Norcold Refrigerator

[ianbullock]

On 7/17/2019 at 2:55 PM, IanBullock said:

It's my understanding that there have been several Norcold recalls on the model 1200 4 door fridge to eliminate or substantially reduce the risk of fire ...

So I after reading everyone's answers and thoughts on the "Norcold fix", I am left perplexed and wondering about the need for the ARP module. 

I mean if Norcold went to the trouble of recalling the fridges to install a cut off to reduce the risk of fire and mitigate their legal risk, if the fix didn't work, wouldn't they still be at significant Legal financial risk? 

I mean that wouldn't make sense for Norcold?

What am I missing?

[rayin]

46 minutes ago, IanBullock said:

So I after reading everyone's answers and thoughts on the "Norcold fix", I am left perplexed and wondering about the need for the ARP module. 

I mean if Norcold went to the trouble of recalling the fridges to install a cut off to reduce the risk of fire and mitigate their legal risk, if the fix didn't work, wouldn't they still be at significant Legal financial risk? 

I mean that wouldn't make sense for Norcold?

What am I missing?

Norcold says their design is safe, the recall involved installing a device that cuts off 12V to the board when the existing over temperature device trips out, it is non-resettable by design so the owner must return to a dealer to have the frig inspected, and a new recall box installed. Rather quickly someone discovered a strong magnet will reset the recall box though. After the class-action settlement an irv2.com member contacted Norcold and inquired about design changes, he said the response was " our design is safe, we made no significant design changes."

Original court notice: https://www.norcoldclassaction.com/Documents/NER_NOT.pdf

 My opinion about the Fridge Defend/ARP unit is; it has many safeguards built into it to control boiler temperature and off-level operation Norcold does not have. For instance, the ARP unit quickly detects a boiler temperature changes and turns the heat source off and back on to maintain boiler temperature within a safe range, like when you must park for an hour on a grade/hill it shuts off the heat source until temperature drops, then restarts heat source later. That is explained in detail in the links to the ARP website.

Edited July 19, 2019 by RayIN

[wolfe10]

Many corporate decisions in today's world are made more by bean counters than by engineers.  Often this means weighing out cost of law suits vs an expensive fixes-- in this case for many thousands of refrigerators. Perhaps-- engineering by "what I can get away with".

What will my bonus be THIS QUARTER often weighs more heavily than what is in the companies/customers long-range best interest.

No question the ARP is both more expensive and does a far better controller of the cooling process for both cooling unit longevity AND safety. 

BTW,  in my career (automobile business) I saw this very same mentality innumerable times. Even to extremes of removing a few pounds of iron from a block knowing that it would sag and lead to crankshaft failure (but only in out of warranty engines).

Stepping off soap box now.

[rvannoy1]

On 7/17/2019 at 12:25 PM, wolfe10 said:

Robert,

First, a question:  Why did he say to not run it on propane?  Have you ever run it on propane, and if so, how did it perform?

No I said that I cannot use the Propane any more.  I has too much rust and my repairman said that it is a hazard to continue using.  So I have turned off the propane fuel line.

Robert

[wolfe10]

Robert,

Exactly what is rusted?  Many of the burner area parts are not expensive and easy to install with just a screw driver in most cases.

[rvannoy1]

On 7/17/2019 at 2:55 PM, IanBullock said:

Rvannoy1, It's my understanding that there have been several Norcold recalls on the model 1200 4 door fridge to eliminate or substantially reduce the risk of fire. 

https://norcold.com/recall-information/

Have you had these recalls done?  

Yes, I have had the same recalls and had it worked on as well.

[rvannoy1]

12 minutes ago, rvannoy1 said:

No I said that I cannot use the Propane any more.  I has too much rust and my repairman said that it is a hazard to continue using.  So I have turned off the propane fuel line.

Robert

I'm not sure where the rust is located as the repairman looked at it and said at it's age and being the history of this unit, that it would be best to not use the propane.  

Also I forgot to tell every that has responded to my question, I very much appreciate you all getting back to me so quickly. 

I am considering new home style refrigerator.  I just hate to spend the money if I can get this one to work on AC (both Gen. and Shore power).

Robert (Bob)

[wildebill308]

It would be nice to get an answer.

Robert Vannoy, sorry for geting distracted, back to Norcold Refrigerator not cooling when traveling. You said you have shut off the propane completely. Was this before or after the trip?

Do you have a ice maker installed?

Bill

[jseltz]

I was having similar warming problems with my Norcold refrigerator with temperatures ranging from 38 to 48 degrees.  I use propane when driving and AC when parked - either generator or shore power.  Exploring other RV websites led me decide to add external and internal fans instead of going through the expense and time to change out for a residential unit.  (The next bus will have a residential refrigerator.)  Last week I  installed the external fans (just behind the side-wall access panel) that are now directed to blow up and on the coils.  This should assist the convection process and help push the heat up toward the roof vent.  Additionally, having internal mounted fans on the evaporator fins should help move the air around inside the unit and provide more and even cooling.  Also, when installing the external fans I found my vent tube to be clogged and not functioning, which I have corrected.  (My Allegro Bus has fans installed up near the roof vent behind the refrigerator.   However, I can not verify that they are operating.  I saw them when I took off the roof cover, but could not get to them without moving the refrigerator out.  I think something happened to them when the refrigerator was changed out in 2014.)  We will see how all of this works and how cold the unit will stay when we head out west for a 5 week trip in September.

[wildebill308]

jseltz, Welcome to the forum. Adding air circulation can't hurt.

Bill

[rvannoy1]

On 7/18/2019 at 11:35 AM, WILDEBILL308 said:

Looking at a couple of the big RV salvage yard websites shows a different picture. Nearly all the coaches that there is enough left to make a determination, show fire damage starting at the refrigerator. 1,115 reported cases in 7 years out of how many Million in service is so statistically small it might as well be 0.  

As jleamont said, he had all the recalls done and his still caught fire. I will stick to my residential refrigerator. 

Robert Vannoy, sorry for geting distracted, back to Norcold Refrigerator not cooling when traveling. You said you have shut off the propane completely. Was this before or after the trip?

Bill

Hi Bill,

 

It was shut off before the trip.  I have not used the frig on propane this year.  I've only taken one trip over 6 days.  My coach is now 13 years old with a little over 100,000 miles.

After all of the responses here, I am almost ready to go for a regular electric refrigerator.

Thanks for your inpute.,

 

Robert (Bob) Vannoy

[rvannoy1]

On 7/19/2019 at 2:14 PM, wolfe10 said:

Robert,

Exactly what is rusted?  Many of the burner area parts are not expensive and easy to install with just a screw driver in most cases.

Sorry that I haven't gotten back to you sooner.  I'm not sure exactly sure where the rust is coming from but I have had to clean out lots of rust which has fallen down from above inside the burner area.  I have cleaned it our at least 3 times and thought this was the problem now but it still would not work properly after cleaning it this time.

 

Robert

[rayin]

7 hours ago, rvannoy1 said:

Sorry that I haven't gotten back to you sooner.  I'm not sure exactly sure where the rust is coming from but I have had to clean out lots of rust which has fallen down from above inside the burner area.  I have cleaned it our at least 3 times and thought this was the problem now but it still would not work properly after cleaning it this time.

 

Robert

Thanks for the rest of the information,

That rust is falling down out of the flue, rust is not unusual in the flue because it is bare metal. The less it is used the more it rusts from humidity. The proper maintenance is to remove the roof vent and see if the top  of the flue may be accessed for cleaning. The frig many have to be pulled out enough to access the flue otherwise.

The top of the flue has a screw holding a spiral metal piece that extends almost down to the LP burner, it should be removed and cleaned along with the flue pipe.

I  suggest the reason the burner is not operating correctly is clogged burner slots. The burner should be removed annually and gently cleaned with a brass wire brush.

An aside, spiders love the odorant in LP and build nests near the burner when it is unused for a length of time.

That technician advised you to not operate the frig on LP due to liability reasons IMO.

Download the Norcold service manual from Bryantrv.com http://bryantrv.com/docs.html

[wildebill308]

Bob, If you want before changing out your refrigerator you could try doing some simple fixes to this one. you can buy a new burner kit from Amazon for about $35.00. For now I would clean out he rust as necessary. I have never seen one rust completely through the exhaust flue. I would almost bet a cold beverage if you take out the burner tube and clean it out and clean the slots with a wire brush it would work just fine.

I would get a second opinion on this one from a different shop.

I re read your original post. It almost seems you have a problem with a connection being loose or possibly the auto transfer switch. They do need the connections checked as they do loosen.

Have you tried plugging the refrigerator into the place where the icemaker is plugged in behind the refrigerator?  This is a circuit off the inverter that powers the icemaker when on propane and no 110 available. It will pass 110 when it is available but produse 110 from the batteries when it isn't. That is where my residential is plugged in.

Bill