Norcold Double Door Fridge Not Working

[Kevin510]

The Norcold in our 2005 Country Star DP is not cooling at all. It will not work on AC or propane. The front panel will not light up and acts like its not getting any power.

I took off the outside cover and there is a black box that has a red light and the light is on. The box has 4 wires going into it. Anyone ever experienced this or know what the problem is.

We are currently on a trip and are having to scramble to get coolers for our food.

Thanks in advance.

Kevin

[dickandlois]

Kevin,

The red light, is it on a small box maybe about the size of a pack of cigarettes. If so that is the fix for the refrigerator to protect it from starting on fire. Primarily when running on AC power. when the heating units shout out.

The thing is it can be so sensitive to current changes that it can false set.

This turns off the 12 volts and disables the 120 volt AC heaters. That is why you lost all the LED display and operation.

One can power down the refrigerator and run a small, but strong magnet along the front surface and also along the edges to try and rest the read relay that acts to power down the units.

There is a way to remove the safety circuit, one was removed from a unit at the Rally in Gillette and reverted back to its original configuration. I did not see just what they did to get it running or the connections that where changed though.

As a note regarding keeping things cold. One trick is to place the ice in a separate container that fit will into a cooler, Add some rock salt to the mix. This lowers the temperature in the container. You will use a little more ice, but things can be keep cooler.

Think of an old fashion ice cream maker.

Rich.

[hermanmullins]

If your red light on small circuit board is red then your board has failed. This is not uncommon. There is a way to by pass the board but for many reasons I can not tell you. Liability and all that.

Herman

[erniee]

Trash that piece of junk- get a residential- if you don't dry camp. No recalls needed

[dlrcass]

The magnet works. After the THIRD replacement of the unit, we tried it and it works.

[ticat900]

The Norcold in our 2005 Country Star DP is not cooling at all. It will not work on AC or propane. The front panel will not light up and acts like its not getting any power.

I took off the outside cover and there is a black box that has a red light and the light is on. The box has 4 wires going into it. Anyone ever experienced this or know what the problem is.

We are currently on a trip and are having to scramble to get coolers for our food.

Thanks in advance.

Kevin

As you know by now the Black box controls the 12V power required to run the fridge.This box will trip for one of 2 reasons:

1) the coolant has leaked low and the fridge overheats when it tries to cool down causing a high flue temperature resulting in the heat sensor shutting don the 12V supply which is how the system is supposed to work.

2) You simply have a tripped/faulty recall sensor and (my opinion) should be replaced.The latest recall sensor will have a E on it. I have heard of the magnet fix but I say replace it.

You can bypass the recall sensor and carefully monitor the fridge and see if it cools OK. If it cools properly then simply replace the sensor control box.

If you bypass the sensor and try to make the fridge cool do it during the day when you can monitor the fridge to make sure its cooling and not grossly overheating.

[dickandlois]

ticat900 , The only issue I know of at the current time is that Norcold has stopped just replacing the boards and have issued a reset protocol. In there last note I know of, they mention the process of using a strong magnet to reset the reed relay used. This then sets the boards to there original condition.

This was there answer to the fire problem, building a system that reacts to any power spick and requires the owners to check the refrigerators to see if there is a problem.

Rich.

[ticat900]

ticat900 , The only issue I know of at the current time is that Norcold has stopped just replacing the boards and have issued a reset protocol. In there last note I know of, they mention the process of using a strong magnet to reset the reed relay used. This then sets the boards to there original condition.

This was there answer to the fire problem, building a system that reacts to any power spick and requires the owners to check the refrigerators to see if there is a problem.

Rich.

Did not know they were no longer replacing tripped sensors. I have never personally experienced a tripped sensor as mine seems to function well as is.

In regards to bypassing the unit its very simple procedure but as I said if you do bypass make sure you monitor the fridge closely to make sure it was false alarm and not the for real deal.

[mpierce]

I have had mine trip after getting it washed. If you wash it, turn the frog off, and then stuff towels behind the screen door on the outside, to stop any water from getting to the back of the unit. Also, ask the washers to NOT turn the high pressure onto that door.

[jlandon13399]

I had the same problem and replaced the sensor and eventually the main circuit board, all under warranty from Lazy Days. So far no more issues, but will replace the fridge with a residential if it fails again. Unfortunately will have to remove the driver's window to get the old fridge out and the new one in.

[carlpeterson]

I posted a comment on an article I started in 2012 on Norcold 1200. In short, my refrig quit last weekend just before a trip. It was the red light on the safety recall and I couldn't wire around it like previous switches. Trip cancelled. Called a repair man and he wired around it, and I'm leaving it that way. The only problem I've had is with the 3 or 4 recall switches I had installed and considerable time waiting for it to be repaired. Never had a problem before the recall episode. Norcold really screwed this one up. Brett, are you going to get after me?

[huffypuff]

When mine gets washed the box trips and red light comes on solid. I hold a strong magnet just to the right of the red light for about 5 seconds and you will hear a click when it reboots and the red light will go out. Then you go inside and turn the refrigerator back on.

[rsbilledwards]

Camping World in Golden Colorado applied the latest update to my Norcold and as I later learned at the Safari Rally in Rapid City North Dakota when the refridge quit, they failed to remove the previous up date. The mobile repair fella that we called in Rapid City came out and took a look. Five minutes later the modification was gone, a magnet waved across the control unit, a click and all was running again. Now there is a heavy/strong magnet in the tool crib for the future reset. There is one problem with this fridge, it does not continue running while driving down the highway at highway speeds. It runs fine at speeds below 50. Any thoughts.

Bill Edwards Denver

[desertdeals69]

If you are on propane it may be a breeze blowing the flame out.

[dkisler]

I used the magnet trick today and it worked for me. Amazing! I appreciate the great help i receive from the FMCA forums.

[denrans]

The red light was on and I used the magnet trick. Worked perfectly!

Note however, that I tried 3 strengths of magnets before getting the box to reset. A typical fridge magnet didn't work for me.

Next, I tried a rectangular bar type and that was not enough either.

Finally I went with the old style "U" shaped magnet and bingo! The red light turned off. Also, It did not happen instantly. I held the magnet above the red light against the box for at least 3 seconds before it clicked off.

Not sure what caused the fault but I took time to defrost the ice maker area and throw away some stuff that had been in there awhile!

Double Score!!

[abyrd]

I'm on the fifth kit that has been replaced under the recall. Each time that it failed Norcold referred me to a different dealer for repairs. When the third circuit board failed Norcold advised me that the failure was caused by my inverter/charger imposing an AC wave form on the DC voltage. Since I had access to an oscilloscope I checked the DC voltage wave form and found no traces of an AC sine wave. I send a picture of the DC wave form to Norcold and they gave me the name of another dealer and the circuit board was replaced. Worked fine for about a year and failed again, By this time I had relocated and took it to the nearest authorized dealer and he replaced the complete unit including the thermocouple, knock on wood it is still working.

It is real easy to by pass, just remove the + 12 lead from the recall circuit board and connect directly to the power pack located on the rear of the refrigerator. None of the failed boards were resettable with a magnet.

Jim

[narrlee]

I have a double door frig and the auto control is not working. When I set it on auto it will default to LP even when it is plugged into electric source. When I try to set it to AC only it says no AC. Anyone know what the problem may be?

Thanks, Lee

We have a 2003 Monaco Camelot 40'

[wolfe10]

I have a double door frig and the auto control is not working. When I set it on auto it will default to LP even when it is plugged into electric source. When I try to set it to AC only it says no AC. Anyone know what the problem may be?

Thanks, Lee

We have a 2003 Monaco Camelot 40'

Lee,

Have you plugged in another appliance to the outside 120 VAC refrigerator plug to verify that it is hot?

If so, with power off, remove the cover to the refrigerator PC board and check the fuse.

Let us know.

[hermanmullins]

Lee,

Welcome to the Forum.

When you remove the outside access panel you will have 2 outlets. One is 110 volts from the inverter and the orher is 110 volts from the shore power. Verify that there is 110volts at each. If you don't have 110 volts on the inverter outlet check your inverter. The shore power outlet is for the icemaker.

Herman

[huffypuff]

Herman, you got it backwards, inverter is for icemaker when driving and dry camping. The shore power is to power the two heating elements when not on LP that will spin the meter fast. Also the shore power one should be active when the generator is running.

[hermanmullins]

Ray,

Here is a time where we must agree to disagree.

Herman

[huffypuff]

Herman what if you got to your destination and have no ice cubes. I just told you how my coach is setup. The inverter outlet has a label on it that reads for icemaker only.

[hermanmullins]

Ray,

That's why it's set up that way. When disconnected from the shore the icemaker will still freeze ice but will not eject the ice and refill the tray. If you are moving and fill the tray it will splash out and giving you a solid block of ice.

Herman

[wildebill308]

I must be lucky as my icemaker will work just fine going down the road. It is just like magic I get set up open the freezer door and there is a full bin of ice cubes, life is good.

Bill