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Help No Longer needed with Norcold 3 Way: Another superstition?

MadCityJackMadCityJack Member Posts: 106
edited June 2022 in Air Conditioning & Refrigeration

Help needed with Norcold 3 Way:

So when home prepping for our camping trip, the Norcold cooled perfectly in our 2017 320 U.  However, once at our “dry” campsite, despite a clicking igniter, I am unable to start on propane.   The stove works fine on propane and I followed my usual fridge start protocol: slowly open propane valve on tank, run stove for 40-60 sec., turn off stove, set fridge to propane and hold igniter—sometimes up to a minute.   I heard one brief poof but otherwise nothing.   I even tried a 5 minute run on battery power first to help with ignition.   I have tried dozens of times to start it.  Fortunately, critical items to be kept cold are in our ICECO.   I don’t use my local NuCamp dealer (Madison, WI), so if nothing works I will likely search for a Norcold service center?   

UPDATE:  With the cool, wet weather I retreated to the TAB and warmed up some coffee on the inside stove and closed the camper door that otherwise covers the fan vents of the fridge when fully open.   Out of habit, I again pressed the red propane button and “poof”  the propane ignited and the green notification light went on!  Just like it used to.   I couldn’t keep it on until I held the red button for over a minute allowing the thermocouple (?) time to heat it, but now all appears to be working.   As others here have pointed out here, it is easy to get superstitious about what is necessary to get the Norcold 3-way to start.   I’m glad I wasn’t whistling when it went on, but I will likely be warming up coffee in preparation for starting the fridge.

2017 T@B 320 Q Max 
2018 Toyota Highlander, XLE  
Wisconsin
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    Grumpy_GGrumpy_G Member Posts: 454
    What temperature is the fridge set at ?  The manual says to set it to "Hi" for starting. The knob directly adjusts a gas valve so having it turned down can cause problems getting it started. 
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    Denny16Denny16 Member Posts: 5,431
    And your door whilst open all the way, was blocking the air vents, which may have caused the difficulty getting it to start.
     Cheers 
    2018 TaB400 Custom Boondock,  Jeep Gladiator truck, Northern California Coast.
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    tombeauxtombeaux Member Posts: 60
    I recall one of the bloggers (I think it was Jenn Grover) saying she had better luck holding the control valve between medium and high while pressing and holding. Her theory was that on high, she was blowing out the flame. It has worked fine starting on high for us, but plenty of folks have had a challenge with this unit on propane. Otherwise, keep incorporating coffee-making with your start procedure:) 
    2018 T@B 320S. 2017 Toyota Highlander AWD
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    HomebodyatheartHomebodyatheart Member Posts: 2,497
    As a 2017 320S owner I can confirm that setting the temp to medium, not high, guarantees success 99% of the time. Glad you got it working! I don’t run on propane often, but when I need to, it’s nice to have! Good luck and enjoy your journey! 
    2017 T@B 320 Max S silver and cherry red, L@dybug ("Bug" aka my esc@pe pod), TV 2015 Toyota Highlander aka Big Red
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    MonicaNOCOMonicaNOCO Member Posts: 27
    My superstition is I just don't try to start the fridge until it's been parked at least an hour.  Not an issue as it takes me 30 minutes usually to level, stabilize, and set up the patio gates for the dogs.  Do a few more things - then deal with the fridge by starting the burners first, as you already know.  That typically does it for me.    As if.... something in the system needs to settle?
    2014 T@B 320-S
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    Tab400bdockTab400bdock Member Posts: 1
    I had the same issue on our brand new Tab400. The Norcold N4000 3-way refrigerator worked on shore power but not propane. The igniter would spark but it seemed there was no gas. Long story short, I found success by tapping the solenoid valve (blue block on brass valve) with the handle of a screw driver while the igniter was clicking and it freed it up and flowed gas into the firebox as it was supposed to do. All seems fine now 
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    pthomas745pthomas745 Moderator Posts: 3,678
    @Tab400bdock This came up on the FB page the other day, so I'm glad you mentioned it.  For those of you looking for the solenoid, here is a picture.  I know this has been presented somewhere in the Forums, I'm still looking for the link.


    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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