Norcold Model 1210IM - Suddenly Noisey

[RCAircraft]

Returned today from a side trip and noticed the fridge emitting a rattling noise when in the cooling mode.

After looking in the rear area, from outside I noticed a piece of plastic which appeared to in the shape of a small fan blade laying on the wood deck. Only one piece was laying within sight.

Looked at Thetford/Norcold parts diagram on line. There are two small DC voltage fans in the rear near the top of the fridge. They are out of site, of course.

Anyone had a fan blade or fan go south on their Norcold 1210IM? This fridge is in our 36RL.

Looks like a complete removal of the fridge to gain access to those two small PC desktop cabinet like fans. More important - I would like to understand what caused the fan blade (or maybe blades) to break off.

[travelin' texans]

Check the top access panel, should be able to get to them from there without removing the fridge.

[r time soon]

Years ago we had a 2008 Crossroads Seville. Norcold Refer similar to the 1210IM. Had 4 doors and ice maker that worked well. Then one day it quit cooling as well as normal. Checked for function of fans by using a flashlight and mirror. Determined one fan quit working. Was able to get model from the fans. Searched and determined they actually had a cfm rating. Tried like heck to find 2 new replacement fans that had equal or higher cfm. Used Tiger Direct and a few other places to narrow down my search. Actually only a few had a cfm listed on them at all. Ended up getting them from MSC. They didn't have in stock here in Elkhart, but could ship directly to our house, I found it odd that they wouldn't ship to the store in ELkhart to have me pick up, they wanted me to pay for shipping. When I removed the Norcold Refer I also stuffed lots of insulation in the cabinet above and around the refer. The old baffle wasn't nearly the size the manufacturer required. The thick insulation around the burner tube came apart, so I taped it well with Foil duct type tape. Created panels and sealed off well with the foil tape to allow the heat to be forced out the vent instead of just lulling around making the 5th wheel hot in the process. You can see from the pictures that there was good sized gaps in the insulation that allowed the heat to go all the way to the face stiles of the cabinet. Again, this was on our previous 5er, which we lost a few months later due to our house fire. I would repair the baffle and any insulation issues you find when you remove the refer to replace the fans.

Chris and Maria
2012 36RL

[RCAircraft]

Thank you for sharing those insights and photos. After removing the baffle I got the cooling fan nameplate data and ordered two replacement fans from Amazon Prime. Two day delivery!! The original fans are rated at 93 CFM. The new fans are rated at 105 CFM.

The one fan was damaged from duct tape falling into the fan. All that duct tape has been removed and replaced with hi temp aluminum foil tape .

As our fridge exhaust from the side wall, the horizontal baffle directs air over the top coils then out the top side vent.

The top baffle had fallen down on top of the coils. Cause - low temp duct tape. A significant amount of heat was entering our RV from this loose top baffle.baffle. That is now fixed and sealed with hi temp aluminum foil tape.

Even with one damaged fan running unbalanced the repair of the two baffles has stopped the heat gain in the RV and the fridge is cycling far less. Looking forward to replacing the fans. Will not miss that rattling noise!

This area is going on my spring and fall check list. Looks like a fire hazard area.