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  1. #1
    Seasoned Camper DECelt's Avatar
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    Norcold 2118 troubleshooting experts?

    I'm experiencing condensation issues on my 2118 Norcold unit. Both on the inside and floor/outside. Here's what I have figured out so far;

    1. The unit is maintaining proper temps.

    2. The door seals seem to be sealing well.

    3. The control panel troubleshooting system showed a fault in the thermistor. I cleared the history and have not seen a fault code return.

    4. I have at least two issues.

    First, my drip tray does not fit properly and the drip tube is also loose. I have requested a condensation kit to fix this and in the meantime have taped the drip tray in place and replaced the ill fitting hose. It would seem that the interior moisture problem is resolved. That was not the source of the water on the floor in front of the fridge.

    Second, I am getting condensation on the flapper between the doors. The flapper valve contains a heater. That is the suspect at the moment. It does not seem warm to the touch. There is condensation on the flapper bar, and that water drips on the floor.

    So....the question regards troubleshooting the flapper bar. I know that I need to test resistance per the service manual, and that there should be dc voltage to the flapper bar via the pins when the door is shut.

    As there are three pins, which of these do what regarding supplying power....in other words how do I test if the foamed in door wiring is faulty?

    Secondly, does the thermistor control the power to the flapper?

    Any other ideas appreciated.

    Thanks!

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    DECelt
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  2. #2
    Site Team xrated's Avatar
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    As far as the flapper heater, pins #1 and #3 are the ones to check for it......the two outside pins in the plug assembly. You could check it for ohms, but honestly, I have no idea what the value of ohms should be. So if there is continuity thru the heater (with the plug unplugged from where it plugs into the flapper, you are likely OK with that part of it. As far as checking the voltage to that plug, I would think that you would have to remove the flapper from the door (just lift the flapper up gently and it will come off). Once it's removed from the door, you can unplug it and do a resistance check through the heater. Then, while the flapper is still off, close the left door so that the door contacts make up and then check pin 1 and pin 2 on the plug that plugs into the flapper. Be careful that you don't short the test leads together while testing as you will likely blow a fuse that feeds that circuit.

    The Thermistor does not control the flapper heater or the perimeter heaters. It's purpose is for a feedback circuit into the control board to let it know when to turn the fridge on for cooling or off when it is at the setpoint as selected on your display.....1 through 9 range. Hope this helps.
    Last edited by xrated; 08-06-2021 at 10:27 AM.
    2016 F350 CrewCab Dually
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  3. #3
    Seasoned Camper DECelt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xrated View Post
    As far as the flapper heater, pins #1 and #3 are the ones to check for it......the two outside pins in the plug assembly. You could check it for ohms, but honestly, I have no idea what the value of ohms should be. So if there is continuity thru the heater (with the plug unplugged from where it plugs into the flapper, you are likely OK with that part of it. As far as checking the voltage to that plug, I would think that you would have to remove the flapper from the door (just lift the flapper up gently and it will come off). Once it's removed from the door, you can unplug it and do a resistance check through the heater. Then, while the flapper is still off, close the left door so that the door contacts make up and then check pin 1 and pin 2 on the plug that plugs into the flapper. Be careful that you don't short the test leads together while testing as you will likely blow a fuse that feeds that circuit.

    The Thermistor does not control the flapper heater or the perimeter heaters. It's purpose is for a feedback circuit into the control board to let it know when to turn the fridge on for cooling or off when it is at the setpoint as selected on your display.....1 through 9 range. Hope this helps.
    It sure does. Thanks! I'm hoping it's just the flapper itself...but that would be too easy!

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    Site Team xrated's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DECelt View Post
    It sure does. Thanks! I'm hoping it's just the flapper itself...but that would be too easy!

    Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk
    I just looked at the print for that circuit and my previous statement about pins 1 and 3 were wrong. Looking at the print, it looks like pins 2 and 3 instead of 1 and 3. If you have the service manual, at the end of it is wiring diagrams and the flapper heater is item "U". If you follow the wiring to the heater, the print shows pins 1 and 3....but if you follow that up, they both end up on wire #7 and terminal #8....which is a positive wire. Obviously, you need a pos. and a neg. for the heater to work, so I'm guessing that the print is drawn wrong and should actually be pin 1 and 2, as number 2 goes to ground. (12v negative.)
    2016 F350 CrewCab Dually
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  5. #5
    Seasoned Camper DECelt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xrated View Post
    I just looked at the print for that circuit and my previous statement about pins 1 and 3 were wrong. Looking at the print, it looks like pins 2 and 3 instead of 1 and 3. If you have the service manual, at the end of it is wiring diagrams and the flapper heater is item "U". If you follow the wiring to the heater, the print shows pins 1 and 3....but if you follow that up, they both end up on wire #7 and terminal #8....which is a positive wire. Obviously, you need a pos. and a neg. for the heater to work, so I'm guessing that the print is drawn wrong and should actually be pin 1 and 2, as number 2 goes to ground. (12v negative.)
    I do have the manual... I'll take a look too. First do no harm is my rule of thumb. [emoji6]

    I might pull off the flapper and test it today. The tape job and new properly fitting drain hose really brought down the humidity levels in the fridge. I have a govee wi-fi unit that measures temp and humidity and the humidity drop after the condensate was dealt with was impressive.

    We've gotten humid around here and have started running the ac. No dripping water off of the flapper anymore but not sure if it's the ac or lack of swampiness inside the fridge.

    Thanks for the support!

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  6. #6
    Site Team xrated's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DECelt View Post
    I do have the manual... I'll take a look too. First do no harm is my rule of thumb. [emoji6]

    I might pull off the flapper and test it today. The tape job and new properly fitting drain hose really brought down the humidity levels in the fridge. I have a govee wi-fi unit that measures temp and humidity and the humidity drop after the condensate was dealt with was impressive.

    We've gotten humid around here and have started running the ac. No dripping water off of the flapper anymore but not sure if it's the ac or lack of swampiness inside the fridge.

    Thanks for the support!

    Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk
    I had a lot of moisture/frost in mine after three days of camping this past week....plus the temperature issue. When we got home the other day, I opened up the fridge to do the "Muddypaws mod" and also discovered that the drain hose on the drip tray was not on the drip tray. I put it back on and hopefully that will also take care of the excess moisture I had. The Muddypaws mod seems to be working good for me. I fired the fridge back up (it was almost 70 degrees in the fresh food section because I had the doors open and the unit turned off while working on it) and within 6 hours, running on shore power, I was down to upper 30's in the fridge and low teens in the freezer.........and the control setting was on "3". I let it run for 24 hours and it got a bit colder, but not much...setting was still on 3.
    2016 F350 CrewCab Dually
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  7. #7
    Seasoned Camper DECelt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xrated View Post
    I had a lot of moisture/frost in mine after three days of camping this past week....plus the temperature issue. When we got home the other day, I opened up the fridge to do the "Muddypaws mod" and also discovered that the drain hose on the drip tray was not on the drip tray. I put it back on and hopefully that will also take care of the excess moisture I had. The Muddypaws mod seems to be working good for me. I fired the fridge back up (it was almost 70 degrees in the fresh food section because I had the doors open and the unit turned off while working on it) and within 6 hours, running on shore power, I was down to upper 30's in the fridge and low teens in the freezer.........and the control setting was on "3". I let it run for 24 hours and it got a bit colder, but not much...setting was still on 3.
    I looked at the diagram and one and three both look hot to me???

    I see both the perimeter and flapper heaters on the same circuit. Regarding the three pins, 2 looks like the door closed sensor. But I'm not schooled in diagrams and could easily be reading it incorrectly.

    The divider assembly tested ok. The electrical connection to the door is easily disrupted so I'm hoping it was just not plugged in all the way. Need to let it run a bit and we'll see.

    That drain hose is junk. I replaced the whole length of it and have it draining out of the side vent with a dip for a water break. Mine comes out of the back of the fridge very close to the vent pipe....which gets pretty warm. Not a great design.




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  8. #8
    Seasoned Camper DECelt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DECelt View Post
    I looked at the diagram and one and three both look hot to me???

    I see both the perimeter and flapper heaters on the same circuit. Regarding the three pins, 2 looks like the door closed sensor. But I'm not schooled in diagrams and could easily be reading it incorrectly.

    The divider assembly tested ok. The electrical connection to the door is easily disrupted so I'm hoping it was just not plugged in all the way. Need to let it run a bit and we'll see.

    That drain hose is junk. I replaced the whole length of it and have it draining out of the side vent with a dip for a water break. Mine comes out of the back of the fridge very close to the vent pipe....which gets pretty warm. Not a great design.




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    And you've got me curious. Did you do the styrofoam cup mod. If so, I'd love to hear the results.
    Operating on a setting of 8, My freezer temp is at 9 degrees and fridge at 32....after not being opened for about 8 hours. Not so great on the freezer.


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  9. #9
    Seasoned Camper DECelt's Avatar
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    To wrap this up...the water inside the fridge was from a lousy design on the drip tray that allowed water to drip behind the tray. Norcold has a condensation kit that is designed to fix the problem....or you can tape it in place with clear gorilla tape. It was also caused by a lousy hose to the exterior. It did not fit properly on the tray barb. Water would drip out of this, or pour out when it disconnected.

    Secondly...the door flapper divider is part of a heated circuit. Mine must have been unplugged. It tested fine when removed and worked fine when reinstalled. Readings with a thermal scan gun now show temps of the exterior of the flapper in the 60's F. The three pin connecter looks prone to coming loose.

    I also aligned the doors with washers. Thermal scan of the door seals doesn't show any cold spots indicating leaking.

    I guess I'm fixed!



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  10. #10
    Site Team xrated's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DECelt View Post
    And you've got me curious. Did you do the styrofoam cup mod. If so, I'd love to hear the results.
    Operating on a setting of 8, My freezer temp is at 9 degrees and fridge at 32....after not being opened for about 8 hours. Not so great on the freezer.


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    LOL...YEP....except I used some styrofoam from a "to go" box from a local restaurant. I had turned the fridge off when we got home from camping and then had the door open for about 15 or 20 minutes to take the thermistor off and then test it. Right around 31 ohms when the thermistor was in a cup of ice water. Then I held it in my hand for a minute or so (about 80 degrees) and the thermistor read about 8.2 or 8.3 ohms.....just exactly like it was supposed to do. That verifies to me that there is no issue with my thermistor. So then I taped a piece of styrofoam onto the thermistor and put it back in on the second fin from the right, and about 1/2" down from the top....plugged it back in and shut the fridge doors and turned it on.

    Results from letting it run for 24 hrs.
    Fresh food compartment started out at about 70 degrees (door had been open and I was working on the thermistor thing). Freezer was at 22 degrees. Running on 120VAC and my temperature was set on #3 ....and I left it at number 3 for the entire 24 hours...Oh, and nothing in the fridge...no food or drinks or anything. The test started at 10AM and by 4PM, the fridge was at 39 degrees, and the freezer had come down to 16 or so. I check it several more times over the 24 hour period and left everything the way it was....control set on #3 , 120VAC operation, and NO door openings. It ended up being 38 in the fridge, and got down as low as 12 in the freezer....then drifted back up a few degrees...maybe 14/15 degrees. The afternoon temperatures outside the trailer were 91 degrees and I had direct sun light on that side of the trailer (where the fridge was) for almost 5 hours that afternoon.

    So if it will keep the fridge at those temperatures at a #3 setting AND with no food or drink in it, I feel pretty confident that with food in it AND a setting of #4 or #5 , it should be good. Time will tell I guess.
    2016 F350 CrewCab Dually
    2018 Momentum 394M...Heavily Modded!
    2023 Suzuki GSX-S1000 GT+
    Excessive Payload is a Wonderful Thing

    "If it ain't fast....It ain't Fun"

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