RV Repair: Norcold N611 fridge, heating element, heat source

Question
Hey Bill...We have a Norcold N611 fridge in our 2003 Hornet T/T and it has stopped cooling...yes...just 2 months out of warrantee! It has worked fine for 3 years, and recently (last few weeks) seemed to be not cooling as well. We turned it off last week to defrost the freezer and now...NOTHING!!! The A/C heating element and the gas burner both seem to work fine, there are no bug nests or blockages in the vents, and we are getting no error codes on the control panel. The outdoor temps have been in the low 80's, and the unit used to work well even into the mid 90's. We haven't smelled any ammonia coming from it, and there's no discoloration (a local dealer told us to look for this) or anything on any of the visible tubing in back, so there's no obvious sign of a refrigerant leak. I have read your responses to other fridge questions and my question is this: 35 years ago, my parent's Shasta T/T fridge stopped working, and we were told to take it out, flip it upside down for a day or so, then flip it back and re-install it. This worked for about 2 years, then it did the same thing, we flipped it again, and it worked until we sold the trailer years later. I am assuming that flipping it upside down dislodged some blockage in the ammonia loop...am I right? Is this something we could (or should) try with the Norcold? Can we maybe save $1200 on a new one by trying this, or am I just kidding myself? Any other advice? Please HELP!!! Thanks!

Answer
Hi Daryl:
In an amonia system if you have a working heat source and the unit does not cool the cooling sytem is bad and needs replacing. It is not a serviceable system. I am in Alaska and have heard that there are a couple of places down in the lower 48 that are now recharging  amonia systems and I do not know how successfull they are. As far as I know the only fix is to replace the colling unit. Since the cost of the cooling unit is about 90% of a new fridge...... Turning refrigerators upside down occasionally works but most of the time does not. When it works it has to do with the oil that runs with the freon refrigerant and the oil and how the reed valves react in the compressor and not with an amonia system that has no compressor.
Good luck.
Bill