Norcold 2010 blows circuit board fuse

[gizmotex]

GD 337RLS, still under warranty. Camping in West Texas for past 2 weeks (100 degrees F). Yesterday afternoon came back to rig, refrigerator (Norcold 1210T) was off. Checked circuit breaker and power panel fuse, both good. DC power to circuit board was 13 vdc. Found a 5 amp fuse on the circuit board, which was blown. Replaced fuse, unit came on.

About an hour later the fuse blew again. Replaced, then about an hour later it blew again. Searched the Internet; some reports of cooling fans in the rear of the refrig locking up, causing excess current that blows the fuse.

Checked the schematic. The fans have a red and black wire. Found a red and black wire bundle headed up the back of the refrig, where I think the fans are. Disconnected the red wire. Refrigerator appears to be operating normally for last 12 hours. However, I'm concerned about operating the unit in high ambient temperatures with no fans.

Anyone have any background or experience with this? With the July 4th weekend, probably will not find any service support until Monday at the earliest.

[[email protected]]

Bob,
Same refrigerator, sounds like the same issue. If it does turn out to be a fan issue, let me know. My lead time on getting the dealership to get parts will be another week.

[geotex1]

Google for the 1210 Service Manual. It has the diagnostic flow charts and wiring diagrams. If memory serves, fuse F1, which is the 5A, 12VDC fuse is not involved with the fans but the control board. Maybe it'll help you guys out.

[NASCAR9]

I had the same problem and it was a bad fan. The dealer couldn't get the factory fans in time so they found replacement fans. The fridge has never work as good as it does now.

[Harpfire]

I have had the same issue this weekend. I replaced the fuse the first time it lasted about 12 hours. Replaced it again and it’s going on day two now. I have been reading about the fans as well. I looked up fans on Amazon and they are out of stock in Canada. Do you happen to know the replacement fans your dealer used. It seems like this a big issue with this fridge. Been reading about it in FB groups as well.

[xrated]

Google for the 1210 Service Manual. It has the diagnostic flow charts and wiring diagrams. If memory serves, fuse F1, which is the 5A, 12VDC fuse is not involved with the fans but the control board. Maybe it'll help you guys out.

I'm not sure about that model, but on the 2118 (4 door 18 cu ft model), F1 IS A 5 amp fuse and it IS the fuse for the three fans in the rear of the unit as well as the two fans inside...one for the freezer section and one for the frig section.

And just for clarification, it does go through the control board and a relay on the board...then on to the temperature switch that turns the fans on.......relay is K3???? maybe. I'm not in front of my computer that has the manual for mine right now.

[xrated]

GD 337RLS, still under warranty. Camping in West Texas for past 2 weeks (100 degrees F). Yesterday afternoon came back to rig, refrigerator (Norcold 1210T) was off. Checked circuit breaker and power panel fuse, both good. DC power to circuit board was 13 vdc. Found a 5 amp fuse on the circuit board, which was blown. Replaced fuse, unit came on.

About an hour later the fuse blew again. Replaced, then about an hour later it blew again. Searched the Internet; some reports of cooling fans in the rear of the refrig locking up, causing excess current that blows the fuse.

Checked the schematic. The fans have a red and black wire. Found a red and black wire bundle headed up the back of the refrig, where I think the fans are. Disconnected the red wire. Refrigerator appears to be operating normally for last 12 hours. However, I'm concerned about operating the unit in high ambient temperatures with no fans.

Anyone have any background or experience with this? With the July 4th weekend, probably will not find any service support until Monday at the earliest.

If you get in a pinch and the frig will not stay cold enough with no fans working, you could remove the lower vent grill on the outside, for the frig and put a small 120V fan in the bottom blowing upward. I saw a pic recently where a guy did that (bungeed) one in place to get through his camping trip. There is likely even a 120V recept. right there to plug the fan into. Hope this helps.

[geotex1]

I'm not sure about that model, but on the 2118 (4 door 18 cu ft model), F1 IS A 5 amp fuse and it IS the fuse for the three fans in the rear of the unit as well as the two fans inside...one for the freezer section and one for the frig section.

And just for clarification, it does go through the control board and a relay on the board...then on to the temperature switch that turns the fans on.......relay is K3???? maybe. I'm not in front of my computer that has the manual for mine right now.

Yeah, GD uses two families of Norcold 4 doors, and then a few configurations (submodels) of the higher end line. There's confusion at times in threads.

[gizmotex]

I took the advice of "xrated" and temporarily installed a 120VAC portable fan in the lower vent area. Yes, there is a 120VAC receptacle in the lower area, but it is a single plug only; not even room for an expander. I bought a 2-foot extension cord (Lowes, $11) with 3 receptacles, so I can run both the refrigerator and the fan.

The installed fans are toward the top, under the evaporator fins. I don't think they can be replaced without at least partial removal of the refrigerator. I think my long-term fix will be a couple of 12VDC computer fans in the lower area, to force air up the plenum.

As to why the 5 amp fuse blows, no clue. I hope to call Norcold tomorrow and get some more information.

[xrated]

I took the advice of "xrated" and temporarily installed a 120VAC portable fan in the lower vent area. Yes, there is a 120VAC receptacle in the lower area, but it is a single plug only; not even room for an expander. I bought a 2-foot extension cord (Lowes, $11) with 3 receptacles, so I can run both the refrigerator and the fan.

The installed fans are toward the top, under the evaporator fins. I don't think they can be replaced without at least partial removal of the refrigerator. I think my long-term fix will be a couple of 12VDC computer fans in the lower area, to force air up the plenum.

As to why the 5 amp fuse blows, no clue. I hope to call Norcold tomorrow and get some more information.

Yea, they look like they would be an absolute nightmare to get to unless you know someone that is really, really skinny you could stick in the compartment.....or someone with really long arms. I may be mistaken here, so take this with a grain of salt.....I thought I had read somewhere that Norcold had done some kind of update and they are now using a 7.5 amp fuse in the Fuse holder F1....but don't take my word for that as gospel.

Another option is to do what I did and add a Titan Fan kit. I put a link to the one I bought and installed in the upper vent, on the inside of the vent of course. This is a complete system and it includes an assembly with two 120mm fans side by side, a Controller that you can mount/install inside the trailer (have to drill a hole and fish the wire through from the inside to the back compartment), and it's own temperature sensor that will control when the fans come on, which is 68 degrees. You can select automatic operation or manual operation and the fans have six different speeds. Check it out if you are interested. Here's the link... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

After I installed mine and got a chance to test it about a week or two ago, I started the frig one morning about 10AM. I set the frig on #9 setting (the coldest) and had nothing in the frig or the freezer....completely empty. The outside temperature that day got to 92 or 93 degrees and the frig side of the trailer was in the afternoon sun. I let it run until around 6AM the next morning (so about 20 hrs) and the results were.....28 degrees in the frig....and 3 degrees in the freezer. That is, in my opinion very good, especially for not having any food in the frig...which would normally help keep it cooler and run less. My hope is that these fans do so well back there that the OEM fans will never come on, but I've yet to see if that actually happens. The OEM sensor that allows the OEM fans to come on is preset from the factory at 135 degrees, which in my opinion is too high. I think the fans should come on sooner, at a lower temperature. My thoughts are that if they don't come on until that sensor detects 135 degrees, the frig is already running behind and may never catch up when the outside temperatures heat up. Another bad thing is that the sensor is located right at the edge of the cooling fins for the heat exchanger. If it was mounted closer to the actual tube that the refrigerant flows through, it would heat up quicker and thus turn the fans on sooner.....or they could have just put a lower temperature setpoint sensor in the unit.

Here is a pic of the controller mounted on the wall, next to the frig. The wiring comes out the back of the controller and in behind the wall and back to the rear of the frig...