Refrigerator Died... HELP

[gator67]

We have the Amana side-by-side and the compressor died. We had someone come over but we couldn't figure out how to move the fridge. I found out it is supposedly bolted to the floor from underneath. In my 38' rig, I had to undo the furnace panel to get to the bolts. I only found one bolt, but, I also found the plug is under there, too. There seemed to be no slack in the cord to enable the fridge to be moved out, and with all the wires going through the hole in the floor, the plug will not go up top so the fridge can be moved. Looks like we're going to lose all our food.

Is there just one bolt holding the refrigerator on? Is there slack in the cord but I just can't pull it from the outside because it's tangled with other wires? Has anyone else encountered this problem? Anyone understand how the fridge is actually installed?

[EngineerMike]

I did a quick search; this thread says there are 4 bolts and where folks found them in their circumstances.

Here is another on fridge failures including moving fridge. There may be others if you can search more cleverly than eye

[Wayne R]

Gator67,

On my 05 40FDQS there are 4 bolts holding the refer to the floor. 2 are in the 2ND bay back and 2 are in the bay where the holding tanks are. You can open the door where the holding tanks are by removing the 2 screws on the underside of the bottom of the door. Mine were about 4 inches long Allen head bolts. They have silver dollar sized washers under the heads. After you remove the 4 bolts take the black trim piece off below the refer doors and you will find 2 bolts that are used to raise and lower the wheels. Lower the wheels all the way down and the refer will roll right out. I had my compressor replaced inside the coach. I just rolled it into the kitchen area. I did this before the repairman arrived. I hate paying someone to-do what I can do.

[takepride]

My four bolts were hooks (that hooked over the reefer's frame at each corner) that are threaded at the straight end and nuts with fender washers snug the reefer to the floor. If you remove the nuts and washers, then the front trim piece under the doors, you can see the hooks on the frame. I lifted them off the fram and then, like Wayne, lowered the front rollers and slid everything out.

You will have to work the cord/plug up through the floor. There is some slack, but not a lot. It will certainly need to be pulled before getting the thing completely out. If all else fails, cut the plug and then later install a new plug end.

[EngineerMike]

As to the cord, I'd cut the plug regardless, put a new plug end on it, then install an extension cord thru the floor so I never have to mess w/that problem again.

[Wil Rathke]

Our compressor died about 2 years ago also. The repairman replaced it in the coach. He put down several pieces of plywood where he would be soldering so as not to burn holes in the carpet or make a mess. The fridge will not go out the front door. The window was the only option but not a very good one.

[gator67]

Thank you for the clue to look in the adjacent bay. I took out the two bolts in the one bay, and found the other two in the furnace bay. Actually, only the front one, because the back one had fallen out or was not put in... it's fairly inaccessible. I was afraid to push the plug end through the hole, but someone braver than I was able to do that. I was able to pull out the fridge without doing anything else, and disconnected the water line. There was enough cord to pull the fridge out without pushing the plug thru the hole, but probably not enough space to move it to where it could be worked on. I pushed it back in and the Amana person is coming Monday to fix it.

QUESTION: Is it okay to put a short extension cord through the hole and plug the fridge into that? Or is it safer to deal with the inconvenience of the current location?

[Wayne R]

I see no problem doing that. The refer does not draw that much power. In my tests the max draw was 4 Amps for just a brief period. I would get a heavy duty 4-6 foot AC cord though.

[EngineerMike]

For permanent installations I don't like molded plastic ends on a cord. I've had fridge cords w/partially melted down plug heads more than once. Usually the spring clips in the receiving part are weak and cause some heat in the contacts over time; occasionally the molded male end has poorly made connections to the conductors and again heat as a result.

Due to the hassle of getting to this setup, I'd get a piece of 14-3 cord and a couple of Leviton plug ends (M & F) and make up the extension. The Leviton ends have screw down connections that are good if you make them so, and the spring clips are usually very tight. All available at a home store hear you, or could be helicoptered in at a nominal extra charge.

[dgerstel]

I found it very easy to just remove the foam sealer from the hole in floor, allowing the plug end to fit thru. When I was done I just re-ran the cord and then resealed the hole.

[gator67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgerstel I found it very easy to just remove the foam sealer from the hole in floor, allowing the plug end to fit thru. When I was done I just re-ran the cord and then resealed the hole.

They ran so many cables/wires through the hole that we had to use the back of a screwdriver to force the plug up through the hole. When I pushed the plug back down, I bent a prong but there was no damage. I needed a bigger hole! Hope I don't have to do this too often. I do need to get some foam to replace in the hole.

[dgerstel]

WRV probably got wiser on the later coaches and made the hole bigger. I found the black foam at Home Depot or Lowes. It is for use in ponds and can be found in that section.