New to T@B - Question about Norcold 3-way

ColoradoJon

Hi everyone - My wife and I just took delivery of a 2017 T@B S Outback model.  Had a great experience with Sun City Trailers in Colorado Springs and their walk through was fantastic, although some of the info they provided as a bit off.  I can't blame them with all of the changes that are made to these trailers, though.

We got the Norcold 3-way refrigerator and the dealer said that any time the refrigerator is running that we need to run the secondary, manually activated fan.  We are 100% dispersed campers and will rely on propane and 12V power sources, so I'm concerned about having to run that fan all the time. Is it really necessary?  Or can we just use the thermal activated fan?

On another note - we brought our new trailer home yesterday and ran through all of the systems.  The Norcold was awesome, I cannot believe that it maintained a temp of 34 inside even when the exterior temp was 88 F.  We did run that manual fan the whole time, though.  Everything worked beautifully and Sun City did an awesome job prepping and testing the systems.  I couldn't be happier!

Verna

I ran my auxiliary fan all winter when camped and I camped most of the time without electric sites. The fan is a miser on battery usage. It is a small computer fan, and it does work well to exhaust the extra heat from the top of the fridge. 

ColoradoJon

I must say that it did work very well exhausting the heat and if it doesn't use that much power it can't hurt to run it.  Thank you for the feedback.  I'll probably turn the fridge and fan off at night to avoid the fan noises when sleeping.

I'll probably have more questions after we get back from camping this weekend.  Or not.  I've spent the last two months lurking on these forums and have learned a lot just by reviewing older posts.

Nomad

I'm an off gridder like Verna but don't leave the aux fan on all the time. In hotter temps (80-85+) I find the main fridge fan runs fairly often so I do turn the aux fan on and leave it on. In cooler temps (70s or below like today) the main fan rarely comes on and the countertop isn't overly warm so I leav it off.
But, as Verna states, it's a miserly electrical draw so batterywise it's not going to hurt ya. I just don't want the noise even though it's pretty quiet.

Tommy

OK I feel dumb asking but what aux fan are you guys talking about? Does your fridge have an aux fan button? I've examined every square inch of our fridge (Norcold 3-way, 2016 Outback) and there is no aux fan switch. There is however a 1" round hole cover on the control panel that looks like an extra switch could have been mounted there. I feel like I'm missing out on something because our fridge struggles to keep the temperature in the safe range - we had to throw out some food this last trip because the temp got too high inside.

Nomad

Tommy - There's a small aux fridge fan that was added in either late 2015 or 2016 models to help with airflow around the fridge. It also exhausts heat that builds up under the counter. If your T@B doesn't have one, you can get one free from the factory. I installed the fan while on the road, the only tool it took was a drill for the switch. Here's what my fan switch looks like mounted in the wood trim...



Yes, I need to dust ;-)

The kit includes a new external vent (the one outside front of the door) that has a small computer style fan mounted to it and the switch with wiring. Just need to take out the old vent, install the switch, tap into the fridge electrical wiring and slide the new vent into place.

ScottG

Argh! Another glowing LED! :-)

Didn't realize PV would provide these for free. Do they need any particular info when I call?

Tabaz

I replaced my stock Norcold and LG fans with very quiet computer fans (search Noisy Norcold).  All three fans are connected to the Norcold thermostat and run simultaneously.  I too boondock a lot and find the fans draw very little power on battery power.

Nomad

I haven't found the fan noise to be too bad and I installed while sitting in a little town park in NE - Frank's install is much more elaborate by tieing it into the thermo switch. If I was sitting with a shop/tools, I might have gone that way.

ScottG - Just call Elsie and ask for the aux fan kit for the fridge and she'll send one out to you free. According to a Verna post.

Tommy

Very cool (no pun intended). Thanks @PXLated. We do not have that installed so I will call them today and see if I can get it going.

Bjreimann

We have the aux fan built in with our 2017-s and it seemed to be a big draw on our battery. We thought it had to be turned on all the time and with very little (occasional water pump) using our battery, our battery drained in less than 2 days. After recharging the battery and turning off the refrigerator and fan, the battery held its charge without issues. I wonder if the kit they're sending uses less than the one pre-installed?  

ericnliz

Bjreimann, We have the pre-installed one on our 2016 S model and have not experienced the issues you are describing. Have you tried to just run it during the day, and turn if off at night when the additional cooling is not required? I have been using ours that way the last two trips, and it seems to drain less on the battery, and does not seem to heat up the counter-top,  but I also re-charge during the day with solar. Might give it a try without the auxiliary fan on at night and see if it helps.

Verna

Bjreimann said:

We have the aux fan built in with our 2017-s and it seemed to be a big draw on our battery. We thought it had to be turned on all the time and with very little (occasional water pump) using our battery, our battery drained in less than 2 days. After recharging the battery and turning off the refrigerator and fan, the battery held its charge without issues. I wonder if the kit they're sending uses less than the one pre-installed?  

The kits are identical to what is installed. Last year I watched some workers at Pleasant Valley making up the kits. They all go into the same "bin" and mail orders come from the same bin. 

Nomad

Unlike the water pump and ceiling fan, I don't find the aux fan to be a battery hog at all. On or off, I don't notice much difference.

keithp

I hooked up my aux fan with a separate thermostat so that it runs only when it's warm under the cabinet. It rarely comes on at night. Note that if the door is latched open, airflow from the vent is reduced. The fan runs a lot more when that happens...

Nomad

I think it was Frank - OutbackAZ - that wired his to the fridge thermostat so it comes on whenever the internal fan does.

Keltdubh

Bjreimann said:

We have the aux fan built in with our 2017-s and it seemed to be a big draw on our battery. We thought it had to be turned on all the time and with very little (occasional water pump) using our battery, our battery drained in less than 2 days. After recharging the battery and turning off the refrigerator and fan, the battery held its charge without issues. I wonder if the kit they're sending uses less than the one pre-installed?  

Are you running your refrigerator on battery or propane. The Norcold 3-way is a power hog when running on battery. Propane is much more efficient when boondocking. 

Ratkity

ScottG said:

Argh! Another glowing LED! :-)

Didn't realize PV would provide these for free. Do they need any particular info when I call?

Scott, Elsie just asked what model I had. She's a sweetheart. Yes, I put gorilla duct tape over the glowing LED. Drives me nuts! I have most of them taped over.

Verna

ScottG said:

Argh! Another glowing LED! :-)

Didn't realize PV would provide these for free. Do they need any particular info when I call?

@ScottG , just the year of your T@B.

DurangoTaB

We have a 2014 T@B with all the 2015 features...which doesn't include the aux fan.  The counter top doesn't seem to get that warm so we just put up with it.  I may get the kit just in case...

Nomad

Get the kit J.D. :-)

Tommy

keithp said:

I hooked up my aux fan with a separate thermostat so that it runs only when it's warm under the cabinet. It rarely comes on at night. Note that if the door is latched open, airflow from the vent is reduced. The fan runs a lot more when that happens...

Hi Keith, would you mind expanding on this - do you have a link to the thermostat you installed with it?

ColoradoJon

Just a follow up - we camped out near Wilkerson Pass last weekend and ran the fridge on propane without the auxiliary fan.  The thermal fan kicked on here and there and the countertop got slightly warm, but it seemed to work just fine on its own.

12V power is an issue and without solar/generator for recharging I think I will convert to a dual 6V system.