Continuing saga of the Allegro Bus -The other two issues

Hi Folks!

LOL... Now I just KNOW you've been waiting with baited breath for me to post the OTHER two issues I am having with this poor, maligned bus...so here goes:

Issue number 1:

The water heater works perfectly on LP. If you flip the switch for it to work off electricity absolutely NOTHING happens after several hours of waiting.
Does anyone know of any possible cause for this? The breakers and fuses have been checked. Nothing is out of order there.

Issue number 2:

The refrigerator.  Its a Norcold 1210 IM. This thing just won't cool below 42 degrees!!!    The thermistor was just replaced. 
I have tried repositioning the thermistor.  It is on the 2nd fin from the right side and is about 1/3rd of the way down the fin from the top as the directions require.
Not sure how relevant this is, but the light wouldn't come on, so the bulb was replaced. Still no light. The base plate for the light was rusted as can be. Replaced that. Now we have a light!

Don't even THINK about asking this unit to run off electricity unless you like your food kept at 60 degrees.

Any ideas on this?

It sure would be nice to save propane when at a campground with good 50 amp service.

Have you considered buying an rv repair book?

Did you wait at least 24 hours before checking the Norcold temperature?  They take a long time to cool.

ArdraF

Yes.    I left it for about 72 hours.

That's enough for it to cool if it's working properly.  I'll leave the technical aspects to those who know more about it....

ArdraF

There maybe a switch on the water heater itself that's not on. Open the outside cover and check there. On Suburban heaters, it's located on the bottom left. Usually hidden behind the gas tube. I'm not familiar with Norcold fridges, but on Dometics, sliding the thermistor up towards the top of the fin will make the fridge cooler.

The water heater works perfectly on LP. If you flip the switch for it to work off electricity absolutely NOTHING happens after several hours of waiting.
Does anyone know of any possible cause for this? The breakers and fuses have been checked. Nothing is out of order there.

Click to expand...

Clearly the 120v heater element isn't working. The possibilities are: (1) circuit breaker tripped, (2) element burned out, (3) circuit board not switching the power relay. You have ruled out #1, so test for #2 by removing power and measuring resistance across the heater element terminals (on the back of theheater, so hard to reach). Or just replace it - it's a standard 1440 watt heater element, available in hardware or home stores.

The refrigerator.  Its a Norcold 1210 IM. This thing just won't cool below 42 degrees!!!

Click to expand...

I gather you feel it works worse on electric than gas? If so, there are likely two issues. The Norcold has two electric heaters, and perhaps one of them has burned out. Gas and electric performance should be identical in that model, but loss of one heater will severely degrade the 120vac performance.

As for poor cooling, the problems are often subtle. Generally it results from poor airflow over the rear cooling unit or inadequate sealing around the back of the fridge, exposing the interior box to high temperatures it cannot cope with. Both are typically original installation problems, sloppy work by the installer. The Norcold has very strict requirements for sealing and air flow, and the RV factories are notorious for ignoring them.  And if the fridge is mounted in a slide, so that the exterior vents are both in the sidewall, it is very difficult to ever get adequate air flow in back. Try temporarily placing a small fan in the back at the outer door, blwoing inward and up. See if that improves cooling. If so, additional work on improving air flow is warranted.

On the water heater, try cleaning the electrical contacts.  The plugs on the front and back.  They often get corroded.  It can also be a bad element or electronic component.  Mine did this and it was electronic, but I do not remember which part.

kdbgoat...

You hit a home run!!!

There WAS a switch behind the gas tube and it was turned OFF!

I flipped the switch and it came to life.  Works like a charm!!!

In 15 minutes I had some really HOT water.

Looks like issue 1 is now resolved. Thanks for everyone's input on that.

Now if that darned Norcold would just be so easy....LOL

Issue 2 remains. [sigh]

An observation:

I just looked in the Norcold and there was the tiniest hint of frost on the 3rd and 4th fins from the right. Does this sound like a better place to try the thermistor? I have only tried it up and down on the 2nd from the right as that was what the replacement thermistor installation directions said was best.

No. Since it is under cooling, you want the thermister in a warmer place, not a colder one. I seriously doubt if piddling with the thermister is going to help, but give it a whirl.

The Norcold will display the actual temperature the thermister is seeing on the fins. Here's the procedure:

Push and hold the Temperature button and the Mode buttons together for about 10 secs. The display will show a 1 followed by 88. Release the 2 buttons as soon as this happens. Now press and release the Mode button until the number 3 shows up and wait a bit. It will then display the fin temperature. If the cooling unit is working well, you will see fin tempertures in the 20s or the low 30s. Mid-high 30's is not good.

Click to expand...

Download the Norcold 1200 Service Manual. Study it so that you aren't shooting in the dark.
http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/ncold1200.pdf

That's a really interesting procedure, Gary.  Thanks for passing it on.

ArdraF

It's all in the Service Manual, Ardra. The Norcold 1200/1210 has a fairly extensive self-diagnostic & display capability.

Gary,

Thank you for that very interesting information.  I just came in from doing this procedure.  The fin temp is reading 32.

I have 3 different mercurial thermometers and two of the battery operated blue fans in there and the temp on all thermometers is reading 46 after about 24 hours of not opening the door.

I wonder why the thermometers tell a different story than the fin reading?

Dianne

Lack of air flow around the fins, despite the fans?

My fin temp usually reads 28 or 29 and the fridge is 38-40 degrees when set on "3". The fridge is moderately full, especially the lower shelves. Outside temp tonight is  about 76.

My fridge is set on "9" (the highest setting) and that 32 (fin) and 46 is the temp with NOTHING inside except the thermometers and the fans.

This is maddening.

By the way, Gary, what model/brand of fridge do you have?

Sounds divine in comparison. Just curious.

Gill, you may have already done this but if not, you might want to check to ensure that you've got a good manetic seal around the fridge's door. It doesn't take much of a hole to let warm air in and cold air out.

Kev

Mine is an 11 year old Norcold 1200 LRIM.  It's one of the seemingly few that performs quite well, demonstrating that, when properly installed, it can be an excellent fridge.

For various reasons, an empty fridge rarely cools effectively. You might set a few gallon jugs or pans of water in it to help stabilize temperatures better. But I don't think that explains your 46 degrees.  Obviously the fin the thermister is on is measuring 32 (assuming the thermistor is ok, but you said it is new). How about the other fins? Try moving the thermistor to another, non-regulation, fin and see what that reads. If the cooling unit isn't performing up to par, the entire fin set may not be cold.

Are your three thermometers in water as well?  Air temperature inside is not a reliable measure of cooling performance.

And I'm still bothered that you say it doesn't work at all (60 degrees?) on electric. I think you have at least two separate problems in this fridge.

Hey Kev and Gary...thanks for the replies!

The thermometers are not in water at present. I will go and do that now and I will put water jugs in there and see what I get temp wise.  After I get a handle on that reading I will move it to another fin if it still is marginal.

The refer is not installed in a slide out. It is on the driver's side of the vehicle and is not located under an awning. (Poor location if ya ask me.)

Our outside temp here has been 96-98 degrees for about 8 days in a row. Today we seem to be catching a break. Its only about 91.

I don't know how to check for door seal leaks.

Gil is having some heart issues. I am trying to take as much stress off of him as I can and resolve some of these coach problems before he comes home.

Please know that I sincerely appreciate all the response and assistance everyone has given.

Thanks,
Dianne