Norcold NRF-30 wiring (again)

almonde

So I've decided it's time to rewire the Norcold in my 2016 T@G (late 2015 production).  I want to hear from anyone who has done the wiring upgrade on their trailer what route (literally) they took.

The way it is wired currently is the Norcold power cable is hard wired to the back of the 12v cigarette lighter 12v outlet in the galley. When I removed the Jenson stereo I can see the splice of the Norcold power cord to a yellow (+12v) and white (ground) wires (16 awg urgh). Those wires go up above the air conditioner on their way to the power center. Not sure if I pull the AC out whether I can access them or if they go above that behind the TV?  

For people that have done the 10 gauge upgrade for the Norcold, did you get the 10 gauge wire over across to the power center and wire it in there, or did you get across to the power center side of the trailer and just drop directly down out of the hole in the floor to get to the wire tube to the front?

Basically I'm wondering how much people integrate the new 10 gauge wire into the camper wiring or if they run it completely independently and just drop out of a new hole in the floor on the Norcold side of the trailer below the Jenson? 

UpNort

I just did that project myself in July. I was going to post what was done but have been too busy catching up on and enjoying the camping I missed while trailer was torn apart for wiring. I have a 2014, so I'll assume its similar to yours.

After pulling out Jensen entertainment console, I discovered that the wiring to the cooler had been pinched against the bulkhead behind it. There is absolutely 0 clearance at the back of the console to the bulkhead. I have never had it apart, so I'm guessing this was done during installation at factory.

I read on this forum that a lot of people are running directly to the battery with a fuse. As you have found, the cooler, 12V accessory outlets, Jensen console and TV are all on the same circuit.

I had to remove the AC unit to gain access to the wiring. It may seem intimidating, but its not too difficult. After removing face frame, there are two screws underneath to remove. There is foil tape securing the foam panel exhaust plenum to the back or the AC unit. My AC pulled loose from the tape as I slid AC out.

With access to to the wiring, I removed splices to Jenson console, TV, and 12V outlets  and ran new 12AWG yellow wire from cooler cabinet to circuit breaker at the converter. I ran new 12 AWG white wire from cooler cabinet to ground bus strip near the power center. I did away with the blue 3M splices and made re-connections of TV, 12V outlets and Jensen console with Wago lever nuts. I plan on adding a switch for the Jensen and TV so that they are not using power (as little as it is) when not in use.

The Norcold harness and connector on my trailer was 16AWG. I replaced it with a 14AWG cooler harness I found on Amazon.

With air conditioner removed, its a good opportunity to clean out all the road dust in the cavity and inside your AC unit. Mine was filthy. I also cleaned all the fans.  I had to make a small repair to the foam panel plenum. I was able to make the repair with spray foam. New foil tape was used to seal unit to plenum.

I had no voltage errors on cooler after project, although new problem arose. See my post on Norcold too cold. I have also happily replaced my Norcold. That is also on another post.

 pinched wires

JamesDow

My tested 2018 Norcold NRF-30 pulls around 53 peak watts. 10AWG is fine but not needed at all. (Do some research for the run length)
I believe the stock Norcold AC adapter is 6 amp (6x12=72 watts)
I use 12 and 10 AWG for 30 foot solar panel runs of up to 30 feet for 20-30 amp loads.
 I have never had an issue with stock T@G wiring. If issues are present, I would look at connectors, wire and the Norcold unit itself. When a wire change to 10AWG is done, the connectors are changed.
Rewire is fine, but may not be needed.
Best of luck with any changes made. I hope they solve any issues being experienced.
 

 

ras

I opted to disconnect the internal T@G wiring and run 10 AWG wires with an inline fuse from the battery to the 12V connector behind the Norcold.  I routed it in a flexible plastic conduit along the inside of the trailer frame on the passenger side and up into the ventilating space behind the Norcold. Drilled a half inch hole into the space.  Sealed around the conduit with black all-weather sealant. 

The_Rigger

Not a Norcold, but my Iceco JP30 showed signs of power starvation when powered from the galley plugs, so I opted to add a 10ga. power line straight to the fridge from the battery power input at the WFCO, fused at 15A. That solved all the problems.

In the future I may change it to a "home run" wire from the fridge all the way to the battery positive terminal, but for the moment it'll do - I don't use the trailer enough to justify the effort right now.

arubino

I am pretty sure when I did myn, I went from the controller right to the Norcold - 10AWG - haven't had a problem since.  I also added a couple bus bars for the neutrals and cleaned the wiring up.  Like James mentioned - it could be a bad connection, so needless to say I became close with my wire crimper and bought lots of ends and ferrules.  oh - and I was able to pass the wire straight behind the opening for the AC unit - just above the insulated walls where the fans are.  I think I also removed the TV and opened that all up to get total access to all the wiring and see what was up.

almonde

Thanks for all the info, sorry about the late reply. I have to use Chrome to login here since Safari doesn't work for some reason and that limits which device i can use.

I think i'll start with a rewrire from the 12v connector near the Norcold back to the power center since that seems to have been enough for some folks. If that doesn't work i'll probably then rewire the WFCO power center back to the battery with uprated wiring.  Doing some basic guess work about the length of the run, and some online voltage drop calculations its not that unexpected this issue would exist given the current. It doesn't need much voltage droop on the battery itself in addition to wiring losses to pull the system down.

JamesDow

 
Just curious, are problems with Norcold unit occurring both on 120v converter 
power as well as 12v battery power? What year T@Gs does this low power condition exist in?

ras

In my case, Oct 2015 manufacture, sold as 2016.

anglachel

When I did mine just taped the new 12 gauge wires to the old ones had my wife give them a tug while I was in the trailer behind the electric panel and then I pulled the old ones out and the new ones in.