Many Dometic and Norcold refrigerators use a cooling unit. When you turn on your fridge and hear gurgling, smell ammonia, or see yellow residue behind your refrigerator it’s time to replace your cooling unit.
One of the main reasons that cooling units fail is because they rupture in the boiler. That’s almost always because they were installed incorrectly. This can be a big problem, especially if you are out on an off road trip. It’s usually easy to diagnose a bad cooling unit:
First, the evaporator foam pack pocket needs to be sealed properly. Some manufacturers have instructions for this that include using a thermal mastic. That’s a good idea, except that they put it in the place where an insulator should be.
The next step is to install the evaporator sealing tape, which is included with the new cooling unit. Once the evaporator foam pack has been sealed, and the evaporator tubes have the tape applied, you’re ready to begin installing.
Once the cooling unit is attached to the evaporator frame, and the rear mounting screws are removed it can be inserted into the refrigerator. If it becomes stuck inside the evaporator foam pack pocket, you may need to jiggle or pry it loose.
If the evaporator tube is leaking, or you notice that there is an ammonia smell in your RV refrigerator, it is likely time to replace the cooling unit. A remanufactured Norcold cooling unit from Ozark is less expensive than replacing your entire refrigerator, and it will be a lot quieter too. We use heavier wall seamless tubing and a better boiler design than OEM or other aftermarket replacements, so they won’t break from thermal stress. norcold cooling units