Norcold Fridge Not Working-Sort of?

[Fred Mc]

I have a 20 year old Norcold Fridge that feezes nicely in the freezer but won't cool off the fridge part. Its about 90 deg outside and about 50 deg in the fridge. I know in household fridges this is bad news but not sure how the absorption ones work.

Any suggestions. Other than getting a new fridge, of course.LOL

Fred Mc.

[belfert]

The thermistor might be bad.  Newer Norcold fridges have a backup mode where the temp setting will cool whatever percent the temp setting is at instead of going by temperature.

This happened to my Norcold in my 2002 travel trailer.

[Hartley]

If it is an absorbtion type unit that uses ammonia you could have a clogged
burner flue or one that needs to be cleaned. There should be a stir stick gadget hanging down into the flue ( stainless wire ) that you may be able to jiggle up and down and side to side to help clear the flue.

However, The other method would be to remove the fridge and turn it upside down for a day or so, then tap on the coils and flue (burner area) to break up the
crystalized particles that happen in these units. ( Tap gently with a rubber hammer )..

Clean the burner area with a wire bottle brush if you have one.

Turn the fridge right side up and let it sit for a while so the fluids all
settle back into their normal places. Hook it up and run it on gas for the next 24 hours and if all of that helped the cooling should be back to as near normal that an old unit will get.

Short of the cheap way would be to get a rebuilt ($400 to $700) cooling unit installed or just replace the old one with one of the newer units.

Maybe even an apartment size electric would fit in the space..(under $200) ( Haier ) ?

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Fred,

Your unit will most likely have a mechanical t-stat and if they go bad, the frig either will be too cold or not come on at all.

The first thing that comes to mind is Ice. Is there any ice on the evaporator fins in the refrig part?

If so, the ice will insulate/isolate the heat transfer. Melt it off.

Second, the amonia could have jelled up over the years and a blockage may have occured.

If so, turning the whole frig upside down for 24 hrs will usually cure this.

Third, you may have leaked some amonia out. Look closely for yellow residue around the condencer/rear of the unit.

If so, time for a new frig...

Good Luck
Nick-