Norcold not cooling

[mikf]

well now I am thinking the gas flame must not be hot enough. even though it has always had a nice blue flame. it does work fine on electric( I must have not run my gen set long enough to give it a chance to work when I was on my way home) but now after blowing the burner out it does cool, but not well. when I feel the coils they are not as hot as when on electric. so I removed the burner and was able to shake a very small amount rust out. the slots a very small amount of carbon built up on the edges, which I wire brushed out and blew out with air. I decided to soak it overnight in denatured alcohol. I will blow it out in the morning and hope for the best. has anyone ever figured out how to clean the tube that the flame shoots into, or is it even necesary?

[Sammie]

Mike,
There is a small gas jet that feeds the propane to the burner. It is located right at the inlet to the burner assembly. This gas jet has a very small hole in the center of it that can become plugged or partially pluged. Believe it or not there small spiders that can and do build a web across the jet hole. I've had to clean mine before with a very small piece of wire from a wire brush or smaller diameter needle or pin. Be careful not to damage the hole by trying to clen to severly. Use a air compressor if you have one.

Check your burner flame before and after cleaning to see if this makes a difference.

Sammie

[mikf]

THANKS to all who replied. my flame always looked blue, so I did not think that was the problem, but when I blew it out it helped a little bit. then as sugested I took the burner out cleaned all the slots and blew it out the soaked overnight in denatured alcohol and blew it out again.it was 80 degrees today and with the temp set on 8 the bottom box got down to 33 degrees. and like I said before I must not have let the generator run long enough for it to get cold on ac, but after getting home and plugging in it worked ok. when I could see the flame burning and not getting cold I just assumed it was plugged up. so as they say never ASSUME. thanks again.

[JohnRR]

Thank you for the update.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by mikf

THANKS to all who replied. my flame always looked blue, so I did not think that was the problem, but when I blew it out it helped a little bit. then as sugested I took the burner out cleaned all the slots and blew it out the soaked overnight in denatured alcohol and blew it out again.it was 80 degrees today and with the temp set on 8 the bottom box got down to 33 degrees. and like I said before I must not have let the generator run long enough for it to get cold on ac, but after getting home and plugging in it worked ok. when I could see the flame burning and not getting cold I just assumed it was plugged up. so as they say never ASSUME. thanks again.

On electrical it can take 24 hours to cool down, they recommend waiting 24 hours between changing temps for them to stabilize before relying on the thermometer.

[mikf]

Originally Posted by bachler

The norcold is a good refer;; There are millions of them out there That are pleasing users well, with there Performance;; Then One has a problem and what do you see. Some person calling them a piece of crap;; Come on Be realistic;;; We have had 13 motorhomes And campers All with Norcold, Since 1975 and have had but ONE failure. I get a bit upset when some one makes a remark like that.... Be a bit more carefull when you post things, You may upset a lot on people..

bachler is right. because of all the negative things that I read I just assumed the worst and was ready to ditch it before I did the proper trouble shooting. every thing is good this AM. thanks again for all of your help and sugestions.

[DGBPokes]

My Norcold has never "failed"' but the last two summers I have seen the temps gradually creeping up. When I research the Norcold recall problems and learned that it all about catching rigs on fire, I got worried. Then to learn that rather than fix the root cause problem of cheap, thin coils, the recall fix is to shut it down when it breaks so it does not catch fire. Then to learn that they did not get the shutdown fix right the first time, but had to issue a second recall just dumb founded me. I would think a company would fix the problem, not just put in a patch.

This winter, I had the cooling unit replaced with an Amish unit. I have only used it the day I brought it home, but that day it was cool long great. I noticed the fan noise that first day from the new lower location, but it was a minor sound.

I sleep better, not worrying about a horrific fire in my rig.

[bachler]

In the Good Sam Issue this month April/May ; They have a real good write up about the Norcold Refer units;;. Anyone that has any doughts about the norcold needs to read it.. I am not representing any one . All my own experinance;; We have 6 rentals Houses and The normal lifetime of the RES; 120 VAC> rental frig; Is 3 years ; Considering The average norcold lasts longer then 10 years. OH I for got there is that guy that only got 3 years out of his and He makes it known to everyone that it is a piece of junk;;;; I can't believe it;;; I stand for common scense;; No more no less.

[POPPASMURF]

To the wunder kindt who think the answer to Norcold or RV refrigerators is to install a residential unit. I would advise him to inform the manufacturer of that residential unit to find out what they think of having a residential fridge bouncing down the road. I think I can imagine the warnings about potential fire hazards of electric wires not secured for travel, electric motors not rated for bouncing down the road, ultra thin wall refrigerant coils used in evaporators and the pages of "hold harmless" statements they would put forth. I really hope this person doesn't get litigious when a 120 volt short or worse occurs, through misuse of a residential appliance.

[Ernie Ekberg]

Really? I haven't heard any negativity of residential refrigerators. Why would the high end coaches use them?

[POPPASMURF]

I think you'll find they are not a standard residential fridge. They are designed and assembled to do the job. They will not have copper refrigerant lines hanging in air-but all strapped down for anti-vibe, similarly the wiring. There are retro fit kits from the marine side, one made by Danfos, they are a complete evaporator, fridge lines, and a high efficient variable speed compressor- all run off 12 or 24 volts. For anyone worried about adsorption refrigerators in their RV, I can imagine insurance reaction to the missuse of a residential fridge-should it give a catastrophic problem-I think it would be half a peace sign.

[Ernie Ekberg]

Ok- those of you with the Norcold- have a good nites sleep. I'm done with this thread

[quiviran]

Originally Posted by Ernie Ekberg

Ok- those of you with the Norcold- have a good nites sleep. I'm done with this thread

Nice try, Ernie. I find the following rule helps.

"Never try to teach a pig to sing. You'll waste your time and annoy the pig."

From the Winnebago 2012 Tour Brochure:

• Available Maytag french-door residential refrigerator

The Maytag® stainless steel french-door refrigerator with drawer-style freezer is not only beautiful to look at, it's incredibly spacious, offers ice and water dispenser, and adds to the Tour's luxurious, residential feel. It also comes with a larger inverter and additional coach batteries so you'll have plenty of cooling power on the road.

Looks like some of the "wunderkinds" live in Forest City.

[bachler]

I like the prior post.. spot on. In my younger days I done some moveing. When we moved a Refer; We had to be carefull not to tip/tilt it; If you layed it down The Freon (or whatever) would do strange things. and it would sometines work or sometimes not. but it had to be in the upright position for 30 minutes or so.. I also remember when the SERVEL absorbson refer; was the only one on the market. From my point of view One should NOT try to impose there Believes on to someone else. The last time I checked it was still a free country.. You like the compressor type /Or absorbsion That is up to you they each have there good and bad points.. Have a good. DA DDD DAY;;