Norcold 1210 Refrigerator not Cooling in AC or LP

**gd369rl** · 01-08-2022, 04:48 PM

Norcold has been working fine for 2 years full timing. Got really cold weather (2 days or so below 10 degrees) and it stopped working - not sure if related or not.

The flue is hot to the touch, but the fridge and freezer are not cooling down. Control board, bad thermistor, anything else that it could possibly be or try?

Thanks!

**Redapple63** · 01-08-2022, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by gd369rl

Norcold has been working fine for 2 years full timing. Got really cold weather (2 days or so below 10 degrees) and it stopped working - not sure if related or not.

The flue is hot to the touch, but the fridge and freezer are not cooling down. Control board, bad thermistor, anything else that it could possibly be or try?

Thanks!

First thing to check is to pull the cover off the back and look for some yellow staining. Verify the cooling coils have not sprung a leak. It will be pretty obvious.

Bill

**gd369rl** · 01-08-2022, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by Redapple63

First thing to check is to pull the cover off the back and look for some yellow staining. Verify the cooling coils have not sprung a leak. It will be pretty obvious.

Bill

No yellow anything in back of unit.

**Redapple63** · 01-08-2022, 05:06 PM

You may have to turn it off and let the heater elements cool, then peel back the shroud and look.

**xrated** · 01-08-2022, 05:06 PM

I'm going to throw out a couple of ideas here, in regard to working fine for two years, then not working in the cold weather.
1. The burner assembly on those units are only around 3000 BTU, and while that is enough to produce the needed heat in average weather conditions, it simply isn't heating the circulating refrigerant enough to be able to absorb the heat of the inside of the refrigerator.
2. The length of the refrigerant flow from the the "boiler" area is cooling off too much (it's surrounded by cold air because of the low ambient temperatures in the compartment). Once it cools off that much, that takes away it's ability to remove heat from the refrigerator compartments....the fresh food and the freezer area.
3. At temperatures in the single digits or say 10 degrees, propane looses some of it's ability to create the same number of BTUs as it would when the outdoor temperature is like 70 degrees. Combine that, with the already small burner assembly (3000 BTUs) and it is very likely that the burner simply cannot keep up with the demand for being able to cool your fridge. When operating on 120VAC, there are electric heaters that take over the job of heating/boiling the refrigerant, and that is basically the same scenario.....simply not enough heat is being produced to overcome the lower single digit temperatures.

Hopefully, the the weather warms up again, it will return to normal operation.

**gd369rl** · 01-08-2022, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by xrated

I'm going to throw out a couple of ideas here, in regard to working fine for two years, then not working in the cold weather.
1. The burner assembly on those units are only around 3000 BTU, and while that is enough to produce the needed heat in average weather conditions, it simply isn't heating the circulating refrigerant enough to be able to absorb the heat of the inside of the refrigerator.
2. The length of the refrigerant flow from the the "boiler" area is cooling off too much (it's surrounded by cold air because of the low ambient temperatures in the compartment). Once it cools off that much, that takes away it's ability to remove heat from the refrigerator compartments....the fresh food and the freezer area.

Hopefully, the the weather warms up again, it will return to normal operation.

I should clarify it has heated up now and still not working...

**DECelt** · 01-10-2022, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by gd369rl

Norcold has been working fine for 2 years full timing. Got really cold weather (2 days or so below 10 degrees) and it stopped working - not sure if related or not.

The flue is hot to the touch, but the fridge and freezer are not cooling down. Control board, bad thermistor, anything else that it could possibly be or try?

Thanks!

Have you used it in an off level situation?

https://www.rverscorner.com/RV_Fridg...eshooting.html

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

**gd369rl** · 01-10-2022, 06:14 AM

Originally Posted by DECelt

Have you used it in an off level situation?

https://www.rverscorner.com/RV_Fridg...eshooting.html

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

No - the RV doesn't move and we re-level it every so often. It's pretty darn flat though at all times...

Flue gets hot, but fridge doesn't cool on LP or AC....

**DECelt** · 01-10-2022, 06:22 AM

Originally Posted by gd369rl

No - the RV doesn't move and we re-level it every so often. It's pretty darn flat though at all times...

Flue gets hot, but fridge doesn't cool on LP or AC....

To me...a non-expert... it sounds like maybe a chemical blockage. I think perhaps a good mobile tech might be in order.

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**Second Chance** · 01-10-2022, 08:49 AM

I originally posted this some years back (then in our Reflection 337) after problems with our Norcold 1210. A very good tech taught me about the absorption refrigerator "reboot." Perhaps there's something in here of use:

Our absorption fridge quit cooling last winter (had been in one site without moving for a couple of months). I called our trusted RV tech for advice... I posted the following after that experience:

RV techs call it a "refrigerator reboot."

When your absorption fridge quits cooling (cooling unit less than two years old) and an experienced RV technician tells you to do a "fridge reboot," listen to him/her. Late last week and over the weekend our Norcold 1210 fridge started not maintaining proper temperatures. I tracked it with a fridge/freezer thermometer and my infrared thermometer and got an ever-tightening knot in my gut. First thing Monday morning I contacted our favorite technician here in Las Cruces, NM, Richard's RV Service, fearing the worst. He asked the following questions:

• Is it the same on AC and propane? Answer: Yes.
• Did the problem come on suddenly - like flipping a switch? Answer: No.
• Did you smell ammonia? Answer: No.
• Do you see any yellow residue around the boiler, coils, or any of the other tubing on the cooling unit? Answer: No.
• Do you hear the cooling fans in the back cycling on and off? Answer: I haven't noticed them like I usually do - but the weather has been cooler.

Richard's instructions: Turn the fridge off for at least five hours and let everything get down to ambient temperature in the back. Using a rubber mallet, periodically tap on all the pipes, tubes, and other refrigerant conduits I can reach, both while it's cooling down and after it's completely cooled. This process took until about 2:00 Monday afternoon. I then turned the fridge back on and continued to do the "rubber mallet frappage" periodically while the fridge was warming up/cooling down. I turned the fridge back on mid-afternoon and by the time we went to bed Monday evening, both the fridge and the freezer were getting back down in normal ranges and the infrared readings on the fridge fins and the back walls of the freezer compartments were very good.

I kept a log and updated Richard a couple of times on Tuesday and he dropped by yesterday (Wednesday) to check. His diagnosis... an air bubble or chemical membrane in the refrigerant system. He said, "Congratulations!" and pronounced the fridge healthy. We both think the issue occurred because our RV hasn't been moved since we pulled onto this site on 10 November and the jostling an absorption refrigerator gets bouncing down the road helps keep the refrigerant stirred up and moving.

Rob