Norcold 2118 Fridge / Freezer

[KOZKO]

Where is the best location for additional fans? Which way to aim, up or down? Currently I have 1 extra fan near the thermistor blowing down because the factory fan that’s inside is sucking out, I thought this made kind of a loop inside?? Another question where is the coldest part of the refrigerator?

[Javi]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Be sure and measure the dimensions of any prospective new fridge. I believe the RVs come with "counter depth" models and are not as deep as a "regular" fridge (or non countertop).

Here is the fridge for my Avalanche

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by KOZKO

Where is the best location for additional fans? Which way to aim, up or down? Currently I have 1 extra fan near the thermistor blowing down because the factory fan that’s inside is sucking out, I thought this made kind of a loop inside?? Another question where is the coldest part of the refrigerator?

Your fan question is confusing to me. If you are talking about fans for the outside air then they should be blowing in the same direction. Typically up as hot air rises so it will be easier to "help" it go up. A fan on the interior should be located at the lowest part of the interior. Hot air rises so cold air falls and will "pool" in areas at the bottom that are isolated or blocked from allowing the air to circulate via convection. A small battery operated fan in the bottom of the fridge blowing up can make a difference IF it's not so packed full of food that the air cannot move.

One note about fans and cooling fins. Faster is not necessarily better. In extremes it's possible to add so much speed that the fins do not have time to transfer the heat to the air. I'm no thermodynamics or aeronautical engineer but it's common sense that just accelerating the air speed doesn't necessarily equate to increased efficiency. You can often increase efficiency by increasing airflow by eliminating turbulence i.e. directing the airflow over a more streamlined path that doesn't add resistance and turbulence. So bottom line is if you think adding an extra fan will help go for it as it most likely will. If you think one fan is good so adding 6 more will be even better than maybe not.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by EMTPRescue

I got more indepth information on the Norcold so called Defrost Cycle.
It is very simplistic. The control board has a timer built into it. From the time that you turn your fridge on the timer begins to count down starting at 48 hrs.
Once the timer is at zero the fridge goes to sleep and looks for a temperature change indication from the Thermaster that is clipped to the cooling fins in the fridge section.
Once the control board sees a temperature change then in theory any frost build up on those fins should have melted and the fridge starts up again.
Where we are we have low relative humidity and we do not have a fin frost up problem. Accordingly we have no need for a Defrost Cycle.
The RV fridge tech that told me about the defrost timer suggested that we turn our fridge on at a time when we know that we are at the trailer. He suggested first thing in the morning.
He then said that in order to "defeat" the defrost cycle that our morning routine not only will include our morning coffee but it should include simply turning the fridge off and on again. This resets the timer to 48 hrs and the count down starts all over again.

Hope this helps.

Are you sure the board doesn’t look for a certain value on the thermistor and that triggers the timer to restart? It seems it would make more sense to operate like almost every other kind of defrost in the refrigeration and hvac industry whereas every time the timer counts down (48 hours in this case) the board looks for either a open klixon switch in some cases or thermistor value in this case and if it sees it it will initiate the defrost.
In this case it would be to shut off the refrigerator until the value of the thermistor changes..if the board counted down and saw the desired value it would just restart the timer

[KOZKO]

Sorry about the confusion my question is about fan location inside the refrigerator itself.

[travelin texans]

It seems to me you may have some other fridge issues.
Using 7 gallons (30# bottle) in 5 days seems very excessive just running the fridge. Running my furnace, which is about as inefficient as it gets, a 30lber would last about a week.

[MotoDad293]

The Norcold 2128 has been the biggest issues in my '21 351 Raptor. For the first 2ish months no issues. Then the one and only time I go to an RV park (99.99% of the time I boondock) the fridge goes dead. Quick realize the 3 amp fuse on the circuit board blew.

Swap fuse and the fridge just never cooled the same again. Finally got super frustrated with that about a month ago. Start doing the research and learn a lot about absorption fridges. Pull the outside trap doors and sure enough the top 2 fans not working. Remove the thermoswitch to confirm that is not the issue. Fans dead. Ordered 8 fans on Amazon. Not the Norcold ones at $70 each but higher RPM, IP67 compliant fans. All 8 for like $70.

When I received the fans, I pull the fridge out. I swap out the top 2 that are not working with 2 new ones. Replace the bottom one with another 2. Then in the middle of the fridge is an aluminium support bar, I mounted 4 there. All wired together off the switch. Air flow from bottom to top. I then add some insulation to the top to force the air out the top vent. Put everything back and within 4-6 hours the fridge was back to normal operating temps. And that was a very hot day in SoCal too!

The trailer has sat in storage since but today I go back to fire up the fridge to prepare for a week road trip in the 5er.

I also got the Accurite wireless thermometer to moniter the freezer and fridge temps.

EDIT: and mine is a propane pig too!! for a minute I thought I had a propane leak somewhere. but now I think the fridge is not propane efficient.