Norcold 1200 Refrigerator Failure

[dickandlois]

Bo, This is a link to another thread on the topic. I listed some options that might help get you started.

The size of the replacement units and the openings for the current units are not the same thought.

Rich.

[OBS66]

Our Norcold 1200 quit on us last night (no power) checked all fuses breakers all was good. We had the recall done in September 2012 never had a problem until now.

Called Norcold and of course there response was how do you know it's the recall box and not something else.

Called local camping shop here in Orlando and was told that the black box could be reset and with a magnet held against the black box for a minute sure enough the box reset and the red light went out and the fridge is working fine. So a huge thank you goes out to the local rv repair shop for the information and saving us a $95.00 service call.

Not sure if this will help anyone but it sure helped us and saved a fridge full of food

[dickandlois]

Thanks for sharing the information with the Group, Always nice to have the problem, cause and a possible solution listed.

Enjoy the sun and sand !!

Rich.

[hermanmullins]

OBS66, this is some good information. I beleive the sale on magnets may have just gone up.

Now to Norcold. We all have been through one or both of the recalls. On the last recall was when they ty-wraped the Black Box to the pipe. Only through the Forum have folks learned that if the Red lite is on the refrigerator isn't. From that everyone understood that the Black Box was bad. Now when you call them their response is "How do you know its the Black Box?" That is a good question. Now a good question back to the tech would "What else could it be?" Norcold never to my knowledge told anyone what the Black Box protected.

So now we know that we don't have to worry what caused the Black Box to go out, we just take our Magnet and reset to Box.

There are a lot of folks out there that have just by passed to Box and their unit is working fine. No wonder the cost of a replacement unit is so expensive, Magnets cost a lot of money to put in the bag with the new unit.

Herman

[desertdeals69]

Before you install a residential refrigerator try to run it on the inverter. I just tested a 10 cu ft Frigidaire and it would only run on an inverter for a short period of time and then the compressor would shut down. I tried it on a Xantrex Prosine 2000, Xantrex RS2000 and a cheapy 750 watt. I just glad I didn't install it before I found out it wouldn't work.

[hermanmullins]

dd69,

Do you think that it might have been the brand of refrigerator? I only ask because many folks installed residential units that work fine. Is there a way to tell on the unit if it uses MS waves.

Herman

[desertdeals69]

I'm not sure if it was that particular model, made in China, or if it was a defective unit. I would start the cooling plugged in to the house and when the freezer was down to 30 I switched over to inverter. I used 2 pure sine wave inverters and 1 modified sine wave inverter. It would run for a short period of time and then the compressor would stop and get hot. Replug it into the house and it would continue to cool to below 0 in the freezer. I don't think its so much the brand as is the manufacturer, because I looked at another brand and it had the same compressor and the rest of it looked the same. Since it was special ordered I could not ask them to order another one just for me to test!

[jacklance]

I have the 1200LRIM that was in one of the recalls.

I had the first recall "black box" fail the day before a big trip. Was fortunate enough to have a dealer in town with a couple in stock. They installed it and we left town.

Good thing we had ice chests in the basement storage because during install of the second black box, the new tech knocked some insulation into the burner chamber. We smelled it burning and shut the frig down until we got back from vacation. Of course they fixed it for us when we got back and it works like brand new now.

You gotta love

RVing (which I do).

[markh63]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2001 Alfa SeeYa with a Norcold 1200lrim. I had all the recalls fixed a few years ago but I recently decided to remove it and put in a residential unit mostly for more usable space but also because where the coach is usually used has shore power so now I have put the Norcold up for sale and a guy came over to buy it but wanted to check it out first so I plugged it in and hooked up a battery to it but the control panel isn't working.

I noticed the light came on inside so I know it's getting 12 volt power but does anyone have any ideas why the control panel isn't working?

Thanks Mark H.

[Daviddalton]

I have a 1200lrim displaying a "noco" code I went through the reboot process using a jumper wire. Tried to cool for a half hour and then went to another noco code.

I have a call into Norcold.

They billed my credit card the $40.00 tech fee but have yet to hear from them -3 days now.

I can't get to a dealer tech. for another couple weeks anyone out there that can help me with diagnosing?

[rossboyer]

Our Norcold 1200 failed leaking ammonia. We now have a Samsung RF197ACRS, 18 cu ft residential refrigerator installed. We have only made one trip, but the daytime temp was 95 to 99 degrees. The frig was set on 36 and held 34 to 36. The freezer section set on -2 and held -2 to +1. We had power at our site and as near as I can tell max load was 5 amps on 120 volts. I did turn off the ice maker and place it in economy mode while traveling and had the inverter on to power the frig. I did not perceive any problems. I have 4 friends that have installed this same unit and they are happy with their units, too.

[huffypuff]

I reset my 1200 Norcold with recall with a magnet because it didn't like indoor truck wash smell of soap. Still works fine after reset. Took about a day to get in touch with dealer to find out how to reset.

[bjeff]

This is my first post on your site & I appreciate all the input I have seen. I had the recall done last year on my 1200 LR w/ ice maker. I checked the unit yesterday and had no power to the door panel. I was overseas when the recall was done and am not sure what was replaced. I have 120 volts to unit and there is a red light burning on a clamp on relay (I suppose that's what it is). I also checked the 3 amp fuse & it is OK. This was while running the generator. All other a/c appliances seem OK. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I apologize for taking up your time. I had only read first page. Second page gave me things to try. Thanks for your time.

Thanks. bjeff.

[davebeach]

I have a Norcold 1200 LRIM in my 2000 MotorCoach.

In the last year or so I been having problems, getting the Refig started after storage. I have all new batteries and completed the safety recalls. It turns on/ lights up gas or ac mode. My latest-- one day I got it to finally stay on in gas mode, had to restart it many times. Once it stay on every thing got cold. I put it on a low temp setting and it got cold. When I tried to a less cold, by holding the temp push button. the refig turned off. I cold start it up again but not change the temp setting.

That was a couple of weeks ago, now I tried to start it again. I getting the same response. It will come on and run for about 1 hr on gas than turn off, the freezer started to get cool. I can't get to stay on in ac. It give me no error notes, just turns off. If I try to get to diagnostic mode, it turns off. There are two fans on the coils but they do not turn on.

I reset the unit by removing DC power for a couple of min. When I turn it on the temperature setting where to max, five lits. I can not adjust this temp setting, when I try the control panel turns off. It will run on LP for 5-10 min. and than the control panel shus down, no error codes.

Any ideas?

Dave

[wolfe10]

bjeff,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Start by verifying that you have 12+ VDC at the back (outside access door) of the refrigerator. The PC board runs on 12 VDC. If that is OK, I would disconnect connections to the PC board, clean and reconnect.

Brett

[tbutler]

How ever did you get the old frig out and the new one in the coach? I have a Monaco and your Country Coach door is no larger than mine. The only way that I figure, is out through the window?

Our 1200 also went out through the drivers side window and the new Whirlpool came in through the same window. As reported, it took a whole crew of people to maneuver the Norcold out the window and just two outside and two inside to handle the Whirlpool. We're in our third summer and loving the household refrigerator. See my description and pictures of the whole process at Replacing Refrigerator.

[tbutler]

How ever did you get the old frig out and the new one in the coach? I have a Monaco and your Country Coach door is no larger than mine. The only way that I figure, is out through the window?

Check out my post from several years ago that describes the whole process with photos.

Forgive the double post, technologically challenged today!

[davebeach]

I posted on Sept 1 asking questions about my Nocold 1200 Rifg, I got no responses. I must be in the wrong blog, I am new at this, where should I ask for help about the Nocold 1200.

Dave

[dickandlois]

Hi Dave, Welcome to FMCA !

You are on the correct thread regarding your issue. The threads get long with questions and answers. I think we over look some of the posts as many of the questions have been covered at some point. Not the best thing to do but it happens.

Have you cleaned the Gas burner per the owners manual / have you tried to clean the contacts on the control boards with a CLEAN pencil eraser?

Many of the intermittent problems are due to oxidation and dirt in the wrong place.

Lets see if we can find your problem area(s).

Rich.

[davebeach]

Thanks Rich

I cleaned contacts and unplug the ribben cable on the front control panel. All works great. Another question, How do you reset the error codes ( screens 6& 7) in diagnostic mode? I have the unit with S/N below 832170.

Dave

[dickandlois]

Dave, Sounds like it is now working.

With the number flashing 6 and 7, are you reading the temperature setting numbers? the fault codes generally show up in the very right hand display and read out low or high AC line voltage(s) out of operating parameters plus others. Like LP issues.

Rich.

[davebeach]

'mI asking about information when I go into the Diagnostic mode, Screens 5 and 6 contain past errors, like low ac or Dc voltage. My system shows all errors that have happen sometime in the past.

I would like to reset them to 0, in the manual for units of serial # 832170 and higher it explains how. For unit # lower the manual gives no information on this subject.

dave

[dickandlois]

Dave, the models with serial numbers higher then 832170 use a different control board design that can be reset, below that the design of the control board is not resettable from the information I have found.

Rich.

[davebeach]

Rich

Thanks for the information.

Dave

[tbutler]

I posted on Sept 1 asking questions about my Nocold 1200 Rifg, I got no responses. I must be in the wrong blog, I am new at this, where should I ask for help about the Nocold 1200.

Dave

Dave,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. The Forum is where we discuss problems, ask questions and share information. If you posted a question on the FMCA Blog, you were just in the wrong pew. A Blog is a continuing account or story about a persons adventure or journey through life. In the case of the FMCA Blog, the writings are generally focused on the RV lifestyle. A Blog is generally a one way communication. While there is a way to post comments on the Blog, the comments aren't usually too much of a two way communication. You can find Blogs on just about any topic on the World Wide Web.

All that being said, you aren't the first person to confuse the two formats. Not to worry, now that you are here on the forum you will find many people who are willing to share their experiences and knowledge. You can use the search function at the top of the FMCA page to quickly find old posts which might have answers to your questions. Notice also as you browse the Forum that discussions are organized into categories of topics which will help you find the general area to post your question. This discussion is in the category for technical - systems and appliances. If you have a question or problem with batteries there is a different category that covers batteries.

The FMCA forum is a great resource, use it freely and also please contribute your own experience and knowledge.