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CLOC-AdminWe have a 2011 Cameo 37CKSLS. The Norcold refrigerator was not working well last year. We had a dealer look at it and they build a baffle behind the fridge to help exhaust the hot air. This seemed to have fixed the problem for the last six months or so. Now in the last week the temperatures inside the fridge have been high (40 degrees or higher), but sometimes it drops back down into the 30’s where it should be. It doesn’t seem to matter what the outside air temperature is.Has anyone else had this problem? If so, what did you do about it?
I have thought about putting another exhaust fan in the back, but have no idea how to do that.
Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated.
Posted: 6:54 PM – Jan 28, 2014Another exhaust fan would help. Where are you located? If your in a cooler climate right now you could have other issues. Does the fridge work any different off of gas than electric?Posted: 7:18 PM – Jan 28, 2014Ammonia refrigerators work on natural circulation. I would check the heat source to make sure the ammonia is gwtting heated. Also, is your rig level? The natural circulation will not work if out of level by more than about 5 degrees.Posted: 1:59 PM – Jan 29, 2014Do you vent through the roof or through the side? If through the roof, make sure the vent is not blocked. I have a side vent and do add a small fan blowing upwards to help with the heat removal. I have also found that opening the top vent and hinging it using wire to make the hinge helps. But that is used only if we are to be on the site for a while. Also, make sure your frig is not “bounded up” by frost.Posted: 6:58 PM – Jan 29, 2014This is what I did to keep my frig cool on the hottest days: fridge-cooling-t380.htmlPosted: 7:12 PM – Jan 30, 2014When we first got our 2011 CAMEO FWS (August) it was hot and the Norcold Unit was the same way. After talking with Norcold I realized that it was going to be in my hands. In their words, they have had no problems with my type of unit (1200). Even though it had two recalls and both had been done. Long story short and Im sure there is a thread here somewhere on this. I replace my unit with the “Amish Built” from RV Cooling. http://www.rvcoolingunit.net/I talked with Dave Force at RV Cooling and he was most helpful. After replacing the unit I run it on 3 in the winter months and 4 in the summer. Avg temp 40 degrees.
It took most of the day to upgrade to the new unit but well worth my peace of mind and the unit cools great. I must say that after pulling the old unit out it was less than a year old and had already caused some damage due to overheating and the coils were pitted and rusted.
I was going to try the fan mod as I do believe this would work as well but the difference in quality of the unit was the difference.
George
Posted: 11:38 PM – Jan 30, 2014It seems that the Norcold units can be finicky. Our documentation came with the Norcold installation instructions. They are very specific about clearances, baffling and venting. I was surprised at the narrow tolerances. It might be worth checking the recommended instructions against the “as built” in your trailer. We have the 1200 unit and it has worked very well. One modification I made was to add small computer cooling fans inside the frige to circulate the cool air. I have them attached under the top shelf at the rear directing the flow downward and installed an on/off switch. In hot weather I turn them on and it seems to help. They are virtually silent and seem to make a difference. It is also worth checking the temperature sensor that is attached to the cooling fins inside the refrigerator. It could be out of whack and effecting the temp.Posted: 9:31 AM – Jan 31, 2014Jake,I had this setup in a 2006 unit, but that had power to the light bulb all the time so power and ground was easy to tap into. Where did you access power (both + and -) and where did you run the wires? Did you need to slide the unit out complete, partially, or just fish the wire? Thanks in advance.
Jpcovert1 wrote:It seems that the Norcold units can be finicky. Our documentation came with the Norcold installation instructions. They are very specific about clearances, baffling and venting. I was surprised at the narrow tolerances. It might be worth checking the recommended instructions against the “as built” in your trailer. We have the 1200 unit and it has worked very well. One modification I made was to add small computer cooling fans inside the frige to circulate the cool air. I have them attached under the top shelf at the rear directing the flow downward and installed an on/off switch. In hot weather I turn them on and it seems to help. They are virtually silent and seem to make a difference. It is also worth checking the temperature sensor that is attached to the cooling fins inside the refrigerator. It could be out of whack and effecting the temp.Posted: 11:03 AM – Jan 31, 2014JohnD222 wrote:Jake,I had this setup in a 2006 unit, but that had power to the light bulb all the time so power and ground was easy to tap into. Where did you access power (both + and -) and where did you run the wires? Did you need to slide the unit out complete, partially, or just fish the wire? Thanks in advance.
Jpcovert1 wrote:It seems that the Norcold units can be finicky. Our documentation came with the Norcold installation instructions. They are very specific about clearances, baffling and venting. I was surprised at the narrow tolerances. It might be worth checking the recommended instructions against the “as built” in your trailer. We have the 1200 unit and it has worked very well. One modification I made was to add small computer cooling fans inside the frige to circulate the cool air. I have them attached under the top shelf at the rear directing the flow downward and installed an on/off switch. In hot weather I turn them on and it seems to help. They are virtually silent and seem to make a difference. It is also worth checking the temperature sensor that is attached to the cooling fins inside the refrigerator. It could be out of whack and effecting the temp.I have seen people hook a fan to the mechinicle door switch and some have run a new wire via the drain tube. Here is a link to fan on ebay for 13.00 with instructions.
Chip
Posted: 3:17 PM – Feb 01, 2014Jpcovert1 wrote:It seems that the Norcold units can be finicky. Our documentation came with the Norcold installation instructions. They are very specific about clearances, baffling and venting. I was surprised at the narrow tolerances. It might be worth checking the recommended instructions against the “as built” in your trailer. We have the 1200 unit and it has worked very well. One modification I made was to add small computer cooling fans inside the frige to circulate the cool air. I have them attached under the top shelf at the rear directing the flow downward and installed an on/off switch. In hot weather I turn them on and it seems to help. They are virtually silent and seem to make a difference. It is also worth checking the temperature sensor that is attached to the cooling fins inside the refrigerator. It could be out of whack and effecting the temp.Did you put the on-off switch outside the fridge? How did you wire it into the 12 v system?
Posted: 1:15 AM – Feb 02, 2014The on/off switch is one that I picked up at an auto parts store. It is one of the red ones that lights up when it is on. The one I used had a mounting bracket with tabs that I attached to the top shelf inside the refrigerator and it hangs below the shelf. I picked up the power from a 12v line behind the fridge accessible via the vent cover. Can’t remember how I routed the wire. I think there is a penetration through the box at the rear where I was able to route the wire. Since it is a low draw assembly, I used 18ga wire.Posted: 2:01 AM – Feb 02, 2014Yours is much newer than ours was & while what we did was a bit unusual, it made our Norcold last for 17 years of daily use.
When it 1st stopped cooling -I’m not talking about an ammonia smell– just not cooling, we had made arrangements to have a new cooling unit installed. We didn’t want to purchase a new one. The day before Dutch said” You know I remember reading about a guy who had our problem and he took everything out of the fridge, took the doors off, unhooked it, pulled it out and turned it upside down allowing the crystals that had gotten stuck over the years to trickle down and open everything up. He put it back together and back in and it worked”. He asked me what I though of the idea. I replied “it doesn’t cool now, so what have we got to loose??”. We did just that, spreading plenty of covering on the floor 1st. We could hear the crystals coming loose & tinkling their way down the coils. We turned it back upright then I suggested we do it one more time “just because”. We did and put everything back together. By evening, we could see that it was cooling and by the next morning it was working perfectly so we cancelled our appointment. That “fix” lasted for 6 years and we did it once again and got 5 more years. A few months ago, we tried it again but alas she had “bit the dust” and we had to purchase a new one.
I’m not saying this is your problem or that this would work for you but it sure saved us over the years. Hugs, DiB.W.Gentry
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2007 Carri-Lite XTRM5
Breckenridge, TX
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