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  1. #1
    Left The Driveway
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    New Norcold 2118 not so cold

    We just purchased a new 310GK and our Norcold 2118 refrigerator is sub par and not getting cold. The freezer is at 20 and the fridge is at 60 on a cool 80 degree day. On gas it cools of 10 , 50 but the electric side just cant cut it. Bummer is this fridge is already in my 5er and Should have been checked at multiple levels of QC before a new owner is frustrated. I dont really want to take it back to the dealer for repair because they are 100 miles away and Iam not sure how long this will take. Iam looking at the size and it wont be an easy removal if they have to do major repairs or replace. So I did a search for common trouble shooting and found the typical, check the flap , check the seals , move the thermasture to the top. Looking for additional troubleshooting info to avoid the trip back to the dealer.

  2. #2
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    Hi Thomas,

    Common problem, take a look at the fans on the back, I put in two new big ones which move a freak amount of air. I also added a battery fan in the fridge (well my wife did) it's tiny but helps. I'm about to meld a dual fan into the upper outside ventilator (I've replaced thermistor, resistor, and the bottom fans already). Sorry for your troubles, hope this helps...maybe norcold truly means nevercold

    Solitude Owner.

  3. #3
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by ThomasA View Post
    We just purchased a new 310GK and our Norcold 2118 refrigerator is sub par and not getting cold.
    I have the same fridge. When mine hit 50 degrees inside the lower section one of the outside fans had failed. There is one in the lower grille area and two in the upper grille area. I replaced it with a Best Buy computer fan of the same size (120mm). It failed within a couple of months. Bought a 3-pack of a different brand and installed one in the normal place and screwed another to the grille. They all come on at the same time and are controlled by a thermostat attached to the far left side of the heat exchanger up top. You can't see it but you can reach around and feel it. Careful, that big pipe up there burns when it's running.

    I found this useful for knowing how the fridge is cooling. There are 3 buttons on the front control panel. Push and hold the 2nd and 3rd buttons. The display will turn to a "1". The control is now in diagnostic mode. Push the 2nd button twice and the display should read "3" and then will change to the physical temperature of the "FIN". This is where your thermistor is attached. It won't be the inside air temp, just the fin. When the fan quits this can get to 45 degrees or so - not good. When it is cooling properly it can read 34. You can leave it in this mode for hours and the fin temp will continue to get colder and colder, if it's cooling correctly. I've had mine get to 30 degrees. Turn the control off and then back on to get back to normal operation.
    (Ordered 7/13/20) 2021 Solitude 310GK, FBP, DP, HP, Toppers, Solar, MORryde 7K IS w/Disc Brakes
    Built 9/9/20; To Paint 9/11/20 (5-6 weeks); Done Paint 10/1/20; MORryde axle upgrade 10/5/20; Done at MORryde and paid for 10/8/20; Arrived at Dealer 10/20/20; picked up 11/7/20

  4. #4
    Left The Driveway
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    Ok . Iam on it ,thanks to all for the info. Iam in the Diagnostic mode and she read 44 this morning and 42 now after 4 hrs on electric side . Doesnt seem to really get cold. I opened the door for 30sec and it jumped back up to 48 in heartbeat. Ill check the fans ltr when the sun starts to set ite 82 here.

  5. #5
    Left The Driveway
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    I appreciate the info and your journey

  6. #6
    Left The Driveway
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    Cooling Fans

    Quote Originally Posted by MommasBoy View Post
    Hi Thomas,

    Common problem, take a look at the fans on the back, I put in two new big ones which move a freak amount of air. I also added a battery fan in the fridge (well my wife did) it's tiny but helps. I'm about to meld a dual fan into the upper outside ventilator (I've replaced thermistor, resistor, and the bottom fans already). Sorry for your troubles, hope this helps...maybe norcold truly means nevercold

    Solitude Owner.
    So Iam considering new fans to provide better cooling. I checked today and they do turn on. Do you have any pictures of your install and info on the fans ?
    Just wondering if I remove the top and bottom outside covers and put a medium house fan on the bottom one if the temps would improve ? for a comparison. The covers seem pretty restrictive.

  7. #7
    Site Team xrated's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ThomasA View Post
    So Iam considering new fans to provide better cooling. I checked today and they do turn on. Do you have any pictures of your install and info on the fans ?
    Just wondering if I remove the top and bottom outside covers and put a medium house fan on the bottom one if the temps would improve ? for a comparison. The covers seem pretty restrictive.
    The biggest problem with the OEM fans is that a hummingbird moves more air when they are flying than the OEM fans do. Running is one thing, but that counts for almost nothing when running just doesn't produce enough SCFM of air movement.
    2016 F350 CrewCab Dually
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    2023 Suzuki GSX-S1000 GT+
    Excessive Payload is a Wonderful Thing

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  8. #8
    Left The Driveway
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    Do you know of a good upgrade fan ? Also are you going bigger or adding another fan? its only 80 here and Iam skeptical. Shouldnt this really be an upgrade provided to us ? under warranty.

  9. #9
    Site Team xrated's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ThomasA View Post
    Do you know of a good upgrade fan ? Also are you going bigger or adding another fan? its only 80 here and Iam skeptical. Shouldnt this really be an upgrade provided to us ? under warranty.
    I bought a Titan brand twin fan kit from Amazon last year and installed it inside the top Black grill. It comes with it's own controller and thermostat and was a bit of a job fishing the wires through from inside the trailer to the rear of the fridge compartment, but it does help. It needs to be installed as high on the vent as you can, that way it causes the air that is drawn in at the bottom and blown out the top vent to circulate over the condensor coil up top...the one that you can see has OEM fans below it. Mine worked a lot better all of last year, then all of a sudden, this year it is not performing as well. So a few weeks ago, I did the "Muddypaws" mod on mine. This mod was named after a guy that did a lot of experimenting with different configurations of placing the thermistor inside the fresh food part of the fridge. His mod involves taking the thermistor off of the fin in the fresh food area and putting a piece of styrofoam over the sensor part of the thermistor, then putting it back on the fin. It basically tricks the thermistor to think it's warmer in the fridge area than it really is because the sensor is not touching the metal fin anymore....it's insulated away from the metal fin and has to depend on ambient air for temperature instead of the sensor touching the fin. Do that should cause the fridge to drop 5-7 degrees as it thinks that it's warmer in the fridge, so it tries to cool even more. When I tried it a couple of weeks ago, I saw some pretty good results with the controller only set on three out of the nine settings. We will give it a real test a little later this year when we leave for almost 30 days out west. If it fails that test (I'll probably use setting 5 or 6 if needes), I will be looking into possibly replacing it next year with a 12V compressor type fridge, hopefully in the 17-18 cu ft size if I can find one that will fit in our camper.

    Here is the fan kit I purchased if you are interested. I got the twin fans, 120mm kit.....
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    Last edited by xrated; 08-25-2021 at 08:48 PM.
    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"

  10. #10
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    My frig stopped working. Gas / electric unit heated gas at lower end; but there was no heat at top where fan is located. Verified by HVAC tech. Technician thought gas had leaked. Traveled 1500 miles home, now it works???? Service people here think there was a “plug” that jarred loose. Anyone ever hear of this? Seems hooky. How can I trust to take an extended trip?

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