2017 Norcold 3-way N180.3 Refrigerator Cooling Issues When Ambient Temperature is above 90 degrees

dsatwork

I have been dealing with issues on our 2017 Norcold 3-way N180.3 Refrigerator. The cooling issues are when ambient  temperature rises above 90 degrees. We have had a couple of other issues with our fridge too. The first issue was the flame meter went out on our Yellowstone trip and that is how you know the pilot light is on and your fridge is working with propane. The other issue came up on that same trip, the AC indicator that shows when the fridge is working on shore power went out as well. I worked with Nucamp and Norcold to have those repairs covered under warranty. Recently, I had them replaced at a local authorized services center for Norcold.

While I had it in the shop, I talked to the service rep about the cooling issues we were having when the ambient temperature rises above 90 degrees. He quoted me a price of $120 for one our of labor to install the Valterra A10-2618VP FridgeCool 12 volt exhaust fan, which he believed would help with that issue. The Norcold N180.3 doesn't have any fan at all, so this was a good first step in troubleshooting the problem. I figured that was cheap, when I took into consideration how much work I put into doing the mods on my Tab. So, I agreed to pay for the installation and had them do the work. After talking to Nucamp and explaining the cooling issues I was having they agreed to reimburse me for the cost of the fan and parts, but not the labor. They felt that since they did the installation according the Norcold's instructions, it was on Norcold to pay the labor. I contacted my Norcold warranty rep and he agreed to pay the entire bill and he said that if that doesn't take care of the problem then I should take it back to my authorized dealer and they would troubles shoot the problem with the service center. 

The auxiliary fan does help and brought the temps down, I'm sorry to say that it hasn't given it the boost it needs after testing it for two days. I'm working on adding another computer fan that pushes air out the upper vent, but I need to do some more testing on that until I know how it's working.

The Valterra fan is mounted in the bottom of the cabinet and shoots straight up the stack. 

This is the switch they installed

Verna

Thank you, @dsatwork for this information. We owners need to continue to work together if there is a common issue and you have shown how we should do it. 

drpprmt

I checked our frig last week when temps were consistently above 90.  I put 3 water bottles in the frig at ballast and turned the frig on highest setting.  It was running on 110 in our garage.  After one day the temp in the refrig was 27.  I did have the fan running the entire time and the counter did get warm.  After I turned the frig down to a respectable level the counter cooled appreciably.  Did not think to try on propane.

dsatwork

Verna said:

Thank you, @dsatwork for this information. We owners need to continue to work together if there is a common issue and you have shown how we should do it. 

Thank you 

Silver320

Thanks leading the way in troubleshooting the refrig.  It is disappointing to hear that the fan did not help much.   Please, keep updating the progress as our frig needs help too and so we will be quick followers of your solution.      

dsatwork

Spoiler alert: Today’s temp was 93 and I was able to keep the fridge at 42 degrees ON 12 VOLT, which is very acceptable. We’ll see how high it goes when the temps hit 105 later this week. I have written up my information on this Norcold N 180 document and please let me know if there is anything that needs clarification or I just flat out missed.

RollingBnB

Where did they pick up the 12v for the Valterra? I have some small fans I could wire in but there doesn't appear to be any 12v points inside the frig.

dsatwork

RollingBnB said:

Where did they pick up the 12v for the Valterra? I have some small fans I could wire in but there doesn't appear to be any 12v points inside the frig.

On page 13 of the manual is the wiring diagram that shows the power block terminals #3 ground and #4 positive. They tied in there with a piggy back connectors. Dorman Conduct-Tite Interior Disconnect Piggybacks, Double Male w/ .25" Tabs. 

RollingBnB

dsatwork said:

RollingBnB said:

Where did they pick up the 12v for the Valterra? I have some small fans I could wire in but there doesn't appear to be any 12v points inside the frig.

On page 13 of the manual is the wiring diagram that shows the power block terminals #3 ground and #4 positive. They tied in there with a piggy back connectors. Dorman Conduct-Tite Interior Disconnect Piggybacks, Double Male w/ .25" Tabs. 

Thanks, time to pull the stove. Might replace the dim 110v light at the same time

dsatwork

My latest test today.... left it on propane on low overnight and with overnight lows of 67 the fridge was at 50 degrees at 7AM. However, one of my upper fans had stalled. I restarted the fan and turned the propane setting to high. This cooled the fridge temps down to 30 degrees with an outside temp of 87 degrees at 10AM. Then we switched it to 12v and 2 hours later with the outside Temps up to 95 it's only climbed 6 degrees. The Tab has been closed up as well, so the temp inside the cabin is like 110. Needless to say that air movement improves the cooling significantly. I believe changing out the power leads to the fridge to 10 gauge wire and running them direct has been a big benefit to the performance on 12v. I'm concerned about the upper fans stalling out because of how they are mounted and if I get back draft while driving. So I sourced another fan from a company called ARP https://www.arprv.com/products.php#5-blower-fan. Might be a little noisier but I need a system that works.

dmerzbac

Thanks for all of your hard work, Dave. I'm making a trip to nuCamp in the near future and I would like to have them address this same issue with my 320. I'll be referring them to this post, although I'm sure they've already read it.:) Will be doing some additional temp tests this week on my own refrigerator.

dmerzbac

@dsatwork Are you also having all of the excess condensation also? I have to soak up the water every hour or so when the temps are warm.

Verna

@dmerzbac, take a dish drying mat (one of those microfiber ones with the padding in the middle), cut it to fit the bottom of the fridge and it will soak up more than it's weight in condensation. Be sure to wring it out and let it dry between trips. 

Or, check out @Dalehelman and his recent post on what he uses under the fins to catch the condensation off of the fins. 

dsatwork

dmerzbac said:

@dsatwork Are you also having all of the excess condensation also? I have to soak up the water every hour or so when the temps are warm.

Yes, we get condensation and I don't think there is anything you can do to stop it. We use a refrigerator bin to catch the water. We found one that is the same width and length of the fins and fits perfectly underneath. We freeze our meat and store it in ziplock bags in that bin and just dump it out a couple of times per day.

dmerzbac

Thank you, @Verna! Great idea and I also checked out @Dalehelman 's idea with using the tray.

dsatwork

Who says the 3-way fridge won't hold temp on 12 volt power. 102 degrees outside temp 115 inside the trailer and 30.4 inside the Fridge will probably freeze your vegetables. Now you have a new problem.

dsatwork

 Temp lost a little ground as the day wore on, but perfectly acceptable for 12 volt power. 104 degrees outside high temp and 115  high inside the trailer and at 4:30 PM a refrigerator temp of 39.4 degrees. Has anyone been able to match this with the older model on 12v, when the ambient temperatures hit triple digits?