Norcold Fridge Temp regulation

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Hi All
Norcold 1210 12cu ft fridge
Recently spent a couple weeks camping with a fridge that does not stay a consistent temperature. It started with outside temps about 24*C and the fridge on 7 which resulted in an interior temp of 3*C. All good.
Then the outside temp went up to 28*-30* and the interior fridge temp went up to 8*c..Not good. Increased fridge setting to 9 and no change. Installed an extra vent fan in front of the cooling fins and it worked well...for a while...then temps went back up again. So I installed another. In front of the cooling fins exhausting out the upper vent cover. And it works ok but when the temps went up to 33*C..it got too warm inside again. Switched to propane and it is better. Then the outside temps dropped and the fridge got too cold.
To the best of my knowledge, with two fans on steady and two on a temp switch, it should never get too warm inside. I'm not super familiar with the absorption tech. Any hints as to what I need to do to make this fridge maintain a consistent temp?

Also, being a four door fridge I constantly checked the ' door flap' and it seemed to be doing it's job properly.

[MK397THR]

I would say you there is something wrong. I happened to have checked ours the other day. Outside temp was 89 deg humidity was 48%, fridge was around 33 deg on top shelf. Set on 4.
Forgot to add, we are full sun most of the day.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

@M&K337 Is your fridge 'as delivered' with no extra fans?

[Dennis66]

Im forever changing our temp up and down, I found when sun is beating down on the slide where fridge is I up the temp when sun moves to the other side I bump it down. I try to keep fridge under 40 deg and like you it gets to cold or warm. On a overcast day with temps in 80 mine runs great at around 5 on the setting

[howson]

Scott'n'Wendy

The Norcold you have will probably never perform as well as a compressor ("residential") model. The usual strategies to get the most from your refrigerator is to ensure it's not overpacked, install a small fan inside to move air around, and ensure the fans on the back of the unit are working correctly.

Even with all that you'll still be chasing the temperatures...and every time the door is opened it will take an hour or so to recover.

I am not fond of absorption refrigerators.

Howard

[MK397THR]

Scott'n'Wendy Yes our fridge is the way it came other than a new control board. The above is operating on shore power. It performed similar on gas. Took 2 weeks to get a new board.

[MK397THR]

I will agree with Howard, I don’t think the absorption fridge is as good as the residential.

[Petrovsky]

You surely have a problem. Not knowing where you place your items resulting in keeping the doors open too long....will certainly compound the problem.

The fridge will have a thermostat and go on and (thermostat could be faulty. My old 2007 Norcold 6 cu ft did this and I realized that it had a defrost cycle (who knew-I read the manual) after 72 hours I think it would do this.

On your cooling fins is a thermistor. Look a video below....I have adjusted mine but also make sure that nothing really blocks this area (food that is).

RV Refrigerator Temperature Adjustments - YouTube


If you looked at the video and it is your issue, I would think yours is too low on the fins.



Also, do a paper sheet and do a seal leak test around the perimeter of all your fridge seals. I have had to tighten up a door once as the whole side failed the test resulting in air exchange with the room.

I have an infrared temp gun. On my new TT I have noticed that the top right side of the inner fridge wall is too hot. It was missing insulation so I added some....all good now.

Also, and often a culprit.....the position of the thermistor on the cooling fins in the fridge. Make sure it it is well secured and not touching any food (its in the manual).

Another culprit is not allowing enough space between your food to allow proper cooling. Some people install a small fan to circulate the air evenly around the inside of the fridge on the other side of the thermistor but really best placed mid-fridge.

Good Luck

Pierre

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I will agree with Howard, I don’t think the absorption fridge is as good as the residential.

Definitely not, but with our camping style, we NEED a fridge that runs on 12vdc.

Thanks for the tips Pierre. My thermistor is about 3/4" down on the second fin from the right. I think I will check the seals with the suggested paper test next.

[howson]

Definitely not, but with our camping style, we NEED a fridge that runs on 12vdc.

Thanks for the tips Pierre. My thermistor is about 3/4" down on the second fin from the right. I think I will check the seals with the suggested paper test next.

For clarity, an absorption "RV" refrigerator uses 12vDC for the control panel, lights, and fans. For the actual absorption process it uses propane or 120vAC. It must have 12vDC to operate (turn on, etc) and either propane or 120vAC to cool.

A "residential" refrigerator uses 120vAC for all power requirements.

A compressor-based RV refrigerator typically uses 12vDC for all the power requirements.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Follow up....
As it turns out, the biggest reason for temp swings in our fridge was the campsite owners were having voltage regulation problems with their generator. The A/C voltage was swinging quite a bit. So the A/C function of the fridge (heater) was having varying effectiveness. Once I stayed on propane we were fine. I looked at the Norcold manual and it said the A/C function will struggle if the voltage gets below 108vac. A couple of the times I checked the voltage it was in the 105-107 range. Since we have been home with a steady 127vac, the fridge is on 4 and interior temp is 3*c. Outdoor temps is 32*c.
Just posting this up to show that just because your fridge isn't cold, it isn't necessarily a fridge fault.