Norcold not cooling on A/C.

[SnoKing]

Meter was set at Ohms 200K

You should set it to ohms, not K ohms. Touch the two leads together to verify 00.0 or zero the meter if it is and old analog meter to zero. Then take the reading. Report back.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

00.1 is a dead short not an open.

Congratulations! You passed the test!

I'm blaming it on the lack of caffeine.

 

[Boehler]

A little knowledge can be a dangerous (and expensive) thing. I was that close to buying a part I didn't neet.

Setting the ohm meter properly gave me a reading of 47.5. Thanks guys! Now I get to look elsewhere!

 

[SnoKing]

A little knowledge can be a dangerous (and expensive) thing. I was that close to buying a part I didn't neet.

Setting the ohm meter properly gave me a reading of 47.5. Thanks guys! Now I get to look elsewhere!

You need to read up on the control panel and figure out why the option of AC only and AC preferred is not available.

SnoKing

 

[K5IP]

One more input. The heater element on ny norcold is rated at 6A. Yours should be similar.
Since R=E/I. Or 12/6=2ohms. So something in the range of 1 to3ohms would be expected. Look again, your reading is too high, and may still be defective. usually a heating element will open completely when it fails. You may be reading the resistance looking back into the control unit. Be sure you have the heater disconnected when you measure it,

 

[K5IP]

Whoops, disregard my previous post. I missed the ac 120v part and calculated it for 12v operation. It sounds like you have the right value.

 

[Boehler]

I ordered a replacement board. Hope it works. I'll report back next week with results. Thanks for everyone's help and guidance.

 

[DaveHess]

MIne did this about 5 years ago. Took a new circuit card to fix.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

My Norcold worked flawlessly in any mode as long as I didn't have any perishables in it...

Cans of soda and beer were always cold when I returned home. Only glitch was whenever I had eggs or milk in there. Often, I would return home and see the fridge was off and all I could do is wonder how long?

 

[SnoKing]

My Norcold worked flawlessly in any mode as long as I didn't have any perishables in it...

Cans of soda and beer were always cold when I returned home. Only glitch was whenever I had eggs or milk in there. Often, I would return home and see the fridge was off and all I could do is wonder how long?

I call mine Nevercold! Trailer is going to get roofed and left up North starting this summer. The Nevercold and some point will be replaced with a residential unit.

 

[Loren]

I ordered a replacement board. Hope it works. I'll report back next week with results. Thanks for everyone's help and guidance.

It’s too late to help you, Boehler, because you’ve already ordered the part but with the hope of helping someone else:

I have had really good luck with Dinosaur Electronics replacement circuit boards. Here’s their website: http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/

– Loren

 

[old scout diesel]

You will find that a Norcold will warn you if the door is left open too long when filling or emptying. It will beep and after 2 minutes will shut down and not work at all making if necessary for a technician to reset the control board. It will not work on LP or 110v. In this case the control board can be tested by a technician with the correct tools and verify good or bad. Same goes for a control board on a LP/110v water heater or the control board for an LP furnace. Sounds like the control board in this case may be bad given the heating element is ohming out correctly (about 50 ohms) and the fuse for the 110v power source is good.

 

[SnoKing]

You will find that a Norcold will warn you if the door is left open too long when filling or emptying. It will beep and after 2 minutes will shut down and not work at all making if necessary for a technician to reset the control board. It will not work on LP or 110v. In this case the control board can be tested by a technician with the correct tools and verify good or bad. Same goes for a control board on a LP/110v water heater or the control board for an LP furnace. Sounds like the control board in this case may be bad given the heating element is ohming out correctly (about 50 ohms) and the fuse for the 110v power source is good.

If it does not work on either AC or propane the "Recall Box" needs to be reset with a magnet.

Quote:

Just want to share some info to perhaps save others some hassle:

The smallish black recall box installed as a "fix" to the fire hazard in Norcold fridges is a PITA. Moisture from rain or washing the motor home can cause this box to go into an error state, indicated by a red LED on the box. When this happens, an internal relay trips and the 12vdc needed for operation (LP and AC mode) is not passed to the fridge control board. Fridge will not operate at all.

When this happens to my recall box, I hold a 1" magnet on the box to the right of the LED..after 20-30 seconds, the internal relay resets and I'm back in business.

I now keep this magnet on hand. I bought it at Ace Hardware.

I also installed a halon auto release fire extinguisher in the fridge compartment. Bought fromac the Fire Guy My Business - Home. This will save my life, not that recall box.

BUT be sure to have the recall box installed or your insurance may refuse to pay ii there is a fire.
_____

 

[old scout diesel]

I have also seen the recall box go bad and not want to reset in which case the recall box needs to be replaced. If the frig doesn't have a recall box, that could also cause problems with operation. I have access to factory trouble shooting manuals and will try to check further.

 

[Boehler]

Well the replacement board came yesterday during "Happy Hour" so I put it in this morning. No problem with the installation, but the Norcold still doesn't recognise A/C. It still runs OK on gas. Must be that either the replacement board was defective in the same manner (unlikely), or my diagnosis was incorrect (likely)!

I have checked that there is A/C at the circuit board. I can't figure how the board knows if A/C is present, and if it recognizes it, how it stops running on gas and starts running on electricity. This is a newer unit refer in a 2015 Forest River RV. It does not have a recall box to reset. I have done the magnet reset on an older RV I used to own.

Old Scout, have you found anything in the trouble shooting manuals?

 

[Boehler]

Norcold fridge is now working properly! I had our local RV repair person come to look at it. He checked and trouble-shot everything I had already checked, and then called Norcold tech support on what must be a secret number for those in the business only. He got right through to them and they told him to check everything he had just checked. Norcold then determined that the power circuit board needed to be replaced. Bear in mind, I had just replaced that board with a new Norcold part. Eddie, the RV repairman, had a board which he had removed from a working Norcold fridge of the same model. He installed that board and no difference, Eddie then tried plugging a brand new heating element on the off chance that the existing one was bad even though it ohmed out OK. No difference.

Eddie then called Norcold once again and asked them if the problem might be in the other smaller "optical" board on the front if the unit. They replied that if it wasn't the first board then assuredly it must be the second, since that are only two circuit boards on the refer. I ordered the "Optical" board on Monday (at quite a bit lower price than the first one),and it arrived Wednesday. I installed it.

 

[Boehler]

I installed the new board and the unit is working properly. Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

The moral to the story is to not trust the Norcold tech reps.

 

[Austin Diesel]

had a deal with the 12v cooling fans on a norcold also on the center back of fridge must turn to help with efficency too adding aux fan to help get the heat out

i also have my trusty magnet pen for the thermoelectric switch on the board that has tripped open a few times too

 

[Northfork]

For future reference for others in this mess, if you narrow it down to the main board I second Loren's recommendation of Dinosaur Electronics. I have owned RV's for a long time and three of them have wound up needing replacement boards at one time or another, the quality of the Dinosaur units is plain to see compared to the factory stuff. Worth the $ IMHO.