Norcold Recall on an '07 Meridian

[amanda_h]

I thought there may be a thread on this already because there are quite a few older Journey/Meridian owners here but I didn't see anybody chiming in on the other threads with a Journey.

When you had the Norcold recall done, did they have to unbolt and move the refrigerator as they have to do with other Winnebagos?

I'm wondering if I have to throw out everything or try to keep some stuff and take a chance we won't die in a fire while we are waiting to get the repair done. We are thinking of taking a chance. I know that it will release Norcold of responsibility for our death if a fire occurs but we just ran into the recall notice by accident as we were not notified by mail from either Norcold nor Winnebago so we may have not even noticed that there was a recall in the first place.

So Journey/Meridian owners what did they do when they installed the cut-off switch? Thanks.

["007"]

Amanda, Nothing pacific to the Journey everyone with a Norcold 4 door or 2 door or Dometic are within the recalls.
The recall does nothing to prevent the eventual of failure of your cooling unit its to supposedly prevent a fire from escape of ammonia from cooling unit.
Thats why most of us are looking into placing fire extinguishers within the vent area.
There are many threads on board related to fires and there prevention.

["007"]

mdee19 welcome to irv2.
All recalls auto or motor homes need to be taken seriously its you and your family's safety at state.
Enjoy the forums and do be safe.

[amanda_h]

Thanks for the replies.

No, my question is specific to Journey/Meridians. I've read elsewhere where Norcold is allowing more time to do the recall fix for Winnebagos because their outside access compartment is quite a bit smaller than those of other manufacturers (Tiffin, Newmar, etc.). Therefore, the refrigerator itself has to be unbolted and moved forward a bit in order for the recall fix to be done.

My question is if anybody with a early model Journey/Meridian that has already had the cutoff switch installed if they had to unbolt the refrigerator to move it or were they able to get to the cooling unit without moving the refrigerator to do the recall.

We have a 1211 4-door.

Yes, I understand that the cooling unit will eventually fail and this recall is just to prevent the devastating fire which will result.

Thanks.

[two2go]

If you can see the cooling grid, an electrical circuit panel, and a flexible portion of the vent stack just above the burner section and can reach them from the access panel, the tech should be able to do the job from the outside. The Norcold kit only involves those components. That's how it was on my unit anyway.

[Knightly]

amanda_h. I just had my Norcold frig. recall completed about 10 days ago. I have the large, two door c/w ice maker. It was done at Camping World in Charlotte, S.C. I only have a small, outside access panel but the techs had no problem doing the job within one hour. The fridge did not have to be moved.

Knightly,
2007 Itasca, 35', 3 slides, W24 W/H chassis

[amanda_h]

Thanks two2go and Knightly.

I just found Jeff's post in another thread and it appears that the fridge doesn't have to be moved in his '06 Meridian but he did say that the LP has to be disconnected.

Sorry for not doing more research before posting this thread.

[powerboatr]

my parts are supposed to be shipped next week???
meanwhile its been three that the fridge is to be off and we use ice chests

lucky us its been 40-60F here the last few weeks

MRE's are getting old



my rv guy told me he could do the recall in less than hr and most likely 30 minutes, with no fridge removal...

[Catpowered]

I had my Meridian done yesterday. It took them about 30 minutes and they did not have to remove the refrig. Most of the work (maybe all of it, I didn't watch) was done from the outside access to the Norcold. From what I gathered, they just had to replace a heat sensor in the electrical wiring.

[rebelone]

Had mine done, 2004 Monaco Camelot, all done from outside, 30 minutes

[amanda_h]

Oh, thanks for the additional replies.

I've been calling around locally and the two places that are willing to do the recall work have told me that it will take at least a month for Norcold to supply the recall parts kit.

They both have quite a few customers that are waiting for the kit. Both of them said that the full-time customers are for the most part disregarding the Norcold warning to completely disable the refrigerator until the kit can be installed and are continuing to use their refrigerators.

One said (and this is one of the prominent well-regarded dealers in town) that 9 out of 10 who are waiting for the kit are continuing to use their refrigerator. The other said that the chances of a cooling unit failure that results in a fire that destroys the motorhome is slim but Norcold has to cover the butts.

I'm surprised that they both said this as they may be leaving themselves open for liability. I talked to another RVer who was a former fire inspector and he said that he's investigated RV fires and out of the dozens he's investigated, only one was attributable to a refrigerator failure. He claims this situation is being over-hyped.

With all this said, we are on the fence as to what to do ...keep using the fridge for a month until the part can be installed or disconnect. I know what most of you wll say, "why risk your life and property --disconnect the refrigerator!!!"

We probably will do that when it comes right down to it. We're shopping around for a portable fridge right now to use for a month.

Both said that the Dometic recall want a lot smoother because Dometic had the part readily available when the recall went into effect. Norcold, on the other hand, can't keep up with the demand for this most recent recall covers just about all the RV refrigerators they made.

[two2go]

I got the recall info on Nov 1 while in Yuma. I called Norcold immediately and gave them my info and they gave me three local Yuma repair shops. I called until I found one that could get me in within a month, and they ordered the parts. On Nov 3, we got notice of a family death and we had to leave the coach on site unattended in Yuma for 10 days with the refer on and full. I figured no problems in 5 years before then, what are the chances of a problem in the next few days? Anyway, that's why we have comprehensive insurance.
We got back, no issues, and the parts were in and waiting for us. The fix took an hour because the tech was thorough and chatty.