NORCOLD not running on 12v

sjhantzis

New member
2005 25' Cruiser. My NORCOLD stopped running on 12v but runs on shore power. Where is the fuse for the 12v circuit? All other thoughts are welcome. Thanks, SJH
 
I believe the unit is a 2005 vintage Norcold NR740BB. I was hoping not to have to remove the unit from under the captain seat. There's no other access to the rear of the unit in my 25' cruiser without removal. The wiring diagram shows that it should be wired directly to the batteries. Any chance that's where the DC fuse might be? Thanks, SJH
 
I dont know how it was wired in the boat . I would locate the wiring and trace it probably to the helm fuse box and start check all fuses visually and with a DVM


Hopefully others will help you
 
On our boat when we replaced the old Norcold fridge we found it easy to remove and replace in a few minutes when we were measuring to see if the slightly larger Isotherm Cruise fridge would fit ( it did so we ordered one and love it) if you check the fuse and all connections for good contact and can't find the problem it may cost more than it is worth to fix, it has given good long service and the new ones can be more efficient. I did have to slightly inlarge the opening for the new fridge.
 
Well, the fridge that was installed in Journey On, a 2005 model, always ran off 12 VDC. When 120 VAC was applied an inverter supplied the 12 VDC to the fridge.

So if it runs on 120 VAC you've got a good fridge, but the 12 VDC supply to the unit is missing. Trace the wires coming out of the unit and see where the 12 VDC stops. If you get 12VDC up to the unit, the break is in the unit. It's not hard to pull the fridge: 6 screws and it just slides out. Thus, just pull it out and check the internal wiring.

Boris
 
I believe that on ours, the fuze is on the top of the unit. Just under the seat cushion. Our fridge is located on the port side under the forward dinette seat.
 
Pulled the refrigerator and replaced two 10-AMP fuses on top of the unit, both were blown. But, the problem persists. The unit will run on 120v but not on 12v. I suspect a power surge may have fried the 12v circuit. Both fuses are maintaining, so there is no short. Thoughts? There are two sealed power boxes: SP-245 and SP243B. Probably fried? Thanks, SJH[/img]
 
When you replaced the fuses, did you check the voltage?

Most likely, there is an in line fuse on power lead wire or somewhere like the fuse panel. Tracing the wires might help
 
Unfortunately these units have a history of blowing the 12 volt power supply. Mine did that. I replaced with a Nordold 12 volt only. Works great. Had got modify the carriage slightly. It is bigger than the Engle which it replaced. But the Engle was identical to a Norcold which was older. The Engle and old units had the "Swing motor" which runs on 27 volts AC. Mine still ran on 110 V AC.
 
We have an 06 Cape Cruiser Venture with a Tundra Fridge that works on 115 AC and 12volt dc The 115ac leg quit working But it works on 12 volt and we have shore power batteries charger So fridge works We only use it when we overnight The Tundra service person said it would be $300 to fix So needless to say I will buy a12volt one when this one dies Jim
 
Bob, thataway;

I would assume that the fridge has only 1 ea 12 VDC power supply; fed from the battery or the inverter. So, if it works on AC, either the transfer switch is stuck (if there is one,) or the DC voltage isn't getting to the 12 power supply.

Boris
 
Power to 12 volt circuit board, but elements failed on board. No replacement boards available. The 12 volt circuit is separate from 120 volt AC circuit input. Unfortunately it would be easy with a Danfoss compressor which runs directly on 12 volts.. Since the Sawafuji swing motor runs at 60 hz, 20 to 23 volts AC, it must have AC current. The 12 volt circuit board converts the 12.8 V DC to about 11 Volts AC and transformer converts that to 20 to 23 volts DC to run the motor.
 
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