We have a 2005 Newmar MT Aire & our Norcold frig has been a lemon.
We have to set it at #9 and the temp still is 50-60 degrees. The freezer runs at 20 if we are lucky
Last week we finally had a new cooling unit put in @ a cost of $2500 & it still is running the same temp. Norcold says it may have been a bad cooling unit & wants us to put another one in. What a HUGE inconvenience to empty the frig & to find somewhere to put the food for 2 days. It takes up to 6-8 hours to change out the cooling unit & then run it empty for 8-10 hours before putting food back in.
Does anyone else keep a thermometer in their frig so they can keep track of the inside frig temp ? ? ? Has anyone had this much trouble with their Norcold ?
Any advise ?
Thank you
Yes, I always keep a thermometer in the fridge. No trouble with my Norcold so far. I do keep a small, battery-operated fan running in it but that's not going to change the cooling properties, just distribute them better.
We had a Dometic go bad in our Class A (it was about eight years old) and had the cooling unit replaced at great expense. It worked fine after that. On our little trailer we needed the thermostat replaced on the Dometic. I will certainly concur that, of all the RV components, the fridge seems to be the most problematic and among the most expensive to replace. It's too bad there are only two manufacturers of LP/electric refrigerators for RVs and both appear to be poorly designed and built, as reflected in the many recent fires and recalls.
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Welcome to the club and I'll assume it's a 1200. Who's paying for these guesses of how to fix it? Here is a $10 fix that you can buy at Radio Shack. The problem is not enough air over the rear coils often because you refer is in a slide or poor baffling (too big a air gap) at the back. This fix has gotten me by for two years, but next week I'm going to be near Elkhart IN where I'm having a new Amish cooling unit installed for less then $1300. I'll also decrease the air space while the unit is out by adding something to the wall. Not sure what yet as I want it to be fire proof.
OP, then your cooling unit is working OK, but without enough air flow it will not get cold enough. You have to increase the amount of air going over the coils.Assuming your fans are working, a poorly installed unit (too big a gap at the back) is probably your main problem.
The freezer has to get to less than 10 (measured on the back wall) before the refer will get close to 40. Any fan put in the outside vent will help and if your's is in a slide then you need lots of help/air. Often the real problem is there is too big of a gap between the coils and the wall letting too much of the air bypass the coils. This requires pulling the refer and adding more baffling (could be ridgid insulation) to the wall.
I use the plug that comes with this fan as my switch and on a Norcold the 12V is the yellow wire. My 1200 already has fans but adding this one for really hot WX has solved my cooling problems.
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This post is my opinion (free advice). It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
jlhallgren the most basic test is to hot wire your 120v heating element. If it cools fine then you know it is OK and if not AND the flue/chimney is all clear then you have a control problem most likely.
If you are paying for it yourself look at the new Amish 1200 design that side steps 1200 design issues.
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