Norcold 4 Door Fridge Not cold enough

[mamamoose]

Originally Posted by TLightning

I'm amazed that Keystone continues to give the refer contract to Norcold.

just one more sloppy thing keystone does for their customers!

[jeff_banning]

Originally Posted by fre1fred2

I just got by 3950BR (Norcold) fridge and just plugged in two days ago to check for first time. Got home yesterday evening and fridge was 95 degrees!...Freezer Ice cold. Checked all things mentioned in the forums that I've read, could not find anything. What I did find was the center flange on the left door was not coming back fully when the left door shut. What this was doing was not letting the right door fully seal. No matter how hard I shut left door the flange would not come back fully flush. So I pulled flange to me manually and shut fridge up last night. I was skeptical this was the issue, but I got up this morning and fridge temp is 31! So now just have to figure out why that center piece isn't working correctly.

So how about your A/C??? Is it keeping up? Ours is 30 days in and still in shop.

[kozzy]

ended up being my thermistor, replaced that and haven't had an issue
found it online 15 bucks, all has been fine since I replaced it

[Lenny K]

Originally Posted by kozzy

ok, I lied, I didn't figure it out, Thought I had it. Talked to an RV tech close to my house that deals with Norcold, seems to him like the cooling unit needed to be replaced. wonderful .
Apparently its a common issue with Norcold, he was telling me he had 5 units, the 1200, fail in the last 2 weeks. the 2118 uses the same cooling unit I believe. Anyway, I'm taking it to him next Thursday when I return home from my current trip. ill keep you guys posted., Norcold had a recall on the 1200 cooling units a few years back, maybe they have more issues again .

Did you take your rig to him or did you discover the thermistor on your own?

[kozzy]

no, he gave me some tips and things to try over the phone. I did the testes and called him with the results, he said it was probably the thermistor, so I replaced it. issue solved

[jeff_banning]

For $15, I won't even test I will just order one. Do you have a link to the one you successfully purchased/used/fixed issue?

[bethandkevin]

Kozzy, I hope this solves your fridge issues. For us, we were told at least twice that the thermistor was the problem. Once due to connection issues and then the part itself. It has acted up twice since. It seems that ours works after shutting it down and restarting it. Which is what leads me to believe I have the scale in the cooling tubes.

[kozzy]

mine seemed to work after I shut it down and restarted as well.
The test is easy, unplug the thermistor, place a cup of water on the top shelf, near the cooling fins, leave in for 24 hours. Check the temperature, if it is below 40 degrees, then the cooling unit is working properly, and is not the issue. I did the test and I was at 36 degrees. When u take the thermistor out if the equation, the fridge just constantly cools, nothing to tell it to kick on and off so to speak. If this test fails, and the liquid is about 40, then the cooling unit is bad. This is what the RV tech told me, he was very knowledgeable. He is a Norcold tech. If the test is good, 90% of the time it is the thermistor. I got it on Amazon, here is the link..
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[kozzy]

Here is more info, right from Norcold support....


HiEd,

The freezer should be 21degrees or below, if you don't have an ice maker, or at 14 degrees or below, ifyou have an ice maker. The fresh food compartment should be below 40degrees. These are the ranges that we say are normal.


Laurie
Consumer Service
Thetford Corp/Norcold Inc.
800-543-1219 Opt. 1



The key in taking temps is always use a cup of water, leave that in the unit, and tske the temp of the liquid. I was told that is the correct way, since the temp will vary in each compartment depending on where you take the reading...


Good luck, let me know if I can help any more. for 15 bucks, good idea to keep a spare thermistor.

[FloridaFlockers]

Understand this thread is a few years old but wanted to provide my recent experience. Same problem described throughout this thread with our Norcold. Freezer good to go but the Frig was cool but not cold, mid to upper 40 degrees. See posts 4, 24, 38 & 38 where the center flap/overlap piece attached to the left door is mentioned. That's exactly what we found sometimes, not every time, our flap does not snap all the way forward. You can see it, or you can slip a piece of paper between the doors to verify the seal. If the paper slips through, so does the cold air. I have said it before, say it again, this forum is outstanding with a boat load of been there done that info. Joe

[Eagleback]

Originally Posted by FloridaFlockers

Understand this thread is a few years old but wanted to provide my recent experience. Same problem described throughout this thread with our Norcold. Freezer good to go but the Frig was cool but not cold, mid to upper 40 degrees. See posts 4, 24, 38 & 38 where the center flap/overlap piece attached to the left door is mentioned. That's exactly what we found sometimes, not every time, our flap does not snap all the way forward. You can see it, or you can slip a piece of paper between the doors to verify the seal. If the paper slips through, so does the cold air. I have said it before, say it again, this forum is outstanding with a boat load of been there done that info. Joe

I will agree that one problem is the flap along with a host of others. but here in Naples Florida and right now its 94° and were glad we no longer have that POS norcold as my DW is a person that like to bake and cook so the fridge is opened and closed all day because we are full timers. These fridges do not work well in the hot temps and i will tell you we have done alot including a new cooling unit and all the above mentioned to the tune of hundreds and hundreds of dollars in lost food and try this and try that. Seeing that this is an ongoing issue with many Rv owners not only here on this site but on others as well it tells you that there is a problem with these fridges. I am not saying that if you like your Norcold you made a bad choice but the OP was looking into which fridge works better and i am giving him our experience here with these conditions and the resedentual is the way to go.