Bad news. Norcold 4cf, turned it on today and started loading it. Compressor seems kind of loud, not that it normally isn't but it's a little louder and sounds rough. The inside temp won't get below about 50º. I recently pulled it and tightened the counter above and around, haven't used it since then. Could it possibly be something simple that won't ruin our trip tomorrow?

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Freezer is cool not cold, verified temp with second thermometer. Cooled off outside and went from 51º to 49º. Checking temp in freezer. Nothing obvious wrong inside.

Moving control knob down shuts off (between 1 and 2) and back on, which would seem like the thermostat being set below 50º as is correct. Setting at 3.5 or up to 5 have no seeming effect on temp.

Turned on the invertor to put it on 110v to see if that changes anything.

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Jage,
Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) for a small frig like this is probably 3 to 8 years. Big home refers run maybe 12 to 20 years. First thing to go is usually a thermostat, but the next one is the compressor (motor or pump or seals?). I not a refer expert - just have a little experience and a relative who runs a repair business. The relative says when it starts getting hot, everybodies refers croak.
Suggest putting a tupperware container with ice and lid on it into the bottom of hour refer for the week end trip. At least you can use it like an ice box that way.
Have fun no matter what! Think of it as an adventure. And let us know how old the refer is and what you do to work it out.

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2010 Ford E250 5.4L V8 Gas 2WD
SMB Mod RB36 w/PH Prop Stove & Furn Frig 10G Wtr Elect
Silver Bullet

2005, came with the van. My house fridge gave up the ghost last week and we only got the replacement today. Groan. Any other ideas? Block of ice in the freezer is my worst case, plus add a cooler.

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See if you can find some dry-ice. It will keep the box colder and longer. Some supermarkets carry it.

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... Charlie
EV-2 build is now complete, (yeah right).
KZ6T

I've had mine refuse to cool below 50 when it was hot out. Then, once I put colder stuff in it and got the temp down it works fine.

It doesn't quite have the cooling capacity needed to cool it down (even empty), but enough cooling to maintain once it is cold.

Mike

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Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper

There was a time when my Norcold would run and not cool. That's when I was actively looking for an Isotherm to replace it.

As a last ditch effort, I pulled out the Norcold and re-did all the electrical connections. My Norcold has worked fine ever since. The fridge seems like it was getting enough electricity to "run" the compressor (I could hear it turn on), but there was an issue where the fridge wasn't getting enough juice, or enough clean juice, to run the controller.

At least one of my electrical blade terminations was a little loose.


Herb

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SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.

That's what I was thinking (not in so many words) on switching to 110v, although it could be after that in the system.

So- I did the "turn off, wait 24 hours, turn on" with 12 instead of 24 and it's cooling. The morning is cool (55-60º) so that may be a factor as Mike said. I usually load it top down starting with already frozen items and always load it with all cold items- this time I did not load it. Is it possible that 4 hours later it still only went down a degree or two when the outside dropped 20º?

Charlie, that's a great idea... as backup we also installed our best ice cooler in place of the Aluminess tray. The fact that CO2 sublimates is a bonus too. If it dies that will definitely be the route.

One last note, in some of the research I read "burping" the fridge was mentioned. The "wait 24" theory is that air or flotsam has lodged in the line and the pressure is keeping it in place. If waiting, and everything else don't work (no obvious ammonia smell or stain) pull the fridge and turn it upside down for an hour. This is called burping, and is only a last resort.

So- don't know why, but I'm glad it's working, and the backup plans are in place. Thanks everybody!

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Burping the fridge is for normal RV fridges that use a burner to build pressure in the system. The norcold is a compressor fridge and does not use ammonia for it's refridgerant as far as I know.
Hopefully cleaning and tightening your electrical connections will solve your problem.Also can you feel if the little cooling fan is working? If that is not pulling the hot air out from behind the fridge that could cause it not to cool down.
Good luck,Wildhare

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2007 Ford E350 V10 4x4 Sportsmobile Clone

I have the little 2.7 cu ft Norcold DC-0051 (3E) 12v that came with my van and was curious what compressor might be in it - never could find out from researching the Norcold site - is it a Danfoss?

When or if it ever gives up the ghost I will think seriously about swapping in a Isotherm Cruise 85 with ASU (3 cu ft) , though with my build (RB50) I would loose my utensil drawer which sits just above my Norcold, but all would not be lost, as I would gain about 10% more room in the frig.

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2007 SMB White 4x4 RB50 6.0l Diesel PH, Toyo 295/70/17 M/T E
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