Norcold Question

Thank you for all of your help. 

We experienced an issue with the Norcold while we were out in Arizona back in March.   We were running on propane, it was unseasonably hot and we did have to toss some food because the unit seemed to be stuck in neutral if you will and thank God I had the ARB in the back of my pickup or things could have gotten worse.  I'm curious whether higher temps might have been the culprit here in diminishing the efficiency of the Norcold as temps were hovering at or above 94F?  

Also, upon further investigation we surmised that too much food/bottled water, etc. was stored in the unit and was probably in too close to the cooling fins of the unit, thus lowering the efficiency and output of the Norcold unit.  I discussed this earlier with other forum members and was told that the Norcold controls can become "confused" if you will.  I was told to take the temperature know, run it full up and down a few times and to see if this made a difference.  Unfortunately that didn't work and after losing more food we shut the unit down completely.  After a day or so we fired up the unit once again and it seemed to run better and the thermometer I stuck inside indicated that things were okay.  Has anyone else experienced this or similar outcomes?

I'm also curious as to the effects of cleaning the igniter or pilot light area.  Does this improve the overall cooling and efficiency of the unit?   As Chan noted above, I also tried running the propane while traveling from one campsite to another in an effort to keep things cool but the unit will not stay lit.  I discussed this with Martin Raber last week down at the factory and he noted (as many of us know) that the unit is designed to run best when the trailer is level and it WILL shut down if the Norcold is subject to un-level conditions, so that would explain the pilot going out and hearing the clicking sound when it is trying to relight itself.  That's why I am asking about cleaning/servicing the pilot light area because if it DOES make a difference, maybe the unit will cool and function more efficiently for me?  Is there a simple/recommended way to clean the device/pilot area???  

And regarding the carrying of frozen water jugs, etc.   I do see the value added but what do you folks do when the jugs un-thaw, you are traveling longer distances and camping for weeks on end?   What tips have you got for preserving food, using the Norcold while traveling across the country and for longer stints away from home and shore power?  

GrandmasKid said:

After driving about seven hours to home with the Norcold on battery my charge was down to 12.1 volts and 33% of capacity, so my TV was not charging my battery while driving.When we left our camping spot we had been on electric (shore power) so the battery was fully charged. The cutoff switch to the T@B was on. If I turn that switch to off the refrigerator will run off the TV, but will the car be able to charge the camper battery, or does the cutoff switch isolate the battery from the tow vehicle as well as the T@B?

Remember that your trailer lights need to be functional, so to answer your question, even with the cutoff switch turned to the off position the trailer will now be running off your vehicle as the harness is tied into the trailer wiring.  Yes, your trailer battery is isolated, but the Norcold will sap your tow vehicle battery if it is left in the 12 volt position and the battery switch is in the off position.  It is beneficial to always unhook the trailer harness from your tow vehicle too when camped as you could wake up to a dead battery in your vehicle via the above scenario.   Another thing to do would be to add a battery isolator switch to your vehicle and this will eliminate draining your vehicle battery via the trailer.  

Also, check your vehicle battery and see whether or not a dedicated charge line has been run back to the 7-pin female port at the rear of your vehicle.  If it is, your vehicle might be able to handle charging the unit and running the Norcold if your vehicle alternator is large enough.  Some people have noted this in earlier discussions.  You can also check the charge line question by plugging the trailer into your vehicle, checking the voltage in the trailer, unplugging from the tow vehicle and again checking the trailer voltage...  Obviously your voltage read should show a higher read if the vehicle charge line is charging from your vehicle than when it is unhooked.  

There is a power supply "charge line" running from my tow vehicle battery to my seven pin connector and the T@B battery cutoff switch is in the battery box. I'm running an experiment. I've proven to myself that the T@B battery box cutoff does indeed totally isolate the T@B battery, i.e. the T@B battery voltage did not change after running the TV with the Norcold on battery and the T@B battery switch in the cutoff position. I ran that for 30 minutes. Now I'm running the TV with the Norcold on battery and the T@B battery switch in the on connected position and I'll evaluate the T@B battery after 30 minutes of this. I notice that my harness connectors are too hot to hold for more than a couple of seconds. OK,  I let it run for 50 minutes and the T@B battery dropped just a little, from 12.7 to 12.5 volts. I'll have to start monitoring everything a lot more closely as I travel. 

ChanW said:

I just have to say, if your connectors are too hot to hold, there's something wrong! Probably your wire gauge is too small for the charge line. 

The smaller gauge wire would probably be fine for simply keeping your battery charged if you didn't use the 12V mode on the Norcold.

The Norcold has a high current draw in 12V mode, around 11A if I remember right, which really requires a large gauge wire on your charge line.

While keeping the T@B  battery connected and the TV running the Norcold runs without the connectors getting hot. If I want to use the refrigerator while traveling I guess I'll have to put up with slow drainage of my T@B battery, or try to run on propane (which seems dangerous). Maybe I'll have to give up on running the Norcold while traveling, but that's a shame.

Hmmm. Thanks folks, I feel like I have a better handle on the problem. I'd like to know how many amps are coming through my charge line. I don't own any testers and obviously don't know much about electrical systems. I wonder if a different, more powerful  alternator can be added to the car. That seems unlikely.  I am thinking I'll try just running on propane. If the propane flame blows out will the system shut itself off? I assume so, but you know the old joke about assume. I just double checked the charge line. It comes off the TV battery then through a relay, and then back to next to the four pin flat connector, then connects to a seven pin adapter. The charge line is pretty thick but there's no gauge shown on the insulation.  Hmmm.

We do tend to drive long distances between campsites, so I have an idea. If I start off with a cold packed refrigerator, and keep the frig off until the first gas refill the food should still be cold enough until the stop, then I'll turn the frig on battery which will slowly drain the T@B Battery. Then, at the next stop I'll turn the frig back off and let the TV recharge the T@B battery. I drive about 225 miles on a tank. If I keep alternating like that perhaps I can drive all day without ever running down the T@B battery too much. I think I read somewhere on this forum about a thermometer that would allow me to read the temp. inside the frig without opening the door. I'll have to look for that.

Since I made the mistake of running my battery almost flat a few times and I grew tired of worrying about it, I've replaced my group 24 with a group 27, 90 AH, AMG battery. The larger battery box fit fine in my Outback box and the work wasn't difficult. The higher capacity battery will take some of the worry out of our planned long trip back out west. I will monitor that baby closely and it should last a good long while.