Norcold fridge power issue

[spotpatch]

I was hooking up a set of inside fans in the refridgerator, started to hook to the power from the inside light. Heard a snap , fridge shut off completely. Checked circuit breakers, they were fine. checked 12v panel next to reg. breakers they weren't popped. checked fuses on converter, they were fine. I'm at a loss as to were to check next. no room to unbolt the rear circuit panel on back of fridge. I thought there might be a fuse in there, but can't get panel off. does anyone have an idea as to what happened and how to find what tripped. any help is greatly appreciated. its a 2003 adventurer 38g.

[Morich]

Congrats on giving lots of the really important info on the first shot!!
But then, can you put up with still more picky questions, if it helps get the straight scoop?

First I might mention that many frig, use 12VDC for the controls but chekcing the 110AC seems to be more the starting place, if you can. I do not see connections for 12VDC on your drawings. Not that they are not there but that I DON"T see them!

Sorry, but it looks like there are two versions of your RV depending on which level of power, one with two 50 amp main, one with less.

But the main idea is that the breakers to really check and possibly cycle off/on are a bit different to find. Look over these drawing snips to see which fits you and then ignore the other as bad advise!

Click them to get a better view or the drawings are here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ire_141021.pdf

I might first ask if you are able to access the 110AC plug where the frig cord plugs or is it behind the frig? That would be a handy place to check first for power getting to the frig----but not if you have to move the frig!

I might want to first check if the power problem is IN the frig or part of the RV wiring.
If you have a meter and can access the 110 wiring to the frig, like at a connection on the back, etc. I would check for 110 AC there first.
But if doing more a breaker check thing, these should lead to the correct breakers for your RV.

But there is also some question of one of the realys in the load shedder that the frig runs through. Possible the snap you heard was a loose wire arcing in the load shedder?
Does the AC go in but not come out of the load shedder?

[powercat_ras]

This all assumes you have a Norcold Propane / 120 VAC absorbtion refrigerator, not a residential one.

First of all why would you want to tie a fan to the refrigerator light? Light is not powered with the door shut. Not going to work if you want the fan to run all the time with the door shut to circulate air.If you want to add a 12 VDC fan to the inside of your fridge you will need to run + - wires from inside of fridge to the back of fridge. One way is to look at how the drain pan in the refrigerator compartment has a tube that goes thru the back inside wall of the fridge and use that route to run your fan wires. Then you can tie to the 12 VDC wires that feed the fridge in the space below the bottom outside vent.

That said, why risk messing up your expensive fridge - just get one of the 3 VDC block fans that runs on 2 "D" cell batteries. That's what I do, the D cells last 1-2 months before needing to be replaced. I put it in the front of the bottom shelf to encourage the circulation where you leave a 1" or so space down the back of the fridge so the cold air can "fall" down from the fins to the bottom and the fan helps it rise back up the front of the fridge. You really don't need the fan at all if you don't over fill the fridge.

The inside fridge light is fed from the refrigerator control board which is a 12 volt only powered board. So, while checking the 120 volt AC outlet behind the lower outside vent is OK to do it has nothing to do with your issue.

On my 2015 Winnebago Vista there is a dedicated 5 amp fuse in the DC fuse block in the power box mounted in the foot of the bed. If you are lucky you just blew that fuse. Behind the lower outside vent is the Winnebago DC feed, Yellow (+) and White (-) wires that are fed by that fuse. You can use a DC volt meter to confirm you are getting DC power to the back of the fridge. If you are, then the problem is internal to the refrigerator. Worst case you damaged the refrigerator control board and may have to replace it.

Good luck.

[Morich]

While looking things over, some more info on which frig may help. Do you have the two door or four door Norcold and with or without icemaker?
If you run into the label with model number that could also lead more directly to better info on what your frig needs for power.
With the longer, bigger RV, there are lots of options that are not found on smaller, so sometimes it gets down to sorting out what you do and don't have before looking for the problem.

Part of the problem with just looking for info on drawings is that the frig may have been changed out in the last twenty years!

[be happy]

First off you have two really great folks helping. I may add however two items you may need to check out.

You stated there is no room for you to get to the back of the frig. You will need to be able to do that. There is a black plastic connection box maybe 3 inch square that housed connections and fuses. Another thought although I doubt it how about checking the 120v power. Maybe the gfi outlet tied to the frig outlet has triped.

Good Luck

[spotpatch]

the fridge is a norcold 1210 4 door w/icemaker. can't get to the rear control box due to it being mounted high up on rear behind some of the tubing.

[spotpatch]

i also have 2 50amp service.

[spotpatch]

where would i check to see if there is a wire that arced in the shedder? where is that panel at?

[Morich]

That's where I have to say, I'm not much help as none of my Rv have ever had a load shedder or as the info seems to call it, an "energy management system".
And the info for your year is not as good as post 2010 for finding the locations. It gives a list of details down to the buttons on the dash but NOT where they put them at times.
This is the parts drawings for your RV and page 108 lists the EMS but I'm not finding location.

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...GO/3wfg38g.pdf

Any of you folks who have this size/age RV have some pointers on finding the load shedder/ EMS? Even an idea of how big ,etc. to look for when hunting it?

With the frig model, I found this manual online:
https://norcold.com/wp-content/uploa...-manual-ge.pdf

Any guess as to whether the frig is OEM or possibly changed out at some point as this seems to be dated 2014???
Do some checking to see if it actually matches for your frig before trusting too far but IF you get into needing to pull the frig,there are two fuses shown, one DC, one AC, and that would also seem pretty likely to need checking.

Not worth anything right now but I found a note that lots of folks are likely to have missed when having an icemaker!

[doorguy]

Spotpatch: I have an 04 Journey with the Norcold 1201LRIM. If you haven't already solved the issue, there is a condition known as a "hard lockout" in which the circuit board locks up. There is a simple procedure to "unlock" it but you need access to the circuit board in the rear. If you think this will help you, PM me and I will dig out the page that describes how to do it.

The only thing original about our refer is the box itself. I have replaced the cooling unit with the JC Refrigeration unit, the circuit board and optical display(must be replaced together) and the thermistor. The ice maker hose sprung a leak in the rear and watered down my circuit board and locked it up; that's how I found out about the "reset", info provided by the nice folks at JC Refrigeration.

[NormD]

Spotpatch, you have the correct idea of connecting the fan to the Norcold light. One end of the light socket is always at 12 volts. The light only turns on when the other end of the socket is grounded through a timed switch when the door is opened. I believe most of the Norcolds are built this way. I added a single small fan and a simple circuit to turn the fan off when the light came on/door open. It keeps the frost off the fins nicely. If you are grounding your fan with a clip on the cooling fins you will need to remove the clip to shut the fan off when the refrigerator is not in use.

If you made electrical contact between the charged side of the light socket and a ground, such as the fins, you now have an open 12 volt fuse. I do not have a circuit diagram for your Norcold 12 volt system. Mine shows two or three fuses, depending on the model, but not their location. Some of these may be on the front control panel board, which may be easier to access than the controller board behind the fridge. I hope you find the dead one on the first try.

[Kvw613]

The light supplies unswitched 12vdc. The door switch just completes the ground for the light circuit. The hot side of the light on the Norcold is used to power an auxiliary fan.

[Cal-L]

I scanned the replies but did not anyone mention the box that Norcold added to prevent fires. The little black box shouts down the refrigerator if it senses high heat. Unfortunately, many of these boxes were defective, and shut ours down when we flipped the coach batteries off once, and again when water was sprayed up into the back area of the refer. If you have one, an LED on the box will be lit if it’s popped. We replaced our Norcold with a residential refrigerator. Never happier.

[spotpatch]

I want to thank everyone for their input. I was finally able to get the control board cover off in the rear. Looking at it ,I found that the 5 amp fuse was blown. Replaced it and everything is working fine now. I hooked up the fan on the fins and put it on a separate circuit with its own switch. All is ok now. Once again, thank everyone for your help. This is without a doubt a terriffic site for Winnie owners!

[tmelsonjr]

Originally Posted by Kvw613

The light supplies unswitched 12vdc. The door switch just completes the ground for the light circuit. The hot side of the light on the Norcold is used to power an auxiliary fan.

agree that's how i did mine