Norcold Problem

DonGee · 06-17-2007, 04:37 PM

Heard through "Grapevine" that Norcold is offering a reset system for the fridge when it goes into "NO CO". Hope this is not an urban legend as mine habitually does and always at the most inopportune time.
Don
2005 Itasca Horizon

RV Wizard · 06-18-2007, 12:01 AM

Don, the reset is when the board goes into a lock out condition. Not all models have a board that can be reset by jumpering pin 15 to ground. How have you been dealing with the "NO CO" issue up to this point? What model of Norcold do you have?

RLS · 06-18-2007, 04:08 AM

What is "NO CO" ?

bowats · 06-18-2007, 06:23 AM

RV Wizard, are the pins numbered, or otherwise how do you locate #15. I have NO CO on mine too.

Kazoo Tom · 06-18-2007, 06:52 AM

If it is any help to anyone, you can go to this site and scroll down to "service documents". If you know the model of your fridge, you can download the complete service manual from there.

WALLY NJ · 06-19-2007, 02:42 PM

BUT, whats making you get "no Co'' all the time.........We were continually getting the "no co",,, reset it all to many times.it ruined a few trips,,,,,,,,we felt it was from to much heat...but it wound up in the shop 4 times ,,,finnaly Norcold came out to the shop in PA , and discovered that wall paper installed by Winnebago was not trimmed and was blocking that back of the fridge.......we got a new fridge ,havent had a problem since....
so don't always look for the obvious...

Gary CA · 06-19-2007, 07:13 PM

Good to see the RV Wizard again, always good input.

RV Wizard · 06-19-2007, 11:49 PM

There are many things that can cause your refrigerator to not cool (No Co). Always be sure the coach is level, make sure the venting is not blocked. The battery voltage is good and the source of heat (gas or electric) is at proper levels. You should clean the burner and orfice once a year to insure proper operation through the summer. Have a great one!

DonGee · 06-20-2007, 09:39 AM

;Thank you Mr. Wizard, sorry I am so late with my follow up response. I have a model 1201. The #15, pin has been shorted to ground on several occassions by techs at various shops. I know now not to hit the on off button but just turn it off until I fix whatever caused the problem. The question remains is Norcold putting in a reset to fix this obvious flaw in their product.
Don, 2005 Itasca Horizon

"007" · 06-20-2007, 10:30 AM

Also make sure your vent fans are working at top of refer out the top vent or your box temps will not go below 40*, the freezer will still freeze with no problem.
The fans are controlled by a thermal switch.
Reset of fridge will not do anything for fan switch.

inphx · 06-25-2007, 07:04 AM

I have an 05 33ft Sunscruiser. I live in Phoenix Az. I had similar problem with appearance of the NO CO notification and the unit not working. I would turn off and turn on again - worked for a bit and then the same NO CO. The dealer reset the unit for me. Again on the way home I got NO CO again. My independent service dealer told me that they have had many such problems. They called Norcold for advice. Their initial advise was to move from Phoenix. It seems their chip is set to turn the unit off if it does not cool the unit by a certain amount in a given time. If that happens twice the unit will have to be reset (by service company). They said to install an auxiliary fan on the backside of the unit (said any coach sold in our area should have had that already installed). Before turning unit on, cool the coach down to some livable temperature and put freezer packs inside the unit to help cool the unit down. I have done so and have not had the problem since.

In the summer the temp in enclosed space subject to the sun can be 160-170Âº

bcnjax · 06-18-2008, 02:38 PM

I was given the following procedure from a service tech to erase stored fault memory from my Norcold Refrigerator Model N64. It has worked several times!
- Turn "On/Off" to turn on
- Press "Temp Set" & "Mode" at same time to display "1"
- Press "Mode" to go to screen "6", "Er" should display
- Press and hold "Temp Set" until "CL" displays, then release
- Wait five seconds and press and hold "Temp Set" until "Er" displays, then release
- Press "On/Off" to turn off
- Press "On/Off" to turn on

RV Wizard · 06-19-2008, 12:41 AM

bcnjax, welcome to the forum.com. We are glad to hav eyou join us here and we look forward to reading of your adventures and experiences. Thank you for the steps to erase the fault codes. I would recommend one at least write them down if they wanted to erase them for some reason. It will not reset the control board only clear the fault history of problems. Best to leave them in for the technicians to more efficiently troubleshoot the problem. Take care and stay safe.

steelheadbluesman · 07-01-2008, 10:18 AM

Glad I found this thread. My Norcold (Mdl#1211) is only one yr old and just quit cooling in all compartments. It quit for awhile one day, and I figured something got stuck in the door, but then a week later, it just quit again and would not start.... It gives no diagnostic codes, and appears to think it is working, since all the panel lights read correctly. I tried auto and manually switching it. It is getting AC and if I switch it over the LP lights up just fine. Parts in the back get really hot. But it would not go into "backup" mode (another clue that it thinks it's working?) We used bagged ice for a few days to keep it cool, tried turning it off for several hours and back on, but nothing. I've read everything I have, and have made an appt w/ dealer for warranty work, but cannot get in for ten days. I read in this thread about a reset? Any ideas would be helpful, thanks.

"007" · 07-01-2008, 11:48 AM

steelhead give this a try. Norcold RESET
Take a look at you vent space to see if there is anything blocking the vent space area should be a clear view from top to bottom.

Your two fans should be operating on a warm day cycling off and on. Your chimney for gas should be wrapped with a fiber glass blanket and sealed, we have found out LINK, around the electric heating rod access hole.
If you need to see down vent hole take off vent cover on roof or use a mirror to look up from side vent.

John_Canfield · 07-01-2008, 12:11 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by inphx:
I have an 05 33ft Sunscruiser. I live in Phoenix Az. I had similar problem with appearance of the NO CO notification and the unit not working. I would turn off and turn on again - worked for a bit and then the same NO CO. The dealer reset the unit for me. Again on the way home I got NO CO again. My independent service dealer told me that they have had many such problems. They called Norcold for advice. Their initial advise was to move from Phoenix. It seems their chip is set to turn the unit off if it does not cool the unit by a certain amount in a given time. If that happens twice the unit will have to be reset (by service company). They said to install an auxiliary fan on the backside of the unit (said any coach sold in our area should have had that already installed). Before turning unit on, cool the coach down to some livable temperature and put freezer packs inside the unit to help cool the unit down. I have done so and have not had the problem since.

In the summer the temp in enclosed space subject to the sun can be 160-170Âº </div></BLOCKQUOTE>We were recently in Gila Bend Arizona with 110 degree temps and our Norcold worked great. In fact, when our upper vent was inadvertently blocked almost completely by Winnebago factory service, it took a couple of months before there was a cooling degradation. Noticed it while we were dry camping in Denali National Park - the freezer barely got to freezing. We never ever saw a "NO CO" pop up on the display. Once the vent was returned to normal, so did the Norcold.

Paul T · 07-01-2008, 02:23 PM

My Norcold is in the forward slideout and on my first trip with the coach last year I experienced the "NO-CO" problem. Evidently Norcold was aware of what caused my problem and once I synced up with a service facility they sent parts to fix the problem. They, Norcold, seemed to know exactly what was wrong and so forth but would not talk to me the owner. They would only discuss with a valid Norcold service facility. In my case I used Campers World in Denver. As I recall, the flame detector that shuts the unit down when on LP if the LP portion of the unit fails was the problem but, in addition to replacing the sensor, they did a modification to the top of the "stack" as part of the fix Norcold had recommended. I was told by one tech that the newer "flame detector" or whatever it is was re-settable where as the old one was not. I have not had a repeat of the original problem but would suggest anyone with a Norcold in the slideout of 2006 vintage or so check to see if this modification was incorporated prior to delivery of their coach if they are having "NO-CO" events.

Now if I can only find what I suspect is a ventilation problem that is allowing the unit to warm up when static on AC I'll be a happy camper.

"007" · 07-01-2008, 04:44 PM

Check the fiber glass surround around the chimney and make sure the opening where the wires go in for electric element is sealed if not get some fiber glass tape and block the heat generated by element from escaping the chimney you need all the heat confined in chimney for boiler to heat up on electric.

steelheadbluesman · 07-01-2008, 05:09 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by "007":
Check the fiber glass surround around the chimney and make sure the opening where the wires go in for electric element is sealed if not get some fiber glass tape and block the heat generated by element from escaping the chimney you need all the heat confined in chimney for boiler to heat up on electric.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The AC wires go through a small hole near the bottom of the foil-tape-covered stack, and there are other wires that go through about one foot above. There is some opening around both of these sets of wires, with a hole about the size of a quarter at the top set. It appears they were wrapped this way at installation.... Are you saying these sets of wires should be completely sealed, so there can be no leakage from the chimney at all? After your previous post, I pulled the roof cap and, and although it appears clean, I can't see any fans around the top like I see in your photo.... Thanks for your info, I'm still checking it out.

steelheadbluesman · 07-03-2008, 03:45 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by inphx:
I have an 05 33ft Sunscruiser. I live in Phoenix Az. I had similar problem with appearance of the NO CO notification and the unit not working. I would turn off and turn on again - worked for a bit and then the same NO CO. The dealer reset the unit for me. Again on the way home I got NO CO again. My independent service dealer told me that they have had many such problems. They called Norcold for advice. Their initial advise was to move from Phoenix. It seems their chip is set to turn the unit off if it does not cool the unit by a certain amount in a given time. If that happens twice the unit will have to be reset (by service company). They said to install an auxiliary fan on the backside of the unit (said any coach sold in our area should have had that already installed). Before turning unit on, cool the coach down to some livable temperature and put freezer packs inside the unit to help cool the unit down. I have done so and have not had the problem since.

In the summer the temp in enclosed space subject to the sun can be 160-170Âº </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Okay, this sounds very similar, and I'm wondering if you installed the aux fan, and if so, what kind? Is it a little 12v? My Norcold 1211 has quit twice, will not restart, and gives me no error codes. Everything down low was too hot to touch. And when you say "reset by the company", do you mean the grounding of a pin on the board?
Thanks for any enlightenment.