Problem with installing Refrigerator fans Norcold 1201

[Roy Woods]

Just purchased refrigerator fans for my norcold 1201 Refrigerator. Seller instructions says to run power wire through the drain tube to hook up power. Problem is I cannot get the wire to go thru this tube. I have tried to find other options but there is no easy solution. Has anyone else ran into this problem and found another solution?
I considered tying into the light wire but that would mean the fan would only run when the door is opened, So I don't think I can make that work.
Would appreciate any advice on this problem,

[neub]

My interior fan kit directed me to ron the wire towards the bottom of the frig and drill a small hole thru the rear of the frig amd run the wire thru that...of course i sealed around the wire with silicone

[WindBurner]

I too had that same issue. It got close to the end, but not all of the way, almost as if the tube had a partial blockage. I have several sizes of safety wire around, so I rolled off a few feet of a fairly stiff variety (don't recall the gauge) to probe the tube, and fed it through shockingly easily, so taped on the power wire and pulled it through with a bit of careful effort.

[rarebear.nm]

I had a similar problem in running the power lead. I did find a fitting on the lower end of the drain tube which I removed. Then used a section of solid wire, small gauge, and used it to pull the power lead through. Done in a few minutes, easy. I used a three-way spade adapter, one female and two male ends on the power connection at the control board. Made things very clean and simple.

Also I pulled the frig end of the drain tube off its fitting to make the run and then put it back on. Make sure to run the wire through the fitting first or redo you work.

[David K]

When I installed the fans inside of my Norcold while I still had it, I used a hot wire from the light fixture as the positive side and the fins at the back of the refrigerator part served as the negative side. I spliced into the hot lead going to the light (use a test light to see what wire is hot going to the light) -- the light switch cuts the negative side when the door is closed. I then put an alligator clip on the negative wire and when we got ready to go, I would clip that to one of the fins at the back of the refrigerator -- that completed the circuit. I am assuming that you are installing 12 volt DC powered fans in the frig and not 110 volt fans.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by WindBurner

I too had that same issue. It got close to the end, but not all of the way, almost as if the tube had a partial blockage. I have several sizes of safety wire around, so I rolled off a few feet of a fairly stiff variety (don't recall the gauge) to probe the tube, and fed it through shockingly easily, so taped on the power wire and pulled it through with a bit of careful effort.

The condensate drain tubing has a small plug in the end that allows condensate to drain into the evaporator cup, but does not allow warm air to enter the frig via the drain tube. When you remove that plug you are also allowing warm air to backflow into the frig.
The solution is to keep the tube end submerged in the evaporator cup. which is normally 1/2 full of water when the frig is running; OR replace the plug into the tube end.