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Old 11-04-2019, 01:10 PM   #1
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2007 Journey 34h fridge won't cool on LP

Our Norcold 1200 series fridge won't cool much on LP but will freeze stuff on electric power. The gas flame looks and sounds good and there is a little cooling but the box won't get below 60 degrees on a 70 degree day.(on LP) I can hear the cooling fans working too.
Any suggestions on what I should be looking for? We just returned from a 2500 mile trip and as long as we were plugged in to landline the food stayed cold but while traveling we were using LP and stuff got warm. This is a new problem as the box has been working fine on A/C or LP up to now.
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Old 11-12-2019, 10:21 PM   #2
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Karl, hope this is not redundant, but go to page 12 of your Norcold manual and walk thru the maintenance steps.

[ATTACH]172406[/ATTACH

Flame should be blue and steady. Darker blue center with lighter blue surrounding.

Yellow flickering will be depositing soot on your orifice and flue. It will not be giving you optimum heat. You should clean the orifice. Much like your furnace and likely every other propane fired thing you own, tiny bugs are attracted to the orifices. Manual says authorized service center. I do ours. Let your comfort level guide you.

Clean your burner box. Check for flue obstructions and drag a brush through it. Brush or vacuum out accumulated soot.

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Attached Files
File Type: pdf NORCOLD 1211_IMT REFRIG MANUAL Serial#9596804.pdf (568.5 KB, 82 views)
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Old 11-20-2019, 06:26 PM   #3
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Coach inside temperature

I had the same problem with the Norcold in my Adventure. during a trip out West with the refrigerator running on gas while driving, the internal temp went up to 50 twice, and we had to throw away the contents. I discovered the issue was the coach temperature. While we were cool sitting up front with the chassis air on, the rear was 80-90 degrees, and the refrigerator could not compensate. My solution was to run the generator with the house air on. And yes I had it to 3 different RV shops and they could not find anything wrong.
After that trip I replaced the Norcold with a residential unit and couldn’t be happier, my ice cream was finally frozen
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Old 11-20-2019, 06:59 PM   #4
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Not sure if this is still an issue but I had the same problem. A dirt dauber had plugged the burner tube just above the flame. It was impossible to see but I felt it with my finger. Cleaned it out and has worked fine since. Hope get it working.

Craig
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Old 11-21-2019, 08:19 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by LeonardoBF View Post
I had the same problem with the Norcold in my Adventure. during a trip out West with the refrigerator running on gas while driving, the internal temp went up to 50 twice, and we had to throw away the contents. I discovered the issue was the coach temperature. While we were cool sitting up front with the chassis air on, the rear was 80-90 degrees, and the refrigerator could not compensate. My solution was to run the generator with the house air on. And yes I had it to 3 different RV shops and they could not find anything wrong.
After that trip I replaced the Norcold with a residential unit and couldn’t be happier, my ice cream was finally frozen
Could you give me info. on replacing your gas/electric Norcold unit with a residential type unit? Ours is a 2007 Meridian 34H. I am interested in doing the same. Thanks for your help.
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Old 11-22-2019, 01:35 AM   #6
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My problem was that my Norcold would lose its propane flame 80% of the time when driving. Other than that, it cooled fine, not rock hard ice cream, but fine.

The original cooling unit died 2 months after the original 12 month warranty. With some help, I replaced it with a new Norcold unit, and it has worked great for the last 8 years.

Until. a week ago, one morning the refer alarm was going off, I checked the switch, the breaker, no change. Went outside, pulled the vent cover. Ohhhhh, ammonia smell, yellow liquid dripping, and a hissing sound. Luckily, the propane had not been lit, or that hissing hydrogen filled gas would have really lit things up. Apparently the safety updates worked, no fire. But that was a sobering reality.

My refer cabinet, doors, etc. make it very difficult to put a regular residential refrigerator into the RV. So I am opting for JC Refrigeration's cooling unit that uses a standard compressor. They are the folks that make the Amish cooling unit too.

This will eliminate all the propane, heating chimney, and assorted safety components. And is actually cheaper than a new Norcold cooling unit. They come in both 12v and 120v models. We are getting the 120v version as it is a bit more efficient, and we don't do that much boondocking. Since it only uses .8 amps, it will run with our 1000w inverter if I want to wire to it.

Should get the unit in tomorrow, and install with a little help next Tuesday.
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Old 11-22-2019, 10:28 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piddlerman View Post
Could you give me info. on replacing your gas/electric Norcold unit with a residential type unit? Ours is a 2007 Meridian 34H. I am interested in doing the same. Thanks for your help.
I replaced the Norcold unit in my Outlook 32 with a 10.1 cubic ft. refrigerator/freezer I got from Lowes for about $350 on sale. The width and the depth fit great, but the height was another issue. I wound up moving down the base for the Norcold so it is at the very top of the drawer underneath and cutting the top of the opening another 4". The top of the freezer is about 2" from the ceiling. I then installed some brace boards underneath and The new fridge is actually only bolted in on the bottom to those brace boards so they have to be very secure. I have attached a picture of the completed (no trim yet) installation. I also added a PSW invertor underneath to power it from and I have 300W of solar on the roof.
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Old 12-09-2019, 06:56 PM   #8
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Follow-up to my refer problem last month. I did purchase the JC Refrigeration's 120v compressor unit to replace my leaking Norcold cooling unit. I am presently in Texas, it was a 3 day shipment from Indiana.

We at the rear, disconnected the propane, water, 12v power, and unplugged 120v power. We pulled the refer out of the cabinetry, unbolted the cooling plates from the interior, laid the refer down on its face on the floor. Removed the old cooling unit, cleaned up the old mastic and foam, installed the new compressor unit. Removed all the wires and such that was no longer needed, hooked all up as shown on the instructions. Had already plugged the propane line.

Stood the unit up, re-bolted the cold transfer plates, slid the unit back into the cabinetry, hooked up the 12v, 120v, water line for icemaker, and all other wires as needed. Let the compressor set for 4 hours before starting.

Had to remove the beeper in the front door control panel, as an error message will constantly appear when the compressor is running (HE) then (AC) HE is for the heater elements, no longer present, and AC shows it is on AC power. When compressor shuts off, you just get the little green dot showing it is on.

Box cooled in about 3 hours, started reloading food in 4 hours. Only problem now is that I get too much cold, as I need to fine-tune the placement of the thermistor, and the supplied interior fan. Getting very close to getting it just right.

View the video on the JC Refrigeration website, it shows exactly what I just described.

No more worries about the coach not being level enough, no more worries about fires, very happy. And, the compressor draws so little power (60-80 watts) I run it off our inverter while travelling 300 miles last week. Even in 80 degree temps, everything in the refer was plenty cold when we arrived at the new campground.
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Old 12-15-2019, 04:47 PM   #9
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Piddlerman
The standard replacement for the Norcold is a Samsung RF-18 which is the right width and depth for the existing opening but about 5 inches taller. Replacement is simple but requires removing the passenger seat, taking the doors and basic unit in separately. It is relatively simple and many people have done it if they have had space above - which I had on my 09 Journey.. Alternatively, you could install a smaller Res Fridge. Either option is much better in my opinion than the Norcold but many will disagree. Good luck.
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Old 12-16-2019, 12:27 AM   #10
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Without recommending residential because thats obviously not what you asked the question for, heres what I’ve done over time.

Often you cannot tell that the burner is not delivering the proper BTU spec by just looking at the flame. It may be close, but from what I have seen its sometimes not obvious. Buy a new burner and try it. That also gives you a spare for a field swap.

Once I figured out the burner issues, then it was off to insufficient venting in the cabinet. In the top vent I added 4 very quiet IP67 rated fans. Why 4? Because I am turning them at 50%, and they occupy the entire vent space. No blow by at all, and they are d e a d quiet. The fans are controlled by an ARP fridge shutoff protection device. That made by far the biggest difference in keeping the box cool.

I also pulled the fridge very early on and lined the cabinet with foil-faced engine firewall insulation. Inside temp has zero effect on the fridge temp. When the cooling unit started to get a little wonky I replaced it with a HELIUM charged unit. That eliminates the fire issues completely.. No Hydrogen, and it cools FAST!

So now I can load it at the house in the summer at 102 degrees, spend a week on the beach at 72, with the sun beating on the side of the RV, come home in a heatwave of 112 for 3 days. Temp in the fridge is 32-33, and in the freezer between 0 and +3 degrees the entire time (and yes I bypass the defrost cycle). And those numbers are tracked with digital sensors feeding a remote display in the kitchen.
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Old 01-03-2020, 01:34 PM   #11
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There was also a factory recall on the Norcold refrigerators. Check all the recalls for your rig.
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Old 01-20-2020, 06:25 AM   #12
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no cooling on LP in 1211 Norcold fridge

Quote:
Originally Posted by buford View Post
Our Norcold 1200 series fridge won't cool much on LP but will freeze stuff on electric power. The gas flame looks and sounds good and there is a little cooling but the box won't get below 60 degrees on a 70 degree day.(on LP) I can hear the cooling fans working too.
Any suggestions on what I should be looking for? We just returned from a 2500 mile trip and as long as we were plugged in to landline the food stayed cold but while traveling we were using LP and stuff got warm. This is a new problem as the box has been working fine on A/C or LP up to now.
Well I finally have a cold fridge! I ordered a new Amish cooling unit from RV cooling Unit Company with helium charging ($1205.00) ...I followed their Utube video and it all went pretty well...the only extra I did was to insulate the entire box compartment with some foam board with Mylar facing...I put the facing side in (warmside) and it cleaned up the box nicely. I also ordered their install kit ($125.00) for my 1211IMT fridge which includes Two new fans,two electric heaters and a new burner orifice.
The first night I left the unit on for about 10 hours at setting number five and the lower box was at 33 degrees and the freezer was way below zero. Not bad! I am glad I did this myself as I found shoddy work by someone in the last reefer repair job on my old 2007 Journey 34h...
Got a lot of encouragement from Old China Hand (Terry) and others on this site! Thanks to all for the help, Karl.
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