Norcold 3163 - Voltage Measurement Question [SOLVED]

FuzzyYanni

Hi folks,

I've managed to troubleshoot the fridge fairly well to date, remove fridge and replace our orifice burner (and clean up the burner box), and a few years back I also replaced the spark igniter.  I'm now deep into fixing this:

 Prety hard to light, but when it does, the FLAME WON'T HOLD.

I have a specific voltage metering question for those that have delved this deep. According to the service manual:



and this is the proper way to measure the voltage:



My problem is if the fridge is in the off state (or the on propane mode) these readings are always 0.0volts
The thermo coupler will not produce any voltage unless it is heated - the user manual does not state that you must have a flame present to do the milli-volts measurement. 


I assume if I can get the flame started and keep the red button pressed down, I could conceivably also perform these measurements but why does the service manual not state this (If I am guessing correctly ?)

Has anyone here achieved proper milli-volt measurements? Any help would be appreciated

Thank you !

FuzzyYanni

The answe is YES !

It is quite obvious if you have stumbled upon the N300 service bulleting for LP after watching youtube videos for days and scratching your head. In retrospect this is a pretty obvious conclusion, albeit not for me. 

What's the ole saying? Dumb as a bag of hammers?

That.

Here is that enlightning N300 manual.

 

FuzzyYanni

Success! 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (5 days work)

New parts installed:

Relighter Board (connector for spark igniter separated from board 😭 due to insulated wire crimp too tight so when I pulled, the whole clip vame.oitnof the relighter circuit - I have since loosened all the wire crimps slightly for future repairs) board was working fine otherwise.
Spark igniter - (was fine but replaced since I had a new one on hand)
Interrupter - (was fine but replaced since I had a new one on hand)
Burner orifice -) was worn and needed at least a good cleaning, but replaced it anyway)
Thermocoupler - (was fine but replaced since I had a new one on hand)

I took apart most LP connection tubes around control board, igniter and leading to the burner box and blew out lines (low psi)

Blew out all metal heavy exhausts from burner box  to back exhaust of trailer (some soot came out) with air compressor at 80psi

Most of the parts that exist in the burner box are consumables and wear out over time so it's probably good to open this every couple years and clean it just like you would with your home furnace..