Is my Norcold field fix correct?

JamesK

The Norcold (N180.3) in my 2018 Tab-S typically works great on propane. Often if I forget to turn it down at night I risk freezing the food in my freezer.  When running, the counter gets warm but never has been an issue.

I'm on a trip and it is now slowly losing the battle to keep my items below 40 degrees and is rising toward the 50's.  This with Tab level and highs in the 80's and lows in the 50's. So I investigated and pulled the top outside cover off.  I found an insulation sheet looked like it had come loose and was partially blocking the vent.



I've read about insulation for the counter top and there doesn't appear to be any.  But what confused me about this piece is that it is two connected pieces that form a 90 degree corner.  On one of those pieces a rough area has been cut out.  I've rotated the piece to show that cutout here:




Because the total shape forms a 90 degree corner and it has this cutout area I *think* that the cutout must be for this "stovepipe" like pipe:



So I rotated the piece so the cutout fits the "stovepipe" and came up with this position:



This results with one side of the 90 degree insulation against the outside wall and the other side sliding under the fins and around the "stovepipe."  As a puzzle it seems right but I can't understand what the value of this would be.  It insulates the outside wall (which doesn't seem to add value), insulates the fins from below (which perhaps serves a purpose I'm not seeing), and seems like it would inhibit air flow from the outside lower vent up around the Norcold and back out the top vent.

I've played around with a number of positions of this insulation and the Norcold still fails to cool so it is probably unrelated but would ideally like to have it in its proper place.

Thoughts?

Grumpy_G

I'd say no this is wrong. On the 2018 you have two vents on the side, correct ? You need to get air circulation going for the fridge to work effectively. My guess would be the insulation has fallen down from under the counter top. The hole is the result of the hot air rising from the burner pipe. 

Freespirit

@JamesK, I agree with @Grumpy_G. I would say what you are calling a cut out is actually where the burner pipe  burned a hole in the insulation. Below are two pictures of how our insulation is installed. Hope they help. If not let me know and I will try to get better pictures for you. 

MuttonChops

I agree with @Grumpy_G and @Freespirit that @JamesK field fix is not correct.
Foam from above the heat exchanger dropped down and was melted by the 'Tube Exhaust Extension'.

The picture below is from a different thread discussing how the 'Tube Exhaust Extension' can move during travel causing it to add exhaust heat to the cooling fins.
Of note is the clear air flow from the Fridge top to bottom looking down the 'Tube Exhaust Extension'. . . . no foam to block air flow. (in fact many of us add fans to draw more air volume to the heat exchanger)

JamesK

@Grumpy_G, @Freespirit, and @MuttonChops, thank you so much for the insight, info, and pictures!  Apologies for not responding earlier as I've been boondocking for the last 6 weeks or so with no coverage.  Yes, that makes much more sense and when I changed its position I could see tears in the tape from the sides and this insulation piece that fell off.

I've moved the piece to match the pictures @Freespirit provided and I also rotated out the stovepipe as per the pictures and diagram from @MuttonChops.