Norcold 1200 series

[stearn]

We found that our refrigerator defrosts while on the highway. It works fine while parked.It leaks while driving. I took it to our local Winnebago dealership. The drivers side slide was hitting the cabinets, and a couple cracked tiles, and the refrig. No help from factory at all. I know that it's out of the warranty, and ok with the slide adjustment, and the floor tiles. I do think if the design needed a baffle, it should be there! I called Winnebago service, for a final effort. I am somewhat disappointed. We did just buy it, so we are the second owners. It only has 11k.
One would think that an item that was neglected on the build would be corrected. This repair isn't that big of a deal, what happened to customer pr??

[PeteB]

There should be a drain pan along the back wall of the fridge under the cooling fins. It's purpose is to catch the condensation as it drips off the fins. There is a drain hole in the bottom that feeds the water to the outside of the fridge to get rid of the water. Check to be sure that the drain hole is open as on my 1200 it was not. Once I opened the hole, everything worked proprely..
Pete

[John_Canfield]

I think Pete has your answer. If the lower catch tray inside the fridge is overflowing, the drain is plugged up.

Remove the lower fridge vent on the outside and look for a black, square tray on the lower right with a little tube going into the tray. Pull the cap off the end of the tube and clean out the little holes. (be ready for a flood once you pull the cap!)

Cleaning this drain should be a monthly routine as long as the fridge is in operation.

[fun time]

Here is another vote for Pete's advice and first hand observation. My neighbor last winter had the same frig. with exactly the same problem. I walked over, opened the exterior vent and just like Pete stated the drain hole was plugged up. Unplugged it and wow, tons of water came out and no more water on the inside.
She said afterwards the refrig. never worked so good.

[stearn]

I am still waiting for the baffle from Norcold! I will check the drain, but isn't the water coming because it's defrosting(There was ice on the coils)? Wouldn't that be a problem? I would think the temp should stay constant while the coach is sitting, or moving, or am I missing something? Only 44 days before we are on the road again!

[PeteB]

Defrosting is a normal process thus the need for a drain trough and tube. If the frost wasn't periodically removed, the fridge would gradually stop working.

Pete

[David K]

The defrost cycle happens on a regular basis. I just found out about it on our last trip to MB. Each afternoon after we had our evening meal, the frig would start to creep upwards in temp (I have a wireless temp sender in the freezer so I can monitor the temp). I was really beginning to get worried and started to read everything I could find on the frig. Found out that it will go through a defrost cycle about every 24 hours to get the frost off of the baffle inside of the refrigerator part of it. As everyone above has said, the runoff is collected in the tray below the baffle and goes outside through a tube. You do need to remove the frost from the freezer compartments from time to time as that does effect the temperature in the freezer part of the refrigerator.

[stearn]

Thanks for the explanation, I did not realize there was a "defrost cycle". Our other MH had a Dometic and we had to defrost manually when the fins had the ice build up.

[stearn]

Update, the Winnebago service installed a baffle in back of the frig. They had to pull it out in order to install it. The drain was plugged, but the service rep said it should not be getting warm enough to thaw while driving. He also said they have done this repair before. We will be heading south in 34 more days, so won't be long till I can see if that fixed it. The baffle was $21.00, plus $30.00 to install.

[rvGator]

Thanks for helping me to find the drain tube cap.

[MrTransistor]

Is John back?