds. If present then you are losing cooling liquid (ammonia)from the cooling coil unit.

There is also the chance the cooling unit was miss installed and the insulation wasn't replaced properly or the coil wasn't sealed to the box properly. But I will bet you are losing ammonia from the coil assembly. These can be damaged easily while installing.