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druuid
Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2021
Posts: 27
Location: West Coast, Canada
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 Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 11:22 am Post subject: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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Working on getting the old Norcold going again with propane.
I took apart the whole burner box assembly, cleaned burner, reseated the thermocouple and lighter.
Ignition and everything worked as I tested 3x all successfully before re-install.
Re-installed and before fully securing screws and such tested one last time and as the relighter was ticking it just suddenly stopped.
I thought this must mean the relighter just died on me, so I order a new one and install it and get nothing.
I used a multimeter and tested all connections and checked all fuses and all is good.
I get 12.5v of power to board and nothing happens.
I took both my old and new relighter to my bench and tested with a power supply at 12v and both work great.
Anyone have any ideas on why with battery 12v power it isn't able to power up the relighter?
Is there some something I'm missing in checking that would limit amperage or cause this to happen?
I'm stumped as to what needs to be done in order to get this relighter powered up again for the ignition to start working.
Thanks for any help! |
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TheOneTrueQuux
Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2021
Posts: 448
Location: Winona, MN
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| Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 12:58 pm Post subject: Re: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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| druuid wrote: |
Working on getting the old Norcold going again with propane.
I took apart the whole burner box assembly, cleaned burner, reseated the thermocouple and lighter.
Ignition and everything worked as I tested 3x all successfully before re-install.
Re-installed and before fully securing screws and such tested one last time and as the relighter was ticking it just suddenly stopped.
I thought this must mean the relighter just died on me, so I order a new one and install it and get nothing.
I used a multimeter and tested all connections and checked all fuses and all is good.
I get 12.5v of power to board and nothing happens.
I took both my old and new relighter to my bench and tested with a power supply at 12v and both work great.
Anyone have any ideas on why with battery 12v power it isn't able to power up the relighter?
Is there some something I'm missing in checking that would limit amperage or cause this to happen?
I'm stumped as to what needs to be done in order to get this relighter powered up again for the ignition to start working.
Thanks for any help! |
Are you sure it's supposed to be sparking? It's only supposed to spark when the flame isn't confirmed. |
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druuid
Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2021
Posts: 27
Location: West Coast, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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| TheOneTrueQuux wrote: |
Are you sure it's supposed to be sparking? It's only supposed to spark when the flame isn't confirmed. |
Correct, it will only spark when the thermocouple does not have a voltage due to a flame.
In my case there is no flame and there is no voltage in the thermocouple so it should spark.
I even tried disconnecting the thermocouple (only supplying power to the relighter) and it still didn't begin sparking as it should.
This eliminates the thermocouple being bad or any other component related that I can think of. |
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TheOneTrueQuux
Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2021
Posts: 448
Location: Winona, MN
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| Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:14 pm Post subject: Re: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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| druuid wrote: |
| TheOneTrueQuux wrote: |
Are you sure it's supposed to be sparking? It's only supposed to spark when the flame isn't confirmed. |
Correct, it will only spark when the thermocouple does not have a voltage due to a flame.
In my case there is no flame and there is no voltage in the thermocouple so it should spark.
I even tried disconnecting the thermocouple (only supplying power to the relighter) and it still didn't begin sparking as it should.
This eliminates the thermocouple being bad or any other component related that I can think of. |
I've just been troubleshooting one of these, and I think the flame sensing is done with ionization current through the sparker, or some other means, because you can disconnect the white wires to the interrupter and the relighter stops sparking when the flame lights.
This makes sense, as by the time the thermocouple cools down enough to have a voltage drop, the interrupter has already shut off the gas flow, and only a manual re-light by pressing the red button will get it going again. The idea with the relighter is that if the flame gets snuffed out by a gust of wind or whatever, it'll re-light the flame before the thermocouple cools down enough to shut the gas safety valve off. |
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druuid
Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2021
Posts: 27
Location: West Coast, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:18 pm Post subject: Re: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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I think I've narrowed down the issue to the 12v power source actually.
The 12v DC for the relighter is not behaving correctly at all.
Does anyone know where this connects to?
I think it is the starter battery, but is there a terminal point where this is?
I'm getting very inconsistent voltage readings from it anywhere now from 10v to 12v.
When it is 12v as soon as the relighter draws down power from it, it almost goes to zero.
As a test I used the connection going to the house (coach) battery for the cigarette lighter port above the fridge as the power source and it works no problem!
I'm considering splitting this connection and using it instead if I can't figure out where the other one is coming from and can't fix it.
Any insights into wiring diagrams for a 95 EVC for this would be great!
Thanks for any help. |
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1961tbird
Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2018
Posts: 318
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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TheOneTrueQuux
Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2021
Posts: 448
Location: Winona, MN
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| Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 12:08 pm Post subject: Re: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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| druuid wrote: |
Does anyone know where this connects to?
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I'm not in front of my van, but I'm pretty sure there's a circuit breaker for the fridge in the panel at the back left corner of the van. It's powered off the house battery, and uses quite a lot of current in 12V mode, almost none in gas mode. |
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druuid
Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2021
Posts: 27
Location: West Coast, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 2:14 am Post subject: Re: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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Thanks, but actually I had meant the wiring diagram for the whole EVC 
I found the 1997 version and it showed me what I needed. |
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druuid
Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2021
Posts: 27
Location: West Coast, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 2:24 am Post subject: Re: Norcold 3163 relighter power |
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| TheOneTrueQuux wrote: |
I'm not in front of my van, but I'm pretty sure there's a circuit breaker for the fridge in the panel at the back left corner of the van. It's powered off the house battery, and uses quite a lot of current in 12V mode, almost none in gas mode. |
Correct it does.
After referencing the wiring diagram for a 1997 (which seems to be close enough to my 95), all the wiring does go back to the breakers.
I think I'm dealing with a bad breaker (according to typical symptoms I'm seeing with inconsistent power) and will most likely need to replace it.
I got the fridge working no problem using the cigarette lighter port for power just above the fridge.
I'll leave this bypass in place until I can source the proper breaker replacement.
Anyone know a good source for these?
I found the exact one on Amazon but sadly it is "unavailable".
eBay and digiKey don't have it either.
The unique thing on these is that one pole is straight and the other is a 90degree with a screw (there are a few like this out there but not the exact specs to this "Winnebago" one).
The model is 17415-12 (50VDC, 250VA, 15amp).
I've found plenty of 15amp ones that have 2 straight poles. I might just use a short cable to screw to the terminal with one of these if I can't find the exact one.
Thanks all! |
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