Norcold 2118 problems?

[freewayrandy]

Wondering if anyone else is having this problem with their fridge. Set on 9 freezer only gets to 10 degrees and the fridge only to 47 degrees. Had the cooling unit replaced and still the same. Also, in the back of the fridge, does your cooling fin panel completely cover the hole cut in the back? Mine has a gap on the top and one side. Repairman said this isn't right.

[boyscout]

We may be in the same boat, maybe worse. During its first several days with us (admittedly hot days in the low-30s C / mid-high-80s F) the fridge was running without interruption on electricity, empty and hardly ever opened. Then we put two ice cube trays of cold water in the freezer and after three hours they had only about a 1/8" skin of ice on top.

We have systems (from our business) for temperature mapping so we'll start a survey today. I haven't looked at the back panel yet, will do. Report to come.

[boyscout]

In one of our businesses we do temperature surveys using data loggers. Our weeks-old Nevercold 18cf refrigerator just got logged for five days.

The trailer was plugged in non-stop; fridge running on electricity. Neither air conditioning or heat was on. The fridge was set to 8/9 on its coldness setting. The fridge was never opened during the survey.

The ambient temperature on the counter in front of the fridge ranged through daily highs of 25C/77F to 29C/84F - not exactly blistering heat! Night time lows ranged from 17C/63F to 23C/73F.

During the five days the freezer fluctuated between -10C/14F and -15C/5F; not too bad.

During the five days the refrigerator fluctuated between 4C/39F and 14C/57F; awful! The single time it briefly achieved 4C (which it should be at all the time!) was at 2:30am one night when the ambient temperature dropped unusually low to 17C/63F.

Most of the time, the fridge was between 8C/46F and 13C/54F. The appliance was running pretty much non-stop to keep the temperature roughly 12C/25F below the ambient temperature. Some of those plug-in car coolers can do better than that.

We're going to do another survey with the fridge set to maximum coldness just so we can say we did it before going for warranty service but we're wasting our time. The fridge is already roaring almost non-stop so raising the setting won't change anything and the survey will show very similar results.

If we were going winter camping this fridge might work OK, but it looks like we're going back to the dealer instead.

Here's a PDF graph of the results:

[Steve&Mary]

Our refrigerator won’t cool down. Its a Norcold 2118 with four doors. The RV is level. Freezer is at 20 degrees and the fridge is at 50 degrees. It’s 90 outside. I turned it off for a while and tried it again on electric with no change. I turned it off for about 30 min and now started back using propane to see if that helps. The fans are running. I took the outside panels off and didn’t see a drain hose in either the top or bottom sections. Our past RV’s had a drain hose. There is no codes showing and the manual doesn’t show any solutions. Thanks for any advice/solutions. Steve

[Steve&Mary]

Found the drain hose. It has no water in it and the drain pan is dry.

[rbwells413]

We have been fighting our Norcold 4 door since we bought our 310GK a year ago. Been back to the dealer SEVERAL times without any solution. Last time back they finally conceded that things are not correct. Contacted Norcold- took MANY tries before they acknowledged the problem. Decided to change out the cooling unit for us- back ordered of course! Still waiting! Sure tired of getting the run around. It runs 24/7 on setting#7. Electric or gas, makes no difference. as long as you never open the door it will make ice, and even maintain 48 degrees in the fridge. Sorry, that is un acceptable. Besides, how am I supposed to get anything in or out without opening the door??? This is all at ambient outside temps no higher than 80 degrees. Sorry Norcold, I am not moving to the arctic so that I can use my RV. Hope y'all have better luck than I have had with these clowns.

[boyscout]

Our refrigerator won’t cool down. Its a Norcold 2118 with four doors. The RV is level. Freezer is at 20 degrees and the fridge is at 50 degrees. It’s 90 outside. I turned it off for a while and tried it again on electric with no change. I turned it off for about 30 min and now started back using propane to see if that helps. The fans are running. I took the outside panels off and didn’t see a drain hose in either the top or bottom sections. Our past RV’s had a drain hose. There is no codes showing and the manual doesn’t show any solutions. Thanks for any advice/solutions. Steve

Our freezer did better than yours, but our fridge about the same.

The trailer went back to the dealer, where the technician said he adjusted the door so it would seal properly.

Within 24 hours of setting up camp it was clear that the fridge still didn't work. I used impolite words.

After two weeks and discarding about $40 worth of food it went back to the dealer again. The door flap on the left door is not folding out properly. Dealer said they're seeing a lot of problems with this. On ours the floor of the fridge at the bottom of the door is bowed up and the flap binds against it instead of closing. If the flap doesn't close flat and parallel to the front of the fridge then the right door can't seal against it. Dealer is talking about grinding down the end of the door flap so it won't rub on the bowed-up floor of the fridge. Real precision-made appliance here.

Then we'll see whether the fridge some people call "Nevercold" will finally achieve at least minimum safe performance for storing food.

[rbwells413]

Our freezer did better than yours, but our fridge about the same.

The trailer went back to the dealer, where the technician said he adjusted the door so it would seal properly.

Within 24 hours of setting up camp it was clear that the fridge still didn't work. I used impolite words.

After two weeks and discarding about $40 worth of food it went back to the dealer again. The door flap on the left door is not folding out properly. Dealer said they're seeing a lot of problems with this. On ours the floor of the fridge at the bottom of the door is bowed up and the flap binds against it instead of closing. If the flap doesn't close flat and parallel to the front of the fridge then the right door can't seal against it. Dealer is talking about grinding down the end of the door flap so it won't rub on the bowed-up floor of the fridge. Real precision-made appliance here.

Then we'll see whether the fridge some people call "Nevercold" will finally achieve at least minimum safe performance for storing food.

My door flap was replaced last year. Still have to manually close it ! it helps some, but the unit still runs 24/7

[boyscout]

My door flap was replaced last year. Still have to manually close it ! it helps some, but the unit still runs 24/7

Thanks. I'm not optimistic about this repair, but I guess I have to let them try it. Dealer says that Norcold is very resistant to replacing bad fridges. I may be taking it up with Grand Design.

The trailer is only a couple months old and its frustrating to be dealing with this - and especially losing use of our new trailer for weeks and months while it's being repaired.

[rbwells413]

I hear ya there! I am getting pretty frustrated ! About ready to make an appointment and do a road trip to the factory to see if I get any better treatment there. My dealer sure isn't doing me any good. I spent a lot of time in the last 15 years deciding on what would be my LAST RV. I have been a bit disappointed with my decision, but I also know that every manufacturer is doing just a so so job. I had my Montana for 14 years , and had just finally got it to the point that I didn't have to work on it every time it left the driveway. Good luck and keep us informed. I'll also update whenever the dealer gets back to me. Happy Trails- hopefully not trials!