electrical gremlins?

[sofmerc]

My norcold refrigerator stopped working on AC power... I was in the camper (at home) and heard a pop and the wfco fan come on.... So I decided to try to powere up the frige.... It powered up on AC and worked all day, and shut down sometime over night... I couldn't get it to power up again. I unplugged it and bypassed the camper ac system and plugged into house via extension cord....It ran fine all night. So I unplugged house cord and plugged it back into trailers shore power again and it came back on...I'm going to see how long it runs on shore power this time....Any suggestions on where I should look?

[Centex]

EMS - did it 'trip' for some reason during the night?

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by Centex

EMS - did it 'trip' for some reason during the night?

not sure... I wasn't staying in camper (it was in my yard)....The pop sounded like a wfco reset and fan coming on while I was in camper....frige was off at that time but fired up then

[Centex]

IF it happens again, before you unplug the trailer from shore power look for "PE" (Previous Error) code on the EMS followed by the actual error code. "PE" codes 'clear' upon de-powering the EMS. That might reveal a mid-night low or over voltage occurrence from the shore power that caused the EMS to trip, then reset.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by Centex

IF it happens again, before you unplug the trailer from shore power look for "PE" (Previous Error) code on the EMS followed by the actual error code. "PE" codes 'clear' upon de-powering the EMS. That might reveal a mid-night low or over voltage occurrence from the shore power that caused the EMS to trip, then reset.

Thank you for that! I'll check tomorrow... I checked an hour ago and it was still working on campers ac...I never checked the error code on the EMS.... The error code I saw was on the Norcold, before I suspected trailer electrical issue...We will see in the morning...Thanx Centex

[Centex]

Originally Posted by sofmerc

Thank you for that! I'll check tomorrow...

If it's a 'real' electrical gremlin, the occurrence won't repeat until sometime after you stop looking for the cause.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by Centex

If it's a 'real' electrical gremlin, the occurrence won't repeat until sometime after you stop looking for the cause.

so frige shut off sometime overnight...No error code on wfco panel ,so thinking it maybe a frige issue after all.... except that it ran for 2 days on extension chord bypassing trailer AC system.... confused ,lol

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by sofmerc

so frige shut off sometime overnight...No error code on wfco panel ,so thinking it maybe a frige issue after all.... except that it ran for 2 days on extension chord bypassing trailer AC system.... confused ,lol

You could try this and bypass some things as a test.
Using a couple of household wire nuts, remove the white and black power lines and connect them together with the wire nuts.
It’s the two thick ones, a bit of a pain but it will take you to the next step.
I’d pickup a surge protector for the experiment if you don’t already have one.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by Ooshkaboo

You could try this and bypass some things as a test.
Using a couple of household wire nuts, remove the white and black power lines and connect them together with the wire nuts.
It’s the two thick ones, a bit of a pain but it will take you to the next step.
I’d pickup a surge protector for the experiment if you don’t already have one.

I'll try it..thanx. I have the onboard EMS surge protection

[CharlesinGA]

Disconnect the shore power, turn off the battery, and open up the power center. Take a screwdriver (best would be to have #1 and #2 square drives, and tighten up the wires on every circuit breaker (after insuring the wires are properly and fully inserted, and same for the neutral and the ground bar and connections. Its relatively new, things don't get tightened enough and then work loose going thru those earthquakes we call towing.

Also tighten up the screws on every 12v wire terminal on the fuse panel.

Then open up the fridge access door and follow the 120v power cable to the junction and if it has screw terminals, tighten those, and the 12v wires also. You are bound to find something loose.

Charles

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by CharlesinGA

Disconnect the shore power, turn off the battery, and open up the power center. Take a screwdriver (best would be to have #1 and #2 square drives, and tighten up the wires on every circuit breaker (after insuring the wires are properly and fully inserted, and same for the neutral and the ground bar and connections. Its relatively new, things don't get tightened enough and then work loose going thru those earthquakes we call towing.

Also tighten up the screws on every 12v wire terminal on the fuse panel.

Then open up the fridge access door and follow the 120v power cable to the junction and if it has screw terminals, tighten those, and the 12v wires also. You are bound to find something loose.

Charles

Thanks Charles! I'll run that tomorrow and see what happens

[sofmerc]

so the consensus by mobil RV tech is the board is faulty...another one on order. Delivery will be by Christmas...I'll be camping Christmas week in Destin,Fl and Panama city..so installation will be end of the month...Fridge still works on gas..

[Centex]

Originally Posted by sofmerc

so frige shut off sometime overnight...No error code on wfco panel...

Did you mean to say "no error code on the EMS panel"?

Originally Posted by sofmerc

so the consensus by mobil RV tech is the board is faulty...

The 'board' being a control board in the refrigerator?

Were you ever able to replicate the shut-down-event with the refrigerator plugged directly into an extension cord to shore-power (bypassing the trailer shore-power system)?