Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty
Norcold's are ammonia units aren't they? (like most other RV fridges) I don't think there is coolant in them, it's a chemistry project inside using lots of pipes, ammonia, etc. I could be totally wrong about this. If it was a conventional compressor type fridge so many people wouldn't have trouble with it.
|
Ammonia is the refrigerant (or coolant) in these refrigerators that work off a heat source. It’s called an “absorption cycle”. Freon systems use a completely different refrigeration cycle that works by compressing the refrigerant; hence why they have a compressor. Absorption cycles don’t compress the refrigerant.
A critical factor with most (if not all) ammonia/absorption RV refrigerators is that they must be kept level to operate properly. The one I had in my Class C years ago worked great when the RV was parked on level ground, but if tilted even slightly in my driveway it would stop working for the most part. These are designed very differently than compressor refrigerators and must be level for the refrigerant to drain properly.
Obviously there could be many causes as to why a fridge may not work properly, but in my opinion if an ammonia/absorption unit is not level there is little point in doing additional troubleshooting.