Dave's Place
8600 Series Power Supply Board

Before attempting any repairs or testing, check out the electrical safety pages.

There are three versions of this board. The first board had the on/off slide switch like in the graphic below, as well as a transformer on the board that converted 120 volt to 12 volt. This would allow the refrigerator to work if 120 volt was available and 12 volt was not. The second board to come out did away with the transformer (probably because of cost) and the slide switch. However, without the switch, you couldn't turn the refrigerator completely off and there was a small milliamp draw. On the last version, the on/off slide switch was reinstated. The Power Supply Board shown is the latest and most common.

The Power Supply Board controls and activates all of the heat sources ( AC, DC, and gas) of the refrigerator. It requires 12 volt power at all times for the refrigerator to work on any heat source. The Power Supply Board takes its settings from the Eyebrow board and proceeds accordingly. It provides voltage to the Ignition Control Module when gas is selected, and sends voltage directly to the 12 volt element and 120 volt element, when those heat sources are selected. The board shown below is for a 3 way model of the 8600 series. The 2 way version would not use terminals J3 and J6.

Troubleshooting the Power Supply Board is a matter of testing what should come in and go out of the board. See the table above for information on that. Also, the fuses on the board should be tested. To access the fuses, the cover has to come off the board. Unplug the refrigerator, then disconnect all the wires going to terminals on the board. Pull the cover, then reconnect the wires for testing if necessary. This is also a good time to inspect the board for burned spots. Please note that the fuse for the 12 volt heat element is not on the board, but is an inline fuse between the board and the heat element.

Norcold Electronic System (second generation) Home

RV Refrigerator Home