Norcold Troubleshooting Help Needed

B

BornToBoat

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I have a Norcold DE-541 refrigerator that stopped cooling this weekend.

Steps I have already done:
1. verified that the wires from the thermostat unit into the power supply are all making connection, and are not shorted.
2. The variable knob on the thermostat unit does fluctuate the ohms when I turn it.
3. The green power light comes on.
4. AC power is going in to the unit.
5. DC power is going in to the unit.
6. The compressor is vibrating.
7. The coils on the back are cold (aren't they supposed to be hot?).
8. If I turn off both AC and DC power from the panel, and leave the switch on the refrigerator "ON", when I turn on the DC power, the amp meter on the panel spikes to about 8 amps, then drops back to where it was. When I turn on the AC power, it spikes to about 15 amps, then drops back to nothing.

I want to fix this unit, rather than replace with either a home style or better brand. I cannot afford a new unit, and I do not think I can fit this old one out the cabin door in my '97 330SD.

I would like to know how to individually test the components so I know what is bad, and will replace the bad component.
 
Capt Bill. Does that happen overnight? It worked great up until Monday afternoon.
 
You'd probably be best off contacting Norcold (Thetford) directly, or one of the online diagnostic sites, such as ask(dot)com
 
This may be a long shot but after lots of research it finalized the troubleshooting on my Norcold. I found that most compressor failures on Norcolds happen because the internal parts of the compressor fall out of place when the glue softens due to excessive heat. When the internal parts of the swing compressor ( i think that's what it is called) fall out of place the piston in the compressor can not move. You can fell the compressor humming but it's not actually moving the full stroke.

What I did was take the fridge out, after it had been running for a while, and turn it upside down for the night. My logic was that what ever parts fell out of place might fall back into place. The next morning I turned the fridge right side up and believe it or not it started cooling again.

In my case it cooled for about a month and failed again so I replaced the compressor. You might get better luck and have it fix your problem.
 
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