Nor-Lake Freezers - Page 2 - Recent Questions, Troubleshooting & Support

The thermostat sensor is located in the top rear of the interior of the unit, if you locate the dial to change temps on the inside of the unit, the sensor is attached to it, you may have to pull your fridge apart to get to it, but it can be done.

Regards Russ

Must be kept at 0*F (-18*C) minimum

Helloo roger.....Freezers have a thermostat to maintain the proper temperature. These are usually very simple devices. When the freezer reaches the set temperature, the thermostat interrupts the electricity flow to the compressor, which stops cooling. Set your freezer to a colder and colder setting until it doesn't cut out. If you are already at the coldest setting, your only option would be to change the freezer's internal thermostat to one that has a lower cut out capability. Most refrigeration technicians could find the thermostat for you to do this. Joe

Thanks for choosing Fixya!

I have a generic wiring diagram that I use on all my installs that works very well. It is basically the same for most all commercial walk in freezers. Send me a email address and I'll scan and forward what I have.

I would start there. If the thermostat has an off setting, turn it there and see if it goes off. If not, try turning it to it's warmest setting while the box is cold to see if it turns off. To test to see if the relay/ contactor is stuck/bad, kill power to the unit (Unplug or turn off breaker). Disconnect one wire to the thermostat. Restore power. If unit runs, bad relay/contactor. If unit does not run, I'd replace the thermostat. Make sure the sensing bulb of the thermostat is in the conditioned space of the box or in the return air (intake) side of the evap so it can sense the box temp.

start with checking the freon level. If too low, the txv will open and try to feed the evap. this can cause some overfeeding and give you some frost in some cases. It could also be a txv not feeding correctly. usually and overfeeding condition. causes frost build up on line and compressor and pressure in evap too high to remove the heat needed to properly cool. If a cap tube system, usually a sign of over charged or a real dirty condenser. In both cases, an evap fan, not properly working will cause a freeze up of the evap causing a high box temp and frost build up on the line and compressor.

Change the defrost timer.

Bad fan delay switch.

Normally freezers are kept at zero. Most health departments will not allow the temp to be higher than plus 10. If you want to store ice cream, you need to be at minus 10 degrees to minus 15 degrees.

let me know if I can be of any further help.

in most cases its the defrost element as the other units last much longer unless the fan has become jammed this happens when people toss meat hard against the back wall if you know how to do polaity test using a multimeter do test on defrost element its not a thermistate as new age frezzers dont use them they use timers and plastic channels to curculate cool air

good luck need more addvice email me

Hi John,

The symptoms do indicate a failed thermostat.

I am not sure where you could get a thermostat for this freezer but I would try contacting Norlake first. They may guide you to who has one or maybe they can sell you one. If it is a direct replacement it is something that you can do yourself.

http://www.norlake.com/

It is probably no more risky than drinking water from a clear running stream. The frost is formed from water vapour so as it is formes it is pure. I suppose it then depends on how old it is and what has come into contact with it. It should be ok though.

Look for thermostat. Usually located near the unit inside the conditioned space where the fans are.

either the cold control thermostat is defective or the rtc overload contactor has welded itself together and cant open and close the power contacts to the unit,un plug the cold control and see if the unit stops then

Normally, freezers are at 0 degrees. If you have ice cream, shoot for -10 degrees.

hope this is what you are looking for.

THE FLAPER IS NOT GOING SHUT
REPLACE THE PLUNGER

Good day,
You will need an ohm meter to check the parts.
Your defrost system has failed.
It is made up of 3 components, 2 of which are located behind the rear panel in the freezer compartment.
Remove the rear panel. There is a cooling coil, that has a calrod heating element that runs along it's bottom. As well there is a defrost thermostat ( a small round 1" disk) which is located on the top of the same coil. Both should be checked with an ohm meter to test for continuity. The heater should read no more than 30 ohms, the thermostat ( IT MUST STILL BE COLD BELOW 30 DEGREES) should read zero ohms. Note: The heater rarely fails, the thermostat has a high failure rate.

The third item is a timer, or a solid state adaptive defrost control. Depending on age, and model, it is located , behind the kick plate on the bottom front.
Or, in the fresh food compartment on the roof.
If it is a timer, you can turn the timer shaft when the machine is running until the machine shuts off. With it still turned on, wait 40 minutes.
If the machine turns itself back on, the timer is O.K. if not, the timer is bad, and needs replaced.
If the Main heater checks O.K. and it has a solid state control, then replace the thermostat in the freezer compartment, and the solid state board.

Below is an excellant tutorial on defrost systems.

http://www.appliance411.com/faq/howdefrostworks.shtml
Thank you for using FixYa

I assume there is no manual control for setting temp. so the thermal sensor or control circuit has failed and it is just staying at its maximum.  You will probably get more help from the manufacturer but their website is somewhat disjointed; looking for contact info for your product ends at one point and then shifts to their scientific product line.
The only general contact info I found is here:
Nor-Lake 
You will in any case need to have the correct model number at hand since the subject line doesn't sound like your freezer.