Get Your Norcold Colder

Struggling with the temp in your Norcold RV Fridge? Here’s a tip on how to get your Norcold colder.

Just as a bit of background my buddy, and fellow RVer Al, had been struggling with his refrigerator temperature during the day. Someone had told him to turn his fridge on between 11:00 PM and midnight due to the defrost cycle. The theory was that then the defrost cycle would also come on around midnight the next day. Avoiding the defrost cycle during the hottest part of the day would then keep the fridge cooler.

Since I have really never had temperature issues with my RV fridge, I had never really looked into the timing of the defrost cycle. Of course I usually turn my fridge on in the evening a few days before we leave.

After Al told me about the defrost cycle timing I decided to reach out to Norcold directly and ask the question. Here is their response in its entirety:

Hello John,

Sorry for the delay. Actually, every 49 hours the unit enters frost management. Please see the attached PDF that explains the cycle. I always tell consumers to turn off then back on the fridge at 11pm or midnight; so it defrosts in 49 hours at midnight or 1am. 

Here is the PDF info:

Gas Absorption Refrigerators- Frost Management Cycle:
Any gas absorption refrigerator with a thermistor has a frost limiter/frost management cycle. We say frost limiter instead of saying a defrost cycle because the refrigerators do not have a heater in it to automatically melt the frost in the refrigerator like a normal house hold refrigerator would have. Instead it will simply stop running until it reaches a certain temperature that is warm enough to melt some of the frost build up.

Any frost that has not melted by the time the fin temperature reaches 39F, will not melt and can stay there until the next frost management cycle. Every 48 hours the refrigerator will automatically stop its cooling cycle and begin to warm up until the fin temperature reaches 39F, in an attempt to melt any frost build up on the fins inside the fresh food compartment. Once the fin temperature reaches 39*F, the refrigerator will then begin running again and cooling the refrigerator back down.

It is also very important to remember that the fin temperature that the thermistor is constantly sensing is about 10 degrees colder than the air temperature inside of the refrigerator. This means that the refrigerator air temperature can reach about 50 degrees by the end of the frost management cycle. The reason that this is okay is because the food and water inside of the refrigerator will hold its temperature much longer than the air will. On average, the refrigerator can lose up to 10 degrees air temperature each time the refrigerator door is opened. It can then take the refrigerator about 2 hours to regain that missing 10 degrees. This is the reason why it is so important to take food or water temperatures with a food thermometer instead of relying on an air temperature thermometer.

If you are experiencing a perceived issue of intermittent cooling; please verify that it is not just the frost management cycle at work. To reset the time of day that the frost management cycle will cycle, (and to avoid using the refrigerator during the cycle and accidentally causing it to warm up more than normal); you can simply turn your refrigerator off and back on either late at night or early in the morning.

James

Customer Service, Thetford Corp/Norcold Inc

So, this is very helpful information, even more so if you are concerned about the temperature of your beer! I think this will definitely keep your food and beverages colder when you need it the most; during the hottest part of the day! In addition if you see the temperature of your refrigerator rise during the day…it may be in a defrost cycle; so follow the above instructions before you call a repair service. Now go get your Norcold colder!

If you need to download a Norcold Product Manual click here.