18 Cu.Ft. Norcold Fridge Erratic Temperature

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And here we are 6 years after the first post and still having the USA sticker & door shimming problem. I had to fix mine today.

I guess Norcold & Grand Design doesn't read this forum.

Another possibility, and a mod that I personally have done is to add a couple of fans to the inside of the upper outside black vent. The two fans that are factory OEM on the Norcold simply do NOT move enough air across the heat exchanger that you can see at the top opening. If the heat exchange cannot dissipate the heat that is generated by the cooling system, the fridge will not cool properly, and the freezer section will be much warmer than it should be. Adding fans back there, and as high up as you can get them on that upper vent, will force the air movement across the heat exchanger, lower the temperature of the fridge, and work more efficiently. Since adding the fans back there, I've gone from a setting of #9 on the fridge control down to a 4 or 5, depending on how hot it is outside and how often the fridge is being opened. My temperatures on 4 or 5 are usually ....32-34 degrees in the fridge section, and 3, 4, maybe 5 degrees in the freezer section. The fan kit I installed has it's own thermostat to determine when those fans come on and go off, and it is much sooner than the temperature disc. that runs the fans that came with the fridge. If you can get the heat dissipated BEFORE it becomes a problem, you are miles ahead of the issue.

[MN-Mark]

Another possibility, and a mod that I personally have done is to add a couple of fans to the inside of the upper outside black vent. The two fans that are factory OEM on the Norcold simply do NOT move enough air across the heat exchanger that you can see at the top opening. If the heat exchange cannot dissipate the heat that is generated by the cooling system, the fridge will not cool properly, and the freezer section will be much warmer than it should be. Adding fans back there, and as high up as you can get them on that upper vent, will force the air movement across the heat exchanger, lower the temperature of the fridge, and work more efficiently. Since adding the fans back there, I've gone from a setting of #9 on the fridge control down to a 4 or 5, depending on how hot it is outside and how often the fridge is being opened. My temperatures on 4 or 5 are usually ....32-34 degrees in the fridge section, and 3, 4, maybe 5 degrees in the freezer section. The fan kit I installed has it's own thermostat to determine when those fans come on and go off, and it is much sooner than the temperature disc. that runs the fans that came with the fridge. If you can get the heat dissipated BEFORE it becomes a problem, you are miles ahead of the issue.

@xrated

I have read a lot about putting fans in the vent. I need to do something and am going to try that. Can you tell me what fans you used and where you bought them?

I have looked pretty close a couple times and the door appears to be sealing properly, no shims needed.

Thank you,

Mark

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@xrated

I have read a lot about putting fans in the vent. I need to do something and am going to try that. Can you tell me what fans you used and where you bought them?

I have looked pretty close a couple times and the door appears to be sealing properly, no shims needed.

Thank you,

Mark

Sure Mark, no problem. You can read the description about these fans, but a quick summary of them....120mm twin fan kit with Controller. I mounted my controller inside the trailer, on the wall that is next to the fridge. Of course you have to drill a small (1/2" or 9/16") hole in that wall with out going in too far and hitting the fridge, then fish the wiring to the backside of the fridge unit. It sounds scarier than it really was. So the controller inside, then you have a sensor that is placed behind the fridge in the compartment to be able to turn the fans on when it reaches temperature back there. Wire it up to 12VDC (there's a 12VDC circuit already back there for the fridge itself, so just tap into that. And finally the actual 12V wires that go to the fans from the controller. Here is the link to Amazon and the one I bought....120mm kit... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is a pic of my controller mounted on the wall next to the fridge...


It has 6 speeds and can be turned on or off....or you can set it to "auto" and the fans will come on when the sensor calls for it (68-70 degrees behind the fridge), and it will also increase the fan speed as needed if the temperature back there keeps going up. Hope this helps. It's a bit of work to install it, but it has made a huge difference in our Norcold and how it works properly now.

You do have to remember to turn the unit off when your done camping and back home because if it is on "auto", it will run even if the frig is not being used, and eventually run the trailer's battery down.....unless of course you are on shore power at home and plugged in. It's still a good idea to turn it off though, why waste the fan for nothing.

[jjbbrewer]

Another possibility, and a mod that I personally have done is to add a couple of fans to the inside of the upper outside black vent.

Excellent suggestion, thanks.

Right now I'm trying my best to get the fridge working as is since I'm on a power/battery investigation. I'm finding that the rig is drawing about 3.5A with just the fridge, WiFi, and detectors on, which pulls down the 2 DC27 batteries about 35% per day. I'm trying to find a way to minimize the static current draw before I start sizing a solar system, so I'm avoiding adding anything that draws more power on a continual basis.

If you get a chance, though, could you post photos of how you mounted the auxiliary fans behind the vent?

[MoonShadow_1911]

Excellent suggestion, thanks.

Right now I'm trying my best to get the fridge working as is since I'm on a power/battery investigation. I'm finding that the rig is drawing about 3.5A with just the fridge, WiFi, and detectors on, which pulls down the 2 DC27 batteries about 35% per day. I'm trying to find a way to minimize the static current draw before I start sizing a solar system, so I'm avoiding adding anything that draws more power on a continual basis.

If you get a chance, though, could you post photos of how you mounted the auxiliary fans behind the vent?

Here is the thread (and the link to my post with pictures) of the vent modification that a bunch of us have done: https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/show...331#post359331

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[xrated]

Excellent suggestion, thanks.

Right now I'm trying my best to get the fridge working as is since I'm on a power/battery investigation. I'm finding that the rig is drawing about 3.5A with just the fridge, WiFi, and detectors on, which pulls down the 2 DC27 batteries about 35% per day. I'm trying to find a way to minimize the static current draw before I start sizing a solar system, so I'm avoiding adding anything that draws more power on a continual basis.

If you get a chance, though, could you post photos of how you mounted the auxiliary fans behind the vent?

I'm sorry, I didn't take any pictures of the fan mounting. The kit that I linked comes with some clips that are supposed to hook over the inside of the grill, but I did have to do some modifications to them to make them work. I like MoonShadow's idea of mounting them to the trailer itself with just enough room for the Black Vent cover to be put back on.

[MN-Mark]

Thanks everyone. I’ll be doing this mod soon. I’ll let you all know if I see a significant improvement.

Mark

[MoonShadow_1911]

Thanks everyone. I’ll be doing this mod soon. I’ll let you all know if I see a significant improvement.

Mark

I also put in the RV Cooling Warehouse Friday Guard internal fan bank: https://rvcoolingunit.com/Frost-Guar...7.aspx?sid=298 to help keep condensation from freezing to the fins inside the refer.

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[MN-Mark]

[QUOTE=MoonShadow_1911;376421]I also put in the RV Cooling Warehouse Friday Guard internal fan bank: https://rvcoolingunit.com/Frost-Guar...7.aspx?sid=298 to help keep condensation from freezing to the fins inside the refer.

I did this as well, MoonShadow. It did help but not enough. It has been really warm here this summer and a couple times the refer side has been in direct sun most of the day. The fridge just couldn’t keep up.

Mark

[MoonShadow_1911]

[QUOTE=MN-Mark;376422]

I also put in the RV Cooling Warehouse Friday Guard internal fan bank: https://rvcoolingunit.com/Frost-Guar...7.aspx?sid=298 to help keep condensation from freezing to the fins inside the refer.

I did this as well, MoonShadow. It did help but not enough. It has been really warm here this summer and a couple times the refer side has been in direct sun most of the day. The fridge just couldn’t keep up.

Mark

Yeah, we are vacationing in south-central Texas. Between the rest exhaust fans, and the Frost Guard fan bank, the refer is still getting up to 41°-42°, with the freezer as high as 15°. I'm thinking of getting one of the RV Cooling Warehouse Amish units. Just got convince the wife!

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