Norcold N841 keeps blowing 5 amp fuse, help...

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chrisdeamicis

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May 26, 2013
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I have an older Norcold N841 refrigerator and am having an issue with the glass 5 amp fuse on the power board.
The fridge worked fine on both LP and AC when put away for the winter.
Now, it works fine on LP but wouldn't work on AC.  Kept getting the "no AC" error with beeping.
Checked the power board and the glass 5 amp fuse was blown.
I replaced it and turned everything back on, new fuse blew in just a few seconds.
Tried one more new 5 amp fuse and it blew to.
Do I need a new power board or could it be something else?

Help....
 
The first thing to check is the heater element itself. It and the ice maker, if equipped, are the only things using 120V. It could be blown and shorting out causing the fuse to blow. You can likely disconnect the appropriate wires right at the terminal strip and then put in another fuse, it should hold!! Then comes the fun, replacing the element itself once you have removed power from the unit. I have never had the pleasure but I understand it is a simple enough to do.
 
Almost surely this means that the electric heater element is shorted out and will have to be replaced. It can be found in the burner tabe close to the gas flame - it is the alternate heat source for the cooling unit. As Stu says, disconnect the wires to the element and see if the fuse still blows. If not, it's a failed heater element. If it does, it is either the board or a shorted wire from board to heater.

I've never had to pull one of those heaters either - they rarely fail.
 
Thanks Stu & Gary, I did a quick check on the heater element and it was measuring out at 42.8 ohms.
I just pulled the leads off the power board and checked the resistance.
When I get a free minute I'll replace the fuse again and power everything up without the heater element connected.
Since I don't have an ice maker I think this will tell me where the problem is.
Fuse doesn't blow, it must be the heater element or its wiring.
Fuse does blow, looks like I've got a bad power board.

thanks
 
Just an update for anyone this might help.
After checking that the heater element was OK I checked with it disconnected.
When I pulled the wires for the heater element from the power board I noticed the connectors were very loose.
I crimped them down a bit but didn't hook them back up.
I put in a new fuse and powered everything back up with the heater disconnected.
Fuse didn't blow.  Shut everything down, hooked the heater back up, powered everything back up.
Viola, fuse still didn't blow.  Let the fridge run over night on the highest setting.
In the morning had ice in the freezer and almost ice in the fridge.
Seems the loose connector on the heater element was causing the problem.
At least that's the way it appears.
 
My Norcold had a no ac code. I found a wire burned off 1 of the ac heater elements. I've had the recall done on the sensor. Has there ever been a recall on the heaters them-selves?
 
Question,
Mine is a 1999 year unit and I assume the heater wires are the two thick black ones that are closest to the 5A glass fuse.  (besides the AC power ones).  I have a similar issue as wires connected no blown fuse, connect then an it blows within 3 sec, also I can hear a slight "tick - click" at the time it blows, I assume this is the sound of a relay coming on.  Anyone have a picture or a "how too" get to this heating unit?  The two black wires I am referring to see to run up behind the compressor type unit.
Can I run the unit without this for a short period?

Thanks for the assist...

Tommy
 
Anyone have a picture or a "how too" get to this heating unit?  The two black wires I am referring to see to run up behind the compressor type unit.
Click to expand...

The is no compressor in this type of fridge. The heaters are a metal heating element that is inserted into a tube or sleeve along side the boiler, just above the gas burner. You can get the Norcold N-series service manual at http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/ncoldnnewnseries.pdf

Blowing the heater fuse usually means the element is shorted, either itself or its power wire.
 
Yes Heater Shorted...  :(
So when I got in there,,, I see the cooling coil is leaking.
So I am going to replace the entire Refrigerator.  I assume this unit is no longer made and I can get a replacement model.
And that I can get the old / new one through the door.. :)

Thank you...
 
If it doesn't fit through the door there's always the window.  Most RV window frames come out fairly easily.  But before you decide to do that think about replacing just the cooling unit.  Lots of folks have done it. 

Get the Amish cooler. ($655). That's way cheaper than a whole new refer, about $1500.  I didn't see any available but rebuilds have a very high failure rate so I'd avoid them.

http://rvcoolingunit.com

There are dozens of YouTube videos about replacing the cooling unit, and probably something in the files section here.

 
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