Why Are My Norcold Cooling Units Leaking?

If your norcold cooling unit smells of ammonia or you are noticing it isn’t cooling your refrigerator the cooling unit is leaking or has failed. The most common reason for a cooling unit to fail is because it has rusted and is now leaking ammonia into the RV. A leaking norcold cooling unit can also cause a blockage of the charge solution that is supposed to circulate and re-charge the refrigerator with the ammonia gas.

If the leaking norcold cooling unit is not replaced the refrigerator will stop working and may develop a bad taste. In some cases the leaking norcold cooling unit can even cause a fire in the RV.

One option is to replace the norcold refrigeration with a freon based system like you see in residential refrigerators. However, modifying cabinetry in your RV is expensive. JC Refrigeration has developed a new product that re-uses the existing mounting space on your Norcold refrigerator and converts it to a freon based system.

Before installing the remanufactured norcold cooling unit it is important to shut off the 120VAC (shore power) and disconnect the 12VDC from the battery bank or the 12V fuse that supplies the refrigerator with 12V DC. This will prevent the evaporator fan from starting and potentially damaging the new refrigeration system.

It is also recommended that a dry run be performed by placing the replacement cooling unit in place before installing it into the fridge. This will allow you and your helper to test if the evaporator foam pack pocket is sitting correctly in the fridge. It is possible that the cooling unit will need to be jiggled and lifted in and out of the evaporator pocket to make sure it seats properly. norcold cooling units