Freezer cold Refrigerator Warm 2019 Minnie Winnie 22M

[Syringe]

2019 Minnie Winnie 22M. Connected to shore power. Freezer is working but the refrigerator is not. Norcold N7XRT. House batteries are turned off. Leaving for a trip tomorrow. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Morich]

Is this RV new to you?
I think the problem is turning off the 12VDC to the frig!
Is there a reason for that to be turned off?

Click this snip to see better what I'm looking at in the manual!

[Syringe]

Yes Morich. It is fairly new to us. Our previous RV, a 2003 Forest River, was far less complicated. I have turned on the house battery switch and hoping that it resolves the problem but it makes no sense that the freezer is getting cold but not the fridge.

[Ray,IN]

RV (Norcold, Dometic) refrigerators require 12VDC to operate the PC board and controls.Turn on the house battery bank.


Also, I highly recommend buying and installing a Fridge Defend/ARP unit. Most of us have this device installed for the reasons assigned on the website.

[bigb]

How long did you wait and is the outside of the camper where the fridge is in the full sun? An absorption fridge can take a long time to cool down, the freezer will get cold pretty quick but the fridge takes a lot longer, usually overnight. The sun baking on the fridge side of the camper will also reduce it's ability to cool.

[Morich]

The controls for both parts of the frig, lower and upper use 12VDC. If there was no 12VDC to the frig, I would not expect the system to work at all and I thought that was the question. Has the issue changed and now the freezer is working? That would be a completely different issue than what I was replying to on my first post.

If the controls are now working what error code are you getting?

I think the main problem will be that you are not familiar with this frig. If you did not get the frig manual in the big bag of info with the RV, I would very much recommend going online to find that manual as it is very hard to guess when we don't know what we don't know!
That lack of information can lead to misusing the frig and causing it to die an early death!
If the freezer is beginning to cool and the air flow between the upper and lower is not blocked, it just takes time for the lower section to get cool.
But that is assuming the door seals are good and not leaking, etc.

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by bigb

How long did you wait and is the outside of the camper where the fridge is in the full sun? An absorption fridge can take a long time to cool down, the freezer will get cold pretty quick but the fridge takes a lot longer, usually overnight. The sun baking on the fridge side of the camper will also reduce it's ability to cool.

I waited several hours and the fridge never changed temp (I had a thermometer in it). As it turns out, the freezer has stopped working as well.

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by Morich

The controls for both parts of the frig, lower and upper use 12VDC. If there was no 12VDC to the frig, I would not expect the system to work at all and I thought that was the question. Has the issue changed and now the freezer is working? That would be a completely different issue than what I was replying to on my first post.

If the controls are now working what error code are you getting?

I think the main problem will be that you are not familiar with this frig. If you did not get the frig manual in the big bag of info with the RV, I would very much recommend going online to find that manual as it is very hard to guess when we don't know what we don't know!
That lack of information can lead to misusing the frig and causing it to die an early death!
If the freezer is beginning to cool and the air flow between the upper and lower is not blocked, it just takes time for the lower section to get cool.
But that is assuming the door seals are good and not leaking, etc.

Initially the freezer was getting cold, but nothing with the fridge. Freezer never got lower than 55 degrees. The single power light on the front panel showed solid green as if it was working properly. The freezer has since decided to stop working.

You are likely correct that there was user error on my end. The RV is relatively new to us. Time to do some studying with the manuals!

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

RV (Norcold, Dometic) refrigerators require 12VDC to operate the PC board and controls.Turn on the house battery bank.


Also, I highly recommend buying and installing a Fridge Defend/ARP unit. Most of us have this device installed for the reasons assigned on the website.

I did turn on the house batteries after reading some of the answers here. No change with the exception that the freezer is not working now either. What has been constant is that the single power light on the front of the fridge has shown solid green as though it was working properly.

[bigb]

When you are plugged in does the boiler tube in back get hot? Have you tried running it on propane?

[Morich]

When things seem to change for no reason, I have to back off and make sure I'm getting the right answers and that I am doing the right thing in the correct order.
One might want to clear the little mechanical brain and start fresh!
This should get you the correct info book from Norcold for the N7X. When you do not get any error code, that in itself is a problem , so I would follow the directions to clear any remaining alarms and let it tell you what it finds.
https://norcold.com/wp-content/uploa...B_20180604.pdf

The info for a blank display looks to be the last item on page 22. If you have now moved beyond the blank screen/perhaps a reset will be a good place to start?
Do watch carefully when moving to different sections of the book to be sure you stay on the N&X as there are different sections for different models!

One thing we all know from dealing with computers is that we have to do it their way!

[Morich]

If this is still a problem, it may be time to go for more info as you have not mentioned adjusting the temperature sensor.
Are you aware of that method of changing the temperature in the frig?

If the book doesn't seem to help, maybe this video will do it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYZv...=CountryCamper

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by bigb

When you are plugged in does the boiler tube in back get hot? Have you tried running it on propane?

Don’t know about to boiler tube. Did try running it on propane with the same results. Power light is solid green. Nothing gets cold.

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by Morich

When things seem to change for no reason, I have to back off and make sure I'm getting the right answers and that I am doing the right thing in the correct order.
One might want to clear the little mechanical brain and start fresh!
This should get you the correct info book from Norcold for the N7X. When you do not get any error code, that in itself is a problem , so I would follow the directions to clear any remaining alarms and let it tell you what it finds.
https://norcold.com/wp-content/uploa...B_20180604.pdf

The info for a blank display looks to be the last item on page 22. If you have now moved beyond the blank screen/perhaps a reset will be a good place to start?
Do watch carefully when moving to different sections of the book to be sure you stay on the N&X as there are different sections for different models!

One thing we all know from dealing with computers is that we have to do it their way!

The display has been solid green all along. Will look into the possibility of a reset. In the mean time we are using good old fashioned coolers with ice.

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by Morich

If this is still a problem, it may be time to go for more info as you have not mentioned adjusting the temperature sensor.
Are you aware of that method of changing the temperature in the frig?

If the book doesn't seem to help, maybe this video will do it?

Temp adjustment had no effect. I’ll take a look at the video.

[Ray,IN]

Got a hand-held temperature gun? take readings at the top of the piping and at the bottom. The top (at chimney) should be approx. 350°F, the bottom significantly less.
If the cooling unit has been operated out of level requirements repeatedly, it eventually causes it to fail.(when stationary for over 30 minutes)
That is explained in detail on the ARP website, and what is printed is accurate.
The terms on and off are confusing when it comes to the house battery switch. On means a closed switch (electricity flows), off means an open switch(no electricity can flow)

[Morich]

Where this gets difficult is when we get that the battery disconnect was off at this start and then we are told the green power light on the frig has been on all the time.
Since the manual says the frig has to have 12volts to work and the control board uses that 12volts, it does make it hard to sort the problem!
The post title says freezer is cold. How can it get cold if the 12 volt disconnect is off?
Something feels like there is a problem to how the frig is used but finding it is a problem.

[Morich]

Looking deeper and trying to find what may happen if the 12VDC input is not reliable, we can begin to see it makes a lot of problems become really likely.

This snip will be a bit harder to read online as it has to be this size for me to mark it up and snip it. We have to turn the head or bear with reading sideways!!

Click this snip to get better view.


This frig appears to operate much like the normal home frig in several ways. It has a cooling unit that is one single heater of different types that does the cooling for both freezer and frig. Same as a home frig but with added propane, etc. functions.
But this uses separate 12VDC input to handle the control boards instead of breaking the 110AC down to DC like the home frig does.
So it works like a home frig but with added features, so we can look for trouble the same way!

One of the more common problems with home frigs that get set out on the curb on Craigslist is the fresh food section stops cooling and people panic that the frig is totally dead and give it away! WOW! That is one silly move that costs them!

If the freezer is working and the frig portion is not, the problem is airflow!
The cold air from the freezer is not getting moved to cool the frig! Are the air passages blocked or is there a fan which should be turned on to move the air?
Looking at this drawing, the 12VDC and ground come in to the main control board as a first stop. If that 12V is not connected or not reliable, the rest is a dead issue because nothing else is going to be reliable either.

One of the first things I noticed that was going to be unreliable is the fresh food thermistor located at K! This thermistor is what sense the fresh food/frig temperature! If it doesn't work the frig doesn't work!

But then it may also be a different problem if we get past whether the 12VDC supply is good. When we get the main control board to work and the temperature sensing working, there may be a fan problem??

This may be an option or on all this model but I can't tell from this drawing, so one would need to look at the unit to check.
If this is on the frig, it will be vital if we want the fresh food section to cool. There is a condenser fan at F but the main problem may be the fan to blow cold air from the freezer to the fresh section!

If K doesn't work to sense the temperature in the fresh section, the fan at S is not going to move the cold from freezer to fresh and the fresh WILL stay hot!
I would start with getting the right manual to find how to operate the frig and this one may need to be reset to get it's little electronic brain in order.
Once reset, check what the error codes say as a first step to ease the troubleshooting! We don't need to beat our brains out is there is a board to point the way!

But if all else fails and the freezer is actually cold but the frig hot, we may have to look to see why the fan is not working or why the airflow is blocked!
Maybe as simple as adjusting the thermistor location?

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by Morich

Looking deeper and trying to find what may happen if the 12VDC input is not reliable, we can begin to see it makes a lot of problems become really likely.

This snip will be a bit harder to read online as it has to be this size for me to mark it up and snip it. We have to turn the head or bear with reading sideways!!

Click this snip to get better view.
Attachment 189295

This frig appears to operate much like the normal home frig in several ways. It has a cooling unit that is one single heater of different types that does the cooling for both freezer and frig. Same as a home frig but with added propane, etc. functions.
But this uses separate 12VDC input to handle the control boards instead of breaking the 110AC down to DC like the home frig does.
So it works like a home frig but with added features, so we can look for trouble the same way!

One of the more common problems with home frigs that get set out on the curb on Craigslist is the fresh food section stops cooling and people panic that the frig is totally dead and give it away! WOW! That is one silly move that costs them!

If the freezer is working and the frig portion is not, the problem is airflow!
The cold air from the freezer is not getting moved to cool the frig! Are the air passages blocked or is there a fan which should be turned on to move the air?
Looking at this drawing, the 12VDC and ground come in to the main control board as a first stop. If that 12V is not connected or not reliable, the rest is a dead issue because nothing else is going to be reliable either.

One of the first things I noticed that was going to be unreliable is the fresh food thermistor located at K! This thermistor is what sense the fresh food/frig temperature! If it doesn't work the frig doesn't work!

But then it may also be a different problem if we get past whether the 12VDC supply is good. When we get the main control board to work and the temperature sensing working, there may be a fan problem??

This may be an option or on all this model but I can't tell from this drawing, so one would need to look at the unit to check.
If this is on the frig, it will be vital if we want the fresh food section to cool. There is a condenser fan at F but the main problem may be the fan to blow cold air from the freezer to the fresh section!

If K doesn't work to sense the temperature in the fresh section, the fan at S is not going to move the cold from freezer to fresh and the fresh WILL stay hot!
I would start with getting the right manual to find how to operate the frig and this one may need to be reset to get it's little electronic brain in order.
Once reset, check what the error codes say as a first step to ease the troubleshooting! We don't need to beat our brains out is there is a board to point the way!

But if all else fails and the freezer is actually cold but the frig hot, we may have to look to see why the fan is not working or why the airflow is blocked!
Maybe as simple as adjusting the thermistor location?

Thank you for all of your help. I’m struggling to find how to do a reset. Is that found in the fridge manual? I do have the manuals that came with the RV but I don’t believe it has any reset instructions.

[Syringe]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Got a hand-held temperature gun? take readings at the top of the piping and at the bottom. The top (at chimney) should be approx. 350°F, the bottom significantly less.
If the cooling unit has been operated out of level requirements repeatedly, it eventually causes it to fail.(when stationary for over 30 minutes)
That is explained in detail on the ARP website, and what is printed is accurate.
The terms on and off are confusing when it comes to the house battery switch. On means a closed switch (electricity flows), off means an open switch(no electricity can flow)

Thank you for your help. I do have a temp gun. Will check that when I get back home. I will also take a look at the ARP site.