Can someone here read this wiring schematic

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1930

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Oct 2, 2018
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335
Electric is not my thing but I get by.

Im not trying to make a career out of this and Id like to have this camper in the woods this weekend so can someone tell me this wire goes to this one and that wire goes to that one.

Im showing an image of the fridge wiring schematic, Im also showing the few wires on the back of my fridge, only thing Im not showing are the 2 12 volt wires ( they are white= common ground and a black= juice ) that are part of my RV harness.

The guy had it hooked up at the place I bought it from, I should have taken notes.

https://postimg.cc/cKGKmvnh

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Must be the fat wires mean it can be hooked to 110, I dont care about any of that now, I just want the thing to run off my 12 volt/propane deal and it would be nice if it ran when I ran the cord from my RV to my home as well if possible.

Thanks
 
It basically just needs the LP gas plumbing and +12v  and 12v ground.  I think you said it was some model of Norcold fridge?  Find install info with this search:  https://www.google.com/search?q=norcold+fridge+install+manual&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

Larger gauge black & white wires are probably for 120v power and would normally have a standard wall plug on the end.  12v wiring is not standardized, so could be any color.
Those schematics appear to be for the circuit board and fridge internal wiring. What you need to labels for the external wires. The one with the fuse inline is probably the main 12v power, which would connect to a +12v source with about 6 amps of power available.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
It basically just needs the LP gas plumbing and +12v  and 12v ground.  I think you said it was some model of Norcold fridge?  Find install info with this search:  https://www.google.com/search?q=norcold+fridge+install+manual&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

Larger gauge black & white wires are probably for 120v power and would normally have a standard wall plug on the end.  12v wiring is not standardized, so could be any color.
Those schematics appear to be for the circuit board and fridge internal wiring. What you need to labels for the external wires. The one with the fuse inline is probably the main 12v power, which would connect to a +12v source with about 6 amps of power available.

Its a Norcold N3150, the manual that you suggested is where I got the wiring diagram from, it is page 14, there is a page 25 that also goes into hooking it up but it might as well be in Spanish cause I dont see what they expect me to do.

Surely someone can tell me where the 2 wires that I have go?

The guy that hooked it up prior twisted the 2 blacks together, must have been a reason for that. Id like to get it right.

 
i'll try to make this simple for you :).  first you need a 12vdc test light, and then a ohm meter to read ac voltage. with the camper plugged into 120 volts from your house, use the 12 vdc test light to find 12 volts, this can be from your battery ?, or from your converter ( if you have one in the camper ? )..either way, you need 12 volts to operate the fridge pc board if i'm not mistaken ?. you only need 120 volts if your going to be using the heating elements to heat the fridge, this is from shore power. if your gong to be heating the elements from battery power ?, then you would need an inverter to convert 12 volts to 120 volts, but most folks that Boone dock just use propane to operate their TT fridge. in the camper world, most travel trailers have a 2 way fridge, and 3 way fridge. 2 way fridge will work off 120 volts ( shore power ) or propane. 3 way fridge will work off propane, 120 volts ( shore power ) and 12 volt dc. soooooooo..find your 12 volt wires with the camper plugged in to your house, MAKE SURE YOUR AIR IS OFF, HOT WATER HEATER IS OFF !you don't need them on, spec if not water is in the hot water tank !..lol. from your pics, it looks like the smaller wires are 12 volt dc power and ground. the larger wires, red and white should be ?..your 120 volt power wires. red will be '' hot '' white will be neutral. with your ohm meter, you set it to 120 volt ac, check the red and white wires with camper plugged into shore power. correct me anyone if I am wrong or backwards on any of this !. @1930, most camper fridges are 2 way, NOT ALL OF THEM !. some folks op for 3 way so they can operate their fridge from their batteries.
 
If you intend to hook up at home you need to hook up the 120 volts. The large wires are 120 volts. The smaller wires are for 12 volts. The blacks are ground. The hot 12 volt comes from the fuse holder under your hand in the first picture. Looks like red and blue.  Can't tell for sure. With this info and your diagram, you should be able to figure it out.  The fridge uses both 12 and 120 when running on 120 volts. 12 volt runs the control board when using 120-volt power. This area may be a junction place for other 12 volt systems in your trailer. Your furnace needs 12 volts also. As does the WH.
 
Schematic shows a triple power fridge. Gas/Electric 120 v or 12 v so one pair of "FAT" wires is DC (25 amp) one pair (most likely smaller) 120 volt and the smallest wires are 12 volt control.

But I'd have to be hands on to tell you what goes where.  If you are not comfortabler pay the hour's labor it will take a pro to reconnect it.
 
1930 said:
Electric is not my thing but I get by.

Im not trying to make a career out of this and Id like to have this camper in the woods this weekend so can someone tell me this wire goes to this one and that wire goes to that one.

Im showing an image of the fridge wiring schematic, Im also showing the few wires on the back of my fridge, only thing Im not showing are the 2 12 volt wires ( they are white= common ground and a black= juice ) that are part of my RV harness.

The guy had it hooked up at the place I bought it from, I should have taken notes.
s.
"only thing Im not showing are the 2 12 volt wires ( they are white= common ground and a black= juice ) that are part of my RV harness."

You seem to be saying the fridge is hooked up to your RV's 12V system.  Is that correct.  Note: that white and black wires are the colors commonly used to hook to 120V AC.

"The guy had it hooked up at the place I bought it from, I should have taken notes."

The only wires which should have been disconnected when the fridge was removed are:
--  A plus and minus 12V wires, which since this fridge seems to be a 3 way (12V, 120V & Gas) these two wires should be fat or heavy to carry the 10-20 amps of 12V DC current.
--  A cord which ends in 3 wires which would go to 120V.  Typically this would have ended in a 3 wire AC household power plug. Wire colors would typically be white, black & green.

It is really puzzling why all the small black & red wires in the photos are cut flush at the ends.  It is like someone just took wire cutters and just cut the wires. Proper removal would be to loosen the screw holding the wire in place and remove the wire.  Then you would have about 3/8" of bare wire at the end. 

It is also puzzling and difficult to determine where all these wires go from just looking at a photo.  All those small wires should go to internal connections on the fridge.

Can you call the person you got the fridge from and ask them for help?  Maybe even take the fridge back and ask them to help identify where the wires go.
 
I appreciate the replies and suggestions of help, this camper is going in the woods tomm where it will sit, Ill in the meantime try and figure out what goes where myself by either calling the guy I bought it from or calling Norcold, maybe they have a tech assistance line.
 
According to the N3150 install manual, the red wire is for the DC mode heating element, i.e. high amp 12vdc used to drive the heater when plenty of DC is available (DC mode on the fridge control panel).

Here is what is says on pag2 27:
3.  Connect the DC power supply wires:
These models have 2 connection points to prevent the battery from being discharged by the
refrigerator when the engine is not running.

High current supply:  red cable (+) and white cable (-) for heating element.  Only turned on if
signal on D+  (orange wire has more than +12v present)


Low current supply:  purple (+) and black (-) for electronics

D+ signal: orange, + when engine runs

The orange wire would be used in a motorhome to signal that the engine is running (alternator power available). It would be hooked to a source that is only active when the ignition is on (not relevant on a trailer).

It appears that only the low current source will need to be connected for this install, i.e. Purple wire to battery +12v and black to battery - (ground). That should be sufficient for the LP gas mode to work.  1930 doesn't have enough battery capacity to use the DC heater mode, and doesn't have 120v available for AC mode either, so he will have to always run in LP GAS mode.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
According to the N3150 install manual, the red wire is for the DC mode heating element, i.e. high amp 12vdc used to drive the heater when plenty of DC is available (DC mode on the fridge control panel).

Here is what is says on pag2 27:
The orange wire would be used in a motorhome to signal that the engine is running (alternator power available). It would be hooked to a source that is only active when the ignition is on (not relevant on a trailer).

It appears that only the low current source will need to be connected for this install, i.e. Purple wire to battery +12v and black to battery - (ground). That should be sufficient for the LP gas mode to work.  1930 doesn't have enough battery capacity to use the DC heater mode, and doesn't have 120v available for AC mode either, so he will have to always run in LP GAS mode.
So black to my ground ( which in my case is white ) ( all my grounds are white and run to a busbar ) and purple to my 12 volt hot.

I think you can see why they have taken something that could have been so simple and make it much too complicated.

Again thanks for taking the time to look at the manual
 
I just hope I'm right... please let us know.

For what it's worth,  fridge installations are expected to be done by professionals familiar with RV fridges and RV power systems. That said, they could have done a much better & clearer job without a whole lot more words & effort.

The business with the orange D1 wire is a new feature, apparently intended to avoid draining batteries by using the DC power mode without an active charging source.  It's a good idea, but they could have explained it more.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
I just hope I'm right... please let us know.

For what it's worth,  fridge installations are expected to be done by professionals familiar with RV fridges and RV power systems. That said, they could have done a much better & clearer job without a whole lot more words & effort.

The business with the orange D1 wire is a new feature, apparently intended to avoid draining batteries by using the DC power mode without an active charging source.  It's a good idea, but they could have explained it more.

I'll call norcold before I do anything and update this when I do. Not sure when I'm gonna get to it, the camper is in the woods 2 hrs away from my home, I'm here now but no phone or Internet on property so it's a pain and I'm in no rush to get the fridge going
 
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