Help! Warm fridge.

[Ted]

Happy Monday All,

Just back from a weekend run to the coast. We have a four year old Hawk with the Norcold three-way refrigerator. Had some problems with it and am hoping somewone may have suggestions.

As usual, ran an extension cord to the truck Thursday night before and cooled the refrigerator down on the AC setting. Friday morning the fridge temp read 40. Switched to gas and hit the road (I usually use gas on the road-has only blown out once). I didn't check the temp Friday night but noticed it was up to 50 Saturday morning. By that afternoon it was up to 55. Moved most of the goods to the ice chest.

I could see the flame was burning well and the heater and stove worked fine, so no gas problems. The switch was set correctly on the gas setting. Vehicle was level in camp. It cooled off on AC, so that works. Switched to DC for the drive home to experiment and it cooled back down to 45.

So it works on AC and DC, but can't hold temp on gas. Is there any regular maintenance that should be done to these? Maybe something I should clean? Has anyone ran into similar problems and found a solution? Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

Ted

 

[benburnett]

refer

Sounds like your refer is working fine actually. The refer works relevant to the ambient temperature outside. As you stated in your post, it was at around 50 in the morning and then went to 55 that afternoon. I am sure the temperature outside rose also this in turn your refer is going to warm up also.

One thing to always take into consideration when camping with a refer is where you are parked. Always try to park so that the refer is shaded or out of direct sunlight as much as possible. You will find that it works much better that way.

You should call Norcold and ask them about the exact difference that the refer will normally show compared to the ambient temperature outside. There is a set range that the refer should operate in and I don't remember what that is right now.

 

[Ted]

ambient temp

Thanks for replying Ben. I understand the temps will vary, but have never had it get this warm. We have used it about two or three dozen times and, even in the summer, the fridge maintains about 40 degrees during the day and freezes at night. 55 degrees in winter when it is 60 outside still doesn't seem right to me. Besides, the temp dropped again when I switched to DC for the drive home.

I will check with Norcold, though, thanks for that idea.

 

[benburnett]

warm fridge

Your right, at 60 outside your refer should be colder than 55. Sounds like the propane side wasn't lit to be honest. I am not that knowledgeable on a norcold. I know on the dometic there is a round pipe that warms up when the refer is running on propane. The flame is so hard to see on the Dometic that after I light one, I will wait a few minutes and check the pipe to see if it has warmed up. If not then I relight the refer again.

If you can see the flame and you know it was on, then I would have to say that there is a problem with the propane side of the cooling system. This could be a number of things and Norcold would be the best source of information on that for you.

Hope something in all this helps. Would also be interested in hearing what Norcold tells you when you talk to them.

 

[benburnett]

refer

Ted,

A customer just sent this to me. He tried to post but was unable to. Told him I would post it for him. Hope it helps.

Ben I registered on the wander the west forum and tried to post this message to the guy with the warm refrigerator but it won't let me, I'm doing something wrong so while I'm sorting it all out if you want to post this I think it could help the guy out .....Thanks Phillip



A good place to start would be to take a small amount of air pressure and blow out the orifice and burner assembly and then vacuum out the entire area, small bugs love to climb into the orifice and set up house keeping. Observe the flame before you do your cleaning and see if it makes any difference in size and color of the flame. If that doesn't do it a good service technician will look cheap about the time the fire dept. arrives.

What Phillip mentions there I have seen happen a few times with a heater. We have cleaned out wasp nests from heaters before. I have been lucky on Refers I guess. Never had to rid it of varmits so far.

 

[chnlisle]

And then there's the KISS method. A good ice chest or two and block ice. Keep it from direct contact with the ground and throw a blanket over it when not in use. I know many on here have great luck with 2 and 3 ways but having had several I opt for the above.
Jay

 

[Ted]

Good call

Thank you Ben, and your customer, for leading me in the right direction. I removed the venturi and burner assembly. I will clean the venturi, but believe my problem is actually the burner. This is the steel tube you see the flame burning above. It appears the four slots the gas comes out of are mostly rusted over. This explains why the fridge worked on AC and DC, but was unable to maintain temp on gas. Will install a new burner this weekend and give a report.

Ted

 

[Ted]

Using an icebox instead.

Hi Chnlisle,

Actually I do use an ice box along with the fridge and can appreciate the KISS method. But I'm a thirsty guy and the icebox holds my drinks - waters, sodas, beer, wine, milk, OJ. It and the dog take up the extra cab of the truck. Food goes in the refrigerator. We spent many years in tents and using ice boxes. But we upgraded to a camper on purpose and are happily growing lazy in our comfy camper.

 

[benburnett]

warm fridge

Sounds like you may have found the problem. Let us know how the new one works out.

 

[Ted]

Problem solved

Installed the new burner assembly this weekend. Ran a test and was able to drop the fridge to 35 degrees in three hours. That was definitely the problem. All set for Death Valley this coming weekend.

Looks like you could maintain the burner by occasionally cleaning out the slots with a narrow file. By the way, the venturi is press fit into the burner, not screwed in. Don't try to separate them. Below is the new burner. What a difference.

Thanks again Ben, and your customer, for your assistance.