Norcold refrigeraqtor

[chajos1]

The refrigerator in my coach is a 4 door norcold w/ice maker, last night it stop working :'(. It keep flashing "no" "co" with a audible alarm. I checked the manual after checking everything according to the manual and nothing helped. The manual said "this is not owner serviceable" see your dealer or authorized Norcold service center. Has any one had this problem before?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The no co fault can be reset if you have a bit of handyman skill, but if it comes right back that usually means the cooling unit is shot.  There are a few transient things that can cause a no co, e.g. running out of propane while the fridge is running in LP mode, so its worth a try to reset it. Make sure you have adequate 12v power and propane before doing so, though.

I've attached the Norcold TSB that shows how to reset.

 

[chajos1]

Thanks Gary. I don't think I want to fool around with any of the wiring to the unit. I just went out to check the outside and I could strong smell of ether. I think it would be best to contact someone that know what he is doing.

 

[joern]

We had a similarb problem and smell-replaced the cooling unit (our selves)with an Amish cooling unit took about 6 hrs. Now works fine -saved about $1700.00 by doing it ourselves---unit cost us $1375.00 del. to Canada--Rv repair people quoted over $3150. 00 installed--works like a charm

 

[1Sammiedog]

Thanks Gary. I don't think I want to fool around with any of the wiring to the unit. I just went out to check the outside and I could strong smell of ether. I think it would be best to contact someone that know what he is doing.

chajos, If your smelling a chemical odor from your fridge, it is probably the ammonia leaking from the cooling unit. If this is the case, your cooling unit is probably shot. You will most likely be looking at replacing the cooling unit that makes up all the tubing and burner assembly on the backside of the refrigerator. It's not a major ordeal, but if you plan on keeping your coach I would suggest not replacing the cooling unit with a rebuilt one. They don't last long and you will be doing the same thing again sooner than later. I'm assuming you have a Norcold 1200 model refrigerator in your rig which is the same one I have in my Winnebago Journey. I recently replaced my Norcold 1200 cooling unit with a new Amish Built cooling unit. They are made with tubing that is 50% thicker wall and thus requires none of the pesky Norcold recall fixes that are supposed to prevent fires. I'm attaching a video I made while doing my installation conversion so that you can see the work involved in this process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgjDl5nwPMo

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Yeap, if you can smell the coolant (it's an ammonia & sulfur mix), the cooling unit is a goner and the "No Co" fault was just doing its job, which is to prevent a fire.

Sorry to say, but it is going to be very expensive, even with a non-Norcold brand cooling unit (there are several excellent replacements on the market, e.g. the Amish brand.  If you don't want to tackle a circuit board reset on your own, you surely don't want to do the cooling unit swap yourself.

 

[chajos1]

Do you or anyone else have a slight idea what the cost would be. Cheaper then replacing the refrigerator, I would think. Has anyone every replaced their refrigerator with a standard house hold one? I have a 12.0 cu. ft.2 way, 4-door rv refrigerator with ice maker.

 

[1Sammiedog]

Here is a link to the company that supplied my cooling unit. I was quoted between $300 to $500 for the labor to install the new unit. http://rvcoolingunit.com/Side-by-Side-Norcold-Units-C235947.aspx?sid=298

There are some people that have installed a Samsung RF197 home style refrigerator in place of the Norcold 1200. With this installation there are going to be other modifications needed to make it work properly. I'm not sure who you would need to contact in your area for this type of installation.

Good Luck,
1Sammiedog

 

[Smoky]

Thanks Gary for the reset info.  filed it in my library!

Smoky

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Lots of people replace with a residential fridge these days, but you need to upgrade the power systems for when you are not on shore power (large inverter and perhaps more batteries). It's not an inexpensive step.

Repalcing the cooling unit is much cheaper than replacing the whole fridge, but still expensive.