Cloud Dancer
San Antonio and Livingston TX USA
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I've been wanted to find out for a long time, but can't find it in any text.
OK so the smart circuit board shuts off the heaters at a certain interval so that the cooling fins can defrost. This feature worked perfectly for all the 7-1/2 years of lifespan for the original cooling unit.
SO I took time to get educated, and I installed what everyone calls the 'Amish' cooling unit (ordered it from David Force).
NOW, the not-so-smart circuit board(same one) shuts down the heaters during the HOTTEST part of the day(inside frige temp goes up to 45 degrees), and it takes the refrigerator "forever" to recover(because it's fighting a lot of heat from the outside).
I sure hope there's a method of setting the shut off period to like 2:00 AM! PLease tell me there is, and what's the procedure.
Thanks
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docj
Fulltime--Home is where we park it
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The Norcold shouldn't have any idea what time of day it is. I think the periodic defrost cycles were on roughly a 4-day cycle. Maybe you need to completely turn off the unit (including the 12V supply) and let it reset.
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Good to hear from you Cloud Dancer but sorry about the problem.
There was a thread back a few weeks where the owner had to do as docj points out and when they reset it would work fine for a period of time.
If you try that say every night and do not have any problems then it may be the board was not designed to outlast the cooling unit.
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rv2go
Fulltime (Knoxville, TN).... or someplace else
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I was told by Norcold that my 1200 would cycle about every 48 hours. I keep a digital thermometer in the right freezer compartment and it does in fact do that. Maybe if you pulled all power(12/120V) from the unit at around 2am and leave it off for a minute or two, the board would reprogram to the present time. Just saying....
I have restated mine when I notice the temps rising in freezer about 5 degrees above normal. I first check the fins in the fridge to make sure they have defrosted.
If you don't have them, you should install some aux fans and leave them running all the time.
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Cloud Dancer
San Antonio and Livingston TX USA
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Sure, I can guess that there has to be a design order to the schedule of shut-off time. But, it follows that someone should know THE ORDER/SEQUENCE. Does it shut off a specific number of hours AFTER you turn it ON? And, how long does it stay OFF? How long until the next shut-off?
I certainly don't mind shutting it off, and restarting it. Is there a specific procedure for doing this, for the purpose of selecting when the shut-off occurs?
Thanks
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docj
Fulltime--Home is where we park it
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rv2go wrote:I was told by Norcold that my 1200 would cycle about every 48 hours.
I apologize, I misspoke. 48 hours is the correct cycling time.
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dougrainer
Carrolton, Texas
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The refer HAS to on for at least 2 days before the Defrost cycle will start. To STOP the defrost cycle, all you do is turn the refer OFF for 10 seconds once a day and restart. It will never go to defrost then. Doug
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Cloud Dancer
San Antonio and Livingston TX USA
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So far, I'm guessing, and wishfully thinking, that I might get my answer by shutting off my 1200, and turn it back on at 2:00 AM. Does anyone know if this will change the defrost time to 2:00 AM?
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dougrainer
Carrolton, Texas
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Cloud Dancer wrote:So far, I'm guessing, and wishfully thinking, that I might get my answer by shutting off my 1200, and turn it back on at 2:00 AM. Does anyone know if this will change the defrost time to 2:00 AM?
No, because Norcold cannot state the ACTUAL time variance between the 48 to 54 hour defrost cycle. But, you have a better chance by doing what you want to do. Doug
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Cloud Dancer
San Antonio and Livingston TX USA
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I guess I'll try to talk to the designer of the after-market replacement circuit board (Dinosaur). But, only to find out if they have a better design,...one with more specific control of the defrost cycle, and its period.
OK, so I did NOT wake up at 2:00 AM to go turn off/turn on my Norcold 1200 (MH is parked in the backyard with full hookups).
BUT, I did it at 5:30 AM, and this should tell me if the time of the defrost cycle changed, right?
I'll report back in a few days, see what I find.
Thanks again.
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