WITHOUT FRIDGE DEFEND YOU ARE NOT PROTECTED
Dometic & Norcold reliability and fire safety, can you live without it?
WITHOUT FRIDGE DEFEND YOU ARE NOT PROTECTED
Dometic & Norcold reliability and fire safety, can you live without it?
This page is to try and answer questions on the Norcold 1200 series recall. This recall is the NHTSA 10E-049 campaign or Norcold fix - Norcold control.
We would like to begin by discussing some facts about the Norcold 1200 Series recall and why it has occurred. Most folks know that there are cooling unit failures that can result in fire. Some fridges are more susceptible to this issue than others. We at ARPC L.L.C. cannot tell you the cause of each fire, this job is left up to qualified investigators that can examine the facts at the scene of a fire. Even then, an investigator can make mistakes or jump to conclusions due to not examining and processing all the facts.
See what Norcold has to say about their recall: What Norcold Says.
The following information has been gained by our customers. We are not an authorized Norcold repair facility, thus all information on this page can be considered hearsay, it is the opinion of our customers, and we cannot confirm the truth behind this information regarding the Norcold recall.
We at ARPC L.L.C. do not reset these devices, we recommend our customers to take their Norcold fridges to Norcold authorized dealers for any re-set or work on this control. Often we are told that Norcold authorized dealers bypass the NHTSA 10E-049 recall kit. This decision is between the end user of the Norcold product and the authorized Norcold repair facility, thus the end user assumes all responsibility for their decisions based on the advice given by others.
Note: If you are going to work on the power supply to your RV, always remove power as a safety precaution. But, in the case of the Norcold kit, remove the power to the terminal in the photo below with the red arrow marked +12V IN, this may prevent the kit from turning off the fridge when working on it.
Please also see our complementary page Troubleshoot Norcold Recall.
This figure is a Norcold NHTSA 10E-049 High Temperature Recall Kit circuit revision-D, use this link to see the newest REV-E drawing . This photo is of the circuit board removed from the housing. The blue arrow points to the 'REV D' identification. We are told that some of the REV D kits can be reset once tripped. We are told that all REV E kits can be reset using the following method. But, as of 09-15-2018, we have been informed that the REF-E can only trip a limited number of times before it needs replacement. On top of the board in the photo is a yellow arrow pointing to a long black component which has the circuit identification 'Switch' and 'SW2'. This is a reed switch; a magnet can reset the control by passing it over this switch. We are told that one must sing and dance while waving the magnet in the general direction of this switch. All humor put aside, there is no published sequence, such as power up with magnet on switch, ...., that we can share for the re-set of this device. We can tell you that the boiler needs to be cold for a successful reset. Our customers have reset many of these controls, some can just pass a magnet by the LED while the cover is on the kit control. Other times, they remove the cover and power up and down the control, while rallying RV'ers chant, simultaneously the leader of the tribe waves a magnet around the Norcold 1200 Series Recall.
Based on this next photo, we deduce an opinion. The Norcold 1200 Series High Temperature Kit has a totally different design than the ARP Control. The Norcold kit sensor measures the temperature of the heaters (red arrows), flue tube (orange arrows), and the boiler tube (blue arrow); it appears to be for turning off the heat source only if there is a major failure that raises the temperature to over 800 degrees F. In addition the Norcold kit uses a normally open relay; there must be power to the Norcold kit to keep the relay closed at the time of this writing. Thus, it is reported that surges in the power line can cause the Norcold kit to trip.
On the other hand, the ARP measures only the boiler temperature (blue arrow) if the sensor is installed correctly. The ARP typically will turn off your fridge if the boiler gets over 400 degrees F. The ARP relay is a normally closed relay, thus the relay has to be activated to turn off the refrigerator. This design reduces stress on the relay thereby resulting in a longer relay life. This means that there has to be power to the ARP control to perform its function. The ARP control responds to conditions that can cause failure by limiting the boiler temperature to around 400 degrees F rather than allowing runaway temperatures that approach 800 degrees F.
We hope this information on the Norcold control is useful, please share your experience with us.
Please use the following links to get more information on the Norcold 1200 Series Recall: