300TQ Refrigerator Only Getting Cold on Propane

[spichura-300TQ]

Has anyone else run into this with the NorCold Refrigerator in a 300TQ? I turned in my fridge yesterday and found it warm today after running on electric. No errors were displayed with the LED.

[joebedford]

Tripped circuit breaker?

[spichura-300TQ]

No lights would come on. Apparently it’s not very tolerant to not being level and that’s what caused the problem. Finally got ahold of NorCold.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by spichura-300TQ

Has anyone else run into this with the NorCold Refrigerator in a 300TQ? I turned in my fridge yesterday and found it warm today after running on electric. No errors were displayed with the LED.

My first guess would be a loose connection, blow fuse or bad control board. What is the brand and model of fridge? Many of the manuals have a trouble shooting tree in them.

Aaron

[spichura-300TQ]

I check all that. It was confusing the hell out of me. Camping World couldn’t figure it out so she told me to call NorCold. Later when I got ahold of them they were able to tell me it needed to be within 3 degrees left and right and 6 degrees front and back. Leveling it solved the problem

[joebedford]

That's really interesting that the unit's levelling would affect electric operation but not propane. I always assumed propane would be more sensitive because: flame. I guess the circulation of coolant is the critical factor (but how does it know the difference between heat from electric vs. heat from flame?)

[franktafl]

I've heard that the fridge will completely stop working the RV is severely out of level. One of my friends had to replace their fridge because they ran it out of level (I think they diagnosed it incorrectly, in my humble opinion). I have also read (somewhere in this forum) that you can reset the electronics on the fridge if it quits working. I am also wondering what would happen if you left your fridge running while you were transporting the RV. Will going up and down hills and mountains affect the operation? there was a thread here that suggested some folks keep their fridges running while they are moving.

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by joebedford

That's really interesting that the unit's levelling would affect electric operation but not propane. I always assumed propane would be more sensitive because: flame. I guess the circulation of coolant is the critical factor (but how does it know the difference between heat from electric vs. heat from flame?)

The propane wouldn't be affected because it's under pressure. The water heater is horizontal and it works, same as the furnace.


The circulation suffers from this condition and will damage the unit itself.


I guess they have a 'tilt' switch on them now. I helped my gas refrigerator guy work on a few of these things and we would charge and cool them down with the unit leaning against the work bench.

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by franktafl

I've heard that the fridge will completely stop working the RV is severely out of level. One of my friends had to replace their fridge because they ran it out of level (I think they diagnosed it incorrectly, in my humble opinion). I have also read (somewhere in this forum) that you can reset the electronics on the fridge if it quits working. I am also wondering what would happen if you left your fridge running while you were transporting the RV. Will going up and down hills and mountains affect the operation? there was a thread here that suggested some folks keep their fridges running while they are moving.

Many owners travel with the refrigerator running on propane. They have to turn them off when approaching some tunnels though.
I lived full time in mine for some time and I always had it on while enroute to a different destination.

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by sundancer 87

The propane wouldn't be affected because it's under pressure. The water heater is horizontal and it works, same as the furnace.


The circulation suffers from this condition and will damage the unit itself.


I guess they have a 'tilt' switch on them now. I helped my gas refrigerator guy work on a few of these things and we would charge and cool them down with the unit leaning against the work bench.

How Level Is Level Enough For Your RV Refrigerator?

[fgargiulo@comcast.net]

Could be the service you are plugged into is either overloaded or you are running too many appliances like AC that draw lots of current. If there is a 50 amp service you should try that 1st. Or, turn everything off except the fridge and see if it switches to electric.

[wahoonc]

I find it interesting that the fridge would not work on electric but on LP when out of level. All the LP or electric do is provide a heat source for the absorption "boiler". To the best of my knowledge there is not a tilt mechanism installed in any OEM RV fridge. There is an aftermarket add on unit (and I have managed to misplace the link) that will measure the degrees out of level and monitor the boiler temps and shut things down to keep from damaging it.

As far as towing, from what I have read over the years, as well as in my experience, the basic consensus is that as long as your unit is nearly level while towing the occasional hills are not an issue, the vibration during the towing helps keep the chemicals from crystallizing, which is what leads to the system failure.

We have "burped" non working fridges and got them working again. You have to remove the fridge from the RV, then lay it on each side for a few hours/days, then when you get up right again, you hook it up and see if it will work. I would guess we have about a 70% success rate doing that. Doesn't hurt to try and might save you from having to purchase a new one or a new cooling unit.

Aaron

[wildwest450]

I always tow with my fridge on and it's never close to level on the roads around here, no problems.

[wahoonc]

Found the missing link (no NOT Darwin's)

It is called the Fridge Defender ARP.

Aaron

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

Found the missing link (no NOT Darwin's)

It is called the Fridge Defender ARP.

Aaron

That's cool!