Norcold 1200 NOCO Error Caused by a Failed Control Board - Replaced with a Dinosaur Board
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
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Certified Mobile RV Technician, Darren Koepp, diagnoses a Norcold 1200 RV Refrigerator giving a "NOCO" (Not Cooling) error message to discover a failed control board. Watch as he replaces the failed board with a Dinosaur Electronics board.
If you are in need of RV Repairs in the Olympic Peninsula area of Washington state, submit a service request on our website at myrvworks.com today!
OH YEAH, just turned on my NorCold 1200 refrigerator. It was running with LP, but the AC would not work. I went through your trouble shooting steps, and after going through the steps about 10 times, pulled the trigger and ordered the dinosaur board. It took about 15 minutes following your instructions to install the new board. And it works. Thank You so much from Southern California.
Perfect video for my needs. Here it is 10 PM and I'm about to go to bed, but know I won't sleep until I figure out my issue.
After the Rolling Blackouts here in Texas last month I went out to my refrigerator to check on it and found my refrigerator was no longer cold. I started runnning through all the steps I could find to verify the obvious stuff (Fuses and stuff) were still good. Then suspecting the circuit board fried I started searching the internet and found this. Now I'm armed with the information to check out the board, AND how to replace it with the right board.
So I'm going in. Thanks you very much for doing these videos. All well within my skill set, (retired Power Company Tech) and armed with what little things to look for and how to circumvent,(In emergency conditions) there is no reason why I can't fix it.
Your emergency work around literally saved our bacon. Woke up this am to a totally dead refrigerator. No lights on display. Power outlet was good. Fuses were good. Elements were good. Must be the control board. Of course it is Sunday and 1200 miles from home and 3 more days on this trip! I really appreciate the knowledge that you share.
Did you just wire the hot wire from the extension cord to one of the element wires and then neutral wire from the extension cord to the otherr element wire ?
Great video. We have the Norcold N3104 and last week while on a trip, the eye brow panel began flashing. The N3104 will run on a/c, dc or propane and for us, we normally just run it on a/c and DC. Driving, it works on DC with the vehicle charging the batteries. When parked it we use shore power. Well, stopped for resupply and came back and the eye brow was flashing. Now, the only time the fridge works is on shore aka a/c power. I’ve checked the small fuse in back of the fridge and it’s good and I’ve confirmed our lithium batteries are good. What I haven’t checked and just learned about is the small glass fuse on the circuit board. I’m going out to check that tomorrow as well as the main fuse box. I also have an appointment to have the unit checked at a local RV shop but my thoughts are if all the fuses are good, I might just ask them to put in a new Dragon circuit board. Any thoughts to troubleshooting that I’ve missed would be appreciated.
Darin, just found your site yesterday, I've watched almost every video you had out by the next night.I'm a stihl small engine wrench. And bought a used camper last year and I just didn't have a clue about how any of it worked.What a blessing your channel is, your not just very knowledgeable, but the way you lay everything out, makes it possible for a novice like me to somewhat follow you. I plan on learning a lot from you.Can't thank you enough.Please keep the videos coming. I live in Georgia so will never be able to use you personally. I love to camp, and what i will do is give out your you tube channel to every camper i talk to. I hope it helps. And one last thanks for not blasting rock music in your videos. Your friend in Georgia Darryl
Hi Darryl, Wow! thanks for the kind words.
My plan is to keep making video's when the customers allow it. Some are not crazy of me filming their rigs and you will find that most of the video's are outside... I will keep fixing and filming and you keep watching, you and your RV will be Happy Campers in no time.
On the music I hired a musician I know to create my own unique sound for the channel. I think he nailed what I was looking for. So that tune is now owned by me and will be on all the video's. The earlier video's had the 'free' music that others overuse. Next we are working on the intro graphic so stay tuned for that. I have an awning and some more refrigerator video's coming out next.
I appreciate you! I am a Louisiana boy so when I moved up here I had to learn how to eat all over again LOL. I may get you to send up some 'real' food!
Cheers,
Darren
No power to fridge display at all 1210 im norcold board looks ok red light not blinking ,
Enjoyed watching your very detailed inspections. My Norcold 1200 would not turn on. This video shows my same unit. I bypassed the recall box (something I read) to make sure that it was not causing the problem and to continue with the testing. It now comes on but came up with an error AC HT. I tested both heating elements because of the code. They were both within specs. I then removed the power board and found a burned area on the backside of the circuit board where the relay sits for the heater elements. I replaced the board following your process and now everything is working. Thanks again! You save me several hundreds of dollars along with educating me. I will continue watching more of your videos so I can learn more. You're a great teacher. You really took the mystery out of diagnosing a problem.
I want to thank you for the demonstration on how to Fix my refrigerator. I’m going to attempt it as soon as possible after watching your video. I feel real confident that I can do it. Thanks again.
This is the best video I've seen on troubleshooting an RV refrigerator... and repairing it. I'm dealing with a 13-year old Norcold exactly like the one in this video. I feel confident (now) that I'm going to be able get to the bottom of my problem, and if it is the circuit board, I'll know that for certain, and how to replace it. Thanks for a truly excellent video!
Well thanks for watching and the kind comment. Be sure to check out my resources tab on my website: myrvworks.com/manuals/ I have many service manuals for you to peruse. Happy camping and good luck with your repair.
Thank you, I followed your video and replaced my bad board with a dinosaur board. You made it so much easier to work on and in a form i could follow. Thank you from Missouri.
My parents were convinced that it was going to be major repair but when you talk about the corrosion and the brown behind the transistor and the relay not kicking on I was mid argument with mom. Thank you for the ridiculous amount of information. The board is shot
Well Darren, I did it, changed out my control board and it went just like you said it would. I ordered the board off of Amazon from dinosaur and it could not have been more straight forward. So thanks to your video I gained the knowledge to do. Thank you so much, Doug.
So great to hear that!!! That is why I put these out there so folks can fix their own stuff.
You are really good at teaching. I appreciate that you are very knowledgeable at repairing these sometimes challenging RV systems.
Thank you
Thank you Darryl, especially for introducing me to Dinosaur Electronics and that quiet little trick which I suspected would word! Great Job! Dave WRØX
Thought I'd update. There is yellow magic fairy dust under the heating element. So now I get to replace the cooling coil. Thanks to giving the the tools I needed to test out my system. The control board works and the heating element ohms out good. Even the gas side calls for start when the electric is unplugged. Then shuts off when plugged back in.
Funny thing though. Mine is one the recall list..... So now I've got to find what the recall parts are and how they are done. My issue is my Coach is undergoing a major remodele so it's not drivable. Doing a transmission upgrade, and full on remodel. So will call and see what the Factory prefers I do about getting my unit recall repairs done.
Thanks again for the instructional vidoes.
Holy Crap............you saved my bacon. Followed exactly the troubleshooting methods you showed and it worked like a charm. Replaced the motherboard, and on came the refrig. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE.
Darren,
This finally explained everything to me. Thank You Very much. When you broke the info down it was all I needed. Great Job! I am looking forward to more informative bits from you.
Thank you so much My RV Works, I have been following you every time I need RV help with diagnosis and repair. This here video helped me narrow down my problem.
You're a very good teacher Darren!
Take care my good man!
Great video, Darren. I wish I had this video when I had the same problem a few years ago on my Lance camper. I had to learn the function of every component on the frig. Luckily, we were not on a trip when it went out. I always bring my RV in from storage one month before our trip and go through every appliance to make sure they are working. Just in case something it's out, then I have time to troubleshoot and replace the part. I am sure many people will appreciate your video, since these 3 way refrigerators can end up with these type of troubles at any time. One of the things that I suspected that affected my board was that at that time I did not use a surge protector. I have had one ever since. I encourage everyone to have a surge protector, it could prevent very expensive damages.
OMG I followed everything you said to do and I got the fridge to work. The Dinosaur Board was so easy to order and install. Thank you!!! Freezer is very cold but I might have to replace the thermostat but will wait a day to see if fridge temperature is colder. Again you ROCK!!!!!
Once again, great detail on frig diagnosis and repair!! Thanks so much for your video!
based on the first 12 minutes of this video , I've become a subscriber 💕. If you do videos in the 'For Dummies' mode like this it is especially helpful to anyone-especially most woman- who may not have the base knowledge of electric testing. In a short 4 minutes you explain more about troubleshooting the electric side than any of the five videos I watched right before discovering this one. I'm an extremely mechanical woman but the electrical testing is my weakness and through this video pretty confident I can diagnose my Norcold problem right now. TY!
I also noted the work around in an emergency as I usually end up helping other women in my RV Club with their RV issues. in that club I've seen so many control boards go down it's nice to know there's a way to limp through until you can get to control board on him cuz we don't have the ability to just keep a control board on hand most people probably should.
I keep a sales switch for my furnace and the thermostat for the water heater things like that in a kit cuz I boondock a lot and I think that having a control board on hand for your fridge is probably just a good idea for anybody so you can stay ahead of problems especially if you're full-time.
I just now saw your video, my control board went out 4 days ago. After finding out it was the problem, I simply pulled the ac input from the board and connected it to the heating element, no need for a separate cord. Just a 3" jumper with spade lugs. I had to put a Bluetooth thermometer in the fridge to monitor the temp and turn off the breaker a few hours now and then to keep the temp in acceptable range but it works fine, until the board arrives anyway.
I was in the service industry before my retirement, I only referenced the timer so that you need not plug and unplug. Of course it is only a temporary measure until you can have the unit repaired by a pro like you.
I did refrigeration on a small scale. Could have used that cheat on the one and only 2 way I tried to fix.
Darren; I basically had a model 1210 Norcold that would default to LP only and would not go to AC. I checked the fuses on the board - all were good using my VOM. When I went back together with everything, the unit would not even power up! No power to the eye-level display at all. The 20-amp cb in rear compartment of bedroom was not tripped either, nor did I get a "NOCO" indication. I ordered a new control board (#628661) and control board base as my old base had broken mounting ears thus allowing the board to shift around some (not good!).
This was very helpful, I followed your instructions step by step and now I have a working fridge. Thanks!!Will be watching more of your how to videos.Thanks!!!!!
Amazing! Doubt I’d be able to actually do all that but it demystified the process. Thanks!
Fantastic teacher. Thank you for your time and experience.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!
My fridge wasn't cooling but my freezer was working. I was told to disconnect the thermistor in the fridge and give it 24 hrs. Sure enough the fridge went down to to 41.4 degrees. That proved the problem was it. Replaced with one from Amazon and is now working great
Nicely done! Understand your hesitation giving ppl advice on gerry rigging a/c directly to the heating element. I don't know if that's prudent but its obvious your heart is in the right place. Keep up the terrific work.Really enjoy your vids!
Yea, I am regretting saying that and considering editing it out. I did say 'emergency' like it was going to get fixed the next day and you don't want your food to spoil, so hopefully folks will appreciate the spirit that it was offered in. It is dangerous though to run the frig w/o the brain. Our grandparents made it though LOL.
Thanks for the comment!
@@MyRVWorks Darren; youi did preface that "emergency only" statement by anticipating that one who would do that shortcut had a brain stem and was knowledgeable about such stuff and the inherent risks therein!!
Nice logical diagnostic method. Very thorough.
Very well done and explained in terms that most all can understand,,, Great Video!
Daren your video help alot I'm not forsure I can do what you did your very knowledgeable about that meter and all them wires I'm going to watch the whole video about ten times first and then try it. Thanks for showing details keep making video there very helpful
Thanks for taking the time to record and narrate this repair. It has been very informative.
Totally alsome video , new to the RV world, have a Winnebago Chieftain 35u that needs a lot of work that i acquired an has been setting a long time , maybe 5 or 6 years , was told frig didn't work, now have something to go on , thanks .
My RV NorWood refrigerator is dead today I have look it it tomorrow.
thanks for sharing video.
thanks, I needed that. A good teacher you are.
Thank you for the video. I have a Norcold also, the power side wouldn't work it would go to LP right away. then a code would flash on the auto On light 3 times on a row. took it to a Norcold repair person and it was the board also fixed in 1 day and working great. was great seeing how it was done will do it my self next time Thank you
Happy to help!
Nicely done. That's some solid diagnostic testing. Greetings from down south in Bremerton.
Hey Neighbor! Thanks for the compliment. Only way I roll!
Cheers,
Darren
Great video thank you for all the info
Excellent step by step, video, Great information. Thank you in advance if I ever need to know this.
You are welcome!
Wow i like your diagnostics and how to fix great job sir
The chip is a gates chip. Boolean Algebra will determine your in's and out's. Of course, one would be voltage and one would have a negative or ground. It seems very confusing but in electronics, it is quite fascinating. You have OR, NOR, AND, NAND, XNOR, XOR, types of gates inside of the chip. These are just zero's and one's. Great video with the Watt's Law then moving it to Ohm's law, (Two different pyramids). Great video to help those RV'ing.
Great video!
Great video, also many thanks for the "emergency" heating element fix tip. Before the RV I owned a sailboat and there were times I needed to employ unconventioal emergency repairs way offshore. Many thanks!
I replaced my board thanks to your awesome video.. refrigerator now works for about 5 hours freezer gets cold then it shuts down with “no co” code.. refrigerator does not cool next step would obviously be cooling unit. :(
If your refrigerator and freezer are getting cold, I doubt the issue is with your cooling unit. You may want to check your thermistor. The NoCo code is basically the control board not detecting a change in temperature. The thermistor is the device that tells the control board the temperature of the fresh food compartment. Here is a video on how to check that.
ua-cam.com/video/ZfCIDGfQID0/v-deo.html
It turns out the cooling fans had stopped working. It’s 91* here in Georgia so I took the lower vent cover off and put a house fan blowing on it to check for obstruction I could feel air coming outta the top vent so I left the fan running and it worked from great after that. Fridge was at 38.6 this morning now I will change fans:) thank you for your response 🙏❤️ thirmister was 8ohms in my hand and 19ohms in ice water..
For me I tought is was a unstable controlboard. The fridge and freezer didn't work on auto with fridge and freezer when unplugged from shorepower. I did replace the controlboard without to solve this problem. It can work for a periode, and then turn off and get to hot in fridge and freezer. I has ''reset'' with the control module inside RV and turned between AC, gass and auto. It can work when doing this. Im thinking of some issue with the Control module for this Norcold? Has also add a ventfan in top of slideout for better cooling.The temp has worked fine when electroncs works properly.
Excellent! I'd tackle a control board myself, I guess if there are no signs of the refrigerant leaking one can hope that the sealed system is still working and look for a lack of heating in the boiler.
And how do you do that how do you how do you do the control board
And what would happen if you unplug it at the back and plug it straight into a well that wouldn't work
I think all the 12 volt stuff might burn up
I wouldn't know how to shut the 12-volt part off
Excellent video👍
great video, very good at explaining where to look and why. perfect thx
I Had to bypass my board when away mid summer i did what you said I connected the 240 vac to the heater element but i also closed the Gas pet cock to make sure it didn't try and start the Gas up at the same time ,,,, it was the coldest my fridge had ever been ,, my drama was the thermostat , open circuit , Great vid buddy ,
B.J.T , new south wales Australia , 32 "C" Class elite RV ,
Hey thanks for watching down there mate! I appreciate your comment. It's our busy time here so my video production (and comment replies) have slowed down a bit but once we get into our winter I expect more videos will be coming out.
Very nice job bro🌹
I did enjoy your video
I found it interesting and informative
Hi Mary, Always a pleasure to make these video's for other Happy Campers!
Cheers,
Darren
And Darren thxs.
Great video!
Looks like I've got a little work to do 👍
You are the best thank you so much
I have a 12vdc 10 cubic ft Norcold, I have 12 vdc to the Main PCBA Cooling unit, however the return power wire to the eyebrow control board is not energized,
i pulled the wire off of the tab and the 12 volts is not at the tab.
I love watching your videos. Question on your first test for 120V, what if you are not getting 120V from the reference of the frame. Also I'm only getting 74v on each side of the fuse?
Thank you very much this was very helpful
Wow what a great video.Darin I do have a question My Norcold N61v works but the light on the fridge stays orange unless I am using land power. Do I a a bad board on fridge door?
during your trouble shooting you plugged the fridge back into an untested outlet. you were using the bottom plug in the black outlet, but you plugged it into the white putlets
Dometic
Gas solenoid valve has a problem.
Can I use a Nocold gas solenoid valve for a dometic refrigerator ?
Great tip on using an extension cord on the heaters. Only question is how long should I cycle it on and off? Seems when you turn the fridge on it runs continuously until reaching the desired temp so cycles could vary quite a bit.
Well that's kind of the job of the control module - which has multiple safety redundancies built into it. This assumes a control module has failed. So this is an absolute emergency recovery type of a situation - only to save your food - until you can get your system diagnosed and board replaced. So it's kind of like you would do this solution only for a few hours until you can get the refrigerator properly looked at.
Thankyou for this video!
Hello. I had to change both heating elements i my norcold 1200. I had to cut the insulation from the stack to get them out. How do i get the insulation back in place? do i need to buy a small section and replace? Or can I just fold it back around and tape it? If I replace the piece what type of insulation do I use? And what type of tape do I secure it with. Thanks
Should the valve on the gas line open and close everytime the demand for gas occurs? Mine is not moving.
Connections....taking cell phone pic of orginal wire position, helps sometimes.
Great work, thanks for all your tips, invaluable information when on the road.
Good job
Dometic RML 8330 does not light on LP gas and can seldom tell when it is lit without verifing visually. Is there a way to retrofit to a automatic lighting system?
Hey there. Have a question if you don't mind. Did trouble shooting on my norcold. it gets hot in the back where electric rod is located. but the fridge not only doesn't get cold, it is hot on the inside. Any idea? No yellow residue nor hissing sound. But I heard the griglining sound long when we fist got it.
Loved the video. Any chance you can do one on just the wiring on the back of the fridge?
Sir: Very helpful , thank you , my fridge control board just died 💀 Need to order NEW control board.
Hey Darren. Great teachings. My norcold 1200 2005 model when yo close the refrigerator doors the open door chimes even though there closed and sealed. Is there a way to turn this off with the buttons. Thanks mayor of Astoria Oregon
Hi Clyde,
Your question has been selected for an upcoming video where it will be read and discussed by Darren.
If you have not already subscribed to the 'My RV Works' UA-cam channel, please do so and keep a watch for the '10-Minutes with an RV Tech’ video sessions. This new series is a selection of comments and questions that will be covered and released weekly.
Here is our UA-cam link: ua-cam.com/users/myrvworksinc
Happy Camping,
My RV Works Media Team
Great info!!!!
Hey Darren, great videos and Channel. Really appreciate you putting your knowledge out there. One question though. What if I am getting 120V on both sides of fuse but not getting it coming out to feed heating elements, but also my control at the fridge has no lights, i can't change it from auto to gas or change the cold settings. What powers that board. Thanks
The board is controlled by 12 volt CC. The 120 volts just passes through the board, then through a relay on the board, to control the 120v heating element. So you might want to look for the 12 volt side of the circuit to make sure the board is getting 12 volts power.
Thank you for this video it help me out a lot
"... carry the 1 and ummm... theres an app for that ..." lmao
i cant find the "bla bla bla " on my keyboard... :)
i would guess the ice makers been wrkn overtime ...
ty for ur vid
Ssa in yeah can I plug straight into the the main refrigerator and just bypass the gas
Thanks for the video!! I have this problem, except when the board was unplugged, the gas did click on so it would work on LP. So I was told to replace the curcuit board. So if it works on gas do we still replace the circuit board??
great guy. thankyou. you are verry helpfull
Thanks!
Some computors had a jumper back in 1994.
It looks like you unplugged the black cord from the black receptacle and then later plugged it into the white receptacle???? I thought one was DC and the other was AC. What happens to the DC side of the unit when you plug the 110 ac into it?
My N611RT heating element melts ??? Norcold 618872 AC Heating Element tried two elements. Both melted .
EPIC. Thanks.
Can you please explain how to remove the control panel cover?
Hello, I have a norcold N510 refrigerator that did not make the change of eletricidad AC to gas, change the power board and already makes the change perfectly, but now in my display only flashes in auto and does not tell me if it is in AC or gas, ¿what can I do in this case?
Love this video and found it extremely helpful. I have a 2005 Itasca Sunrise M 33V that the board got fried because who ever worked on it years ago, failed to tighten the ground screw do. I need to determine how to locate the board I need. S/n on fridge is 8067255, model N8421M. Wondering if you could help me identify the part number I need to replace the board. Norcold said to use 621269001 but that board says it is 2 way. This unit runs on ac, dc, and lp; doesn’t that make it a 3 way? Thanks
This video was a great start for troubleshooting my problem 1201LRM. I replaced the board but it is still blowing F3. Both heating elements are ~50 ohm and neither is shorted to ground. I can run either one (hi or lo) but when they are both plugged in F3 blows. Ever seen anything like that?
sounds like u need check ground conection or new element...
I'm curious about where your heating elements are connected to the control board. They don't have a high and low setting. They're either on or off. So take one heating element. Identify the two wires that come out of it. One wire connects to the Hi terminal the other wire connects to the Low terminal on the control board. The second heating element likewise connects to Hi and Low. Verify that is how they are connected and let us know.
@@MyRVWorks I'm an Engineer but with out schematics I have to treat these as black boxes and make up my own terms. Since they are coils they don't really have a hi or low in terms of + or -. Anyway, the yellow and black wires are confirmed to be on the right connections. I was able to get the fuse to stop blowing by disconnecting the ice maker AC connection. I now have a cold refrigerator running on AC ot LP. Since my ice maker leaks I will keep it disconnected. Thanks for the information.
The Refer will not automatically start on LP if after removing 120v if it is already cold. Much like the water heater wont light if it is up to temp already. Good video for sure though.
Great vid.
Your a good teacher!!
I have a problem with my furnace. Fan comes on, starts up blows heat. Shuts down but the fan keeps on running, starts up, blows heat. Over and over?
Great video. Thanks! 😀
Hey i have a norcold fridge and freezer freezes but fridge does not get cold at all wondering what could be causing that swapped out thermostat and setting selector on front of fridge cause i was just really easy to change from 1 through 5 fridge still not getting cold PLEASE HELP
Darren, Thanks for the awesome content. Question….do you carry around an assortment of dinosaur boards? Or do you order when you need them?
I do carry a lot of boards with me. They're like Swiss Army knives. Today I used one on a norcold 1200 and it was a Dino that had the jumper switch on it 15 boards and one. Got to love it!
@@MyRVWorks Thanks Darren!
Awesome. Ty
Great Video Fantastic T/S techniques. I hope to see you my next trip through. PLEASE PLEASE keep the videos coming, HONEST RELIABLE repair places are hard to come by prior experience I was told the electrical boiler elements caused the board to short out. Looks like the problem was T/S wrong and I paid for parts and labor probably NOT NEEDED!
Anyhow thanks fir the way you explian this i think i can succeed now
if I am not getting a fault code on the display and the refrigerator is not cooling and everything else checks out, its got to be the display
unit or the board??
i wonder if u could just bypass the controle board to operate the LPG ... my be good to learn how before problems to operate in an emergancy situation... im going to go look at mine now :)
Bypassing the lp is tricky, the Control Board needs to know there is a flame in order to keep the gas valve open. To do that you need the electronics.