Refrigerator help!!! Again

[Jenny]

Apparently we just have really bad luck with refrigerators Our current truck has a Norcold refrigerator. It is no longer properly keeping temperature. We emptied it out and turned it off for a day to defrost. We turned it back on at 6 am this morning. At 5 pm tonight when we opened it for the first time, the freezer had ice on the lines, but still wasn't cold enough to freeze the bottle of water that we put inside. It is reading about 36°. The refrigerator is at 50°.

You can hear the refrigerator running as normal, so we are kind of at a loss as to what to do. Any suggestions???

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[JoeS]

Starting with the simple things:

Check to make sure the coils are clean and there are no restrictions in airflow. They pull air from the bottom, across the coils and exhaust at the top.
How old is the unit?

 

[Jenny]

Having issues posting.



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[Jamin_Joe]

Are the coils underneth or behind the unit clean and getting enough air flow? How old is it? Does it have a compressor(hums like the one at home)? Not to sure about the noncompressor ones, but can look it up.

 

[Jenny]

Here is the label, not exactly sure which one is the date on it. The back of it isn't blocked by anything. In order to look at the coils on the back, we will have to remove it from the cabinet that it is installed in. We can only see the little area in the back when we open the little hatch door. We can hear it running as a regular refrigerator would be.

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[JoeS]

There's really only three things that can go wrong on these units.
1. Restricted airflow over the cools. Can be caused by dirty coils, inlet, etc.
2. Thermostat or thermistor (thermostat/resistor combo). Easy to test: turn it up to max cold and unplug. If it's still cooling after 10-12 hours, it probably needs to be replaced.
3. The cooling unit itself is going. After 8 years, I suspect that this is the case with your fridge.

 

[Jamin_Joe]

Hope it works. Sorry I posted waht Joe did. My Yorkie was licking my hand....Yea she's spoiled.

 

[JoeS]

Here is the label, not exactly sure which one is the date on it. The back of it isn't blocked by anything. In order to look at the coils on the back, we will have to remove it from the cabinet that it is installed in. We can only see the little area in the back when we open the little hatch door. We can hear it running as a regular refrigerator would be.

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Yeah, that's the model number, not the manufacture date.

 

[Jenny]

When I look at the temp date on the dial on the top of the fridge, behind the grates it says January 23, 2007, so I am not sure of the age. I know that the De0061 is the model number. Trying to figure out where the "thermistor" listed online to pull is at. There isn't anything by the light but the plug for the light. Really don't want to have to spend nearly $2000 to replace this thing

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[zorry]

ARI put a new one in, complete for $2,000. That included removing old storage and new smaller cabinet doors.
( we pulled out small Norcold and replaced with large one.)

 

[KickStarter6]

ARI put a new one in, complete for $2,000. That included removing old storage and new smaller cabinet doors.
( we pulled out small Norcold and replaced with large one.)View attachment 9039

That sleeper is nicer than my old apartment. Possibly bigger as well

 

[new2allthis]

Hi Jenny. Check to make sure you have around 12volts going into the power cord. I just fixed one for a friend after he replaced his old one thinking it was bad. It was only getting about 6.5 volts. He had a grounding issue. Could also be its losing gas. Sometimes when you are short on gas they will freeze the lines.

He bought the new on around Georgetown KY. Said they were very helpful and had him in and out in 30 minutes. Good Luck.

 

[Jenny]

Ohh I love the black

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[Jenny]

Well, we took the fridge out, disconnected the 12V, plugged it in, and still no change. Its not really dirty, but we wiped everything down anyway, nothing blocking air flow, but its just not getting cold. Thinking it may be the compressor or a leak somewhere since its running fine, just not cold.

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[The Enemy]

Just to answer some questions ....

The fridge has a manufacture date of 06/09/08.

When we pulled the unit out of the cabinet there was dust on top of the unit, but the coils on the back barely had any dust on them. Besides the two rows of coils, all we can see is the compressor and the fan blowing air onto the compressor to cool it. The rest of the unit is covered in foam insulation.

There are/were no blockages to keep it from cooling.

I don't have my DVOM with me so I can't check accurate voltage on the 12v side.

We did plug it in to a wall outlet and now its running on 120 to see if that makes any difference.

 

[zorry]

There is a refrigerator repair guy in Shipshewanna In., about two miles north of ARI.
Amish guys.,tons of used parts. May be Northern Refrigeration ?

I'll try to get phone # /address when we stop for dinner.

 

[Jamin_Joe]

Is there any way that you can take it in for service? They may be able to fix it cheeper than replacing it. Of course, likely your on a run and neef the fridge now. Hope you find a cheep solution.

 

[zorry]

I couldn't find anything on line about the place I'm thinking of.
I googled RV Refrigerator Repair and it looks like there's some videos that may help if you have the time.

 

[Jamin_Joe]

This may help.

Service Centers

 

[Slo-Ride]

The Norcold is not a easy unit to have repaired..Or at least in my case..Most of the service centers at I looked up are RV dealers. I must of logged 2 hundred miles around my house looking for someone to repair mine.. I finnally gave in and went to Truckfridge in Georgetown KY and took one off the shelves..
The Truckfridge units are build just like the one in your house and can be repaired nearly anywhere. The Norcolds use a different type of cooling system and your average repairman doesnt touch them..
When I was searching repairs for my Norcold I came across a thread that stated sometimes its possible to turn your unit upside down for a day or so and this allows the coolant/gas to run back where it belongs..I did that and it didnt help.. I was leaning towards a circuit board gone bad on mine and my search showed all circuits boards to be discontinued for my unit.
So far the Truckfridge is working great..Small freezer is my only draw back but the fridge holds way more then the same size Norcold..Good unit for the money. I did not go with the one that allows shore power,,just to avoid one other thing that can go wrong..Plus it saved a few dollars.
Mine is 12volt only..