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As we posted before, we ordered the Samsung RF197 from Lowes after developing a cooling unit leak in our Norcold. Lowes said it would be 42 days before delivery, however, we got it in about 3 weeks. I started preparing the hole for the Samsung. Since we are full-timers, we bought a 3 cu ft. fridge from Costco and a lot of canned goods.
In preparation, I removed the doors from the NO-cold I removed the passenger front seat, the doorstop and right arm of the door awning. I covered our dash with a blanket and then a new tarp. This all gave the required width.
With the help of three friends, we began to remove the NO-cold. After removing it from the hole, I then removed the cooling unit. This made it so much lighter and easier to get out the door. After removing the Norcold, we discovered a burned spot in the ceiling above the cooling unit. We had had the recall done in January so we feel very lucky there was no fire. There was absolutely no problem getting it through the door and I later removed the wood fronts (which are just cabinet doors). These can be used for later projects.
Because there was not enough height to keep our back furnace, I had to remove it. I moved the fridge subfloor to the floor I then plugged the propane lines, and I left the 12 volt lines for the heater, (just in case future use ?).I sealed everything up with foam spray filler I stuffed the existing insulation in the vent hole I insulated the inside of the heater cover after placing a chrome-covered piece of Styrofoam in the vent holes I used a piece of door skin to cover the inside cover and the top vent .I mounted both the 110v lines in the back corner so that I could choose inverter or not.
We received our Samsung earlier then expected. Lowes delivered our refrigerator to the campground where we were staying. One of the guys had removed the Samsung doors on another fridge so that helped. They used a strap that they use for freezer deliveries (shoulder harness with a strap between each of them). The guy on top had a hard time backing up far enough because of the pilot seat (I suggest removing it also), The bottom guy had to lift the bottom to high that we had to help him lift higher and help push him up the stairs. They reattached the doors and adjusted them I tipped them well. They remained pleasant and professional. Great to have this kind of service. Lowes also had previously called several times to keep us informed of the status of our shipment.
We (our good friend and I) opted to finish the install ourselves since the Samsung was inside now. So I started by rolling it on top of an upside down rug to make it easy to slide sideways. We slid it in to place and rolled it in the hole to see how far back and how it would fit . I had to remove the thermostat and the front ceiling vent switch off the wall, to make room. It was very tight with only 2 inches in front of the fridge near the wall where the switches were. It was a warm day so reconnected the thermostat to turn a/c on. Unfortunately I forgot to remove them again so got a little ding in the front of the Samsung from the thermostat.
I mounted the backstops and the extension to mount the front. I removed the leveling adjusters To make the fridge level I had to drop the front a little so I cut out notches from the trim in front so the wheels would drop a little. In order to put the fridge back in I had to lift It a couple of inches to get it above the extension mounts so I put two 2x6s under the wheels. I slid it past the one mount then lined it up and slid it into the hole. I needed to shim the one side in back to make it level then I screwed three lag bolts through the bottom of the fridge in back and mounted the bolts in front. I had to put some screws in front of the wheels to hold it in place and then I drilled holes in the mounting plates. I had installed and put a bolt in each. I connected the water line, plugged it in and sat down and admired my work. We had our first tray of ice in less then 4hrs (and about every hour or so we had a new tray of ice) the freezer was -2 the fridge 38. SWEET.
The next day I took the wooden vent cover that had been in front of the heater on the bottom cut it down to half the size, then mounted it on top of the fridge hole. I now have access to the top; I’m planning to mount a strap (a 2in luggage strap that has a plastic latch, I will mount the strap on top in the middle of the fridge so it goes right down the middle covering both doors and the drawer) and one end of the latch on the bottom. That way I can slide the strap in on top of the fridge when parked. When traveling we will place the curtain-rods inside the fridge to keep the food from pushing on the doors. I will pull the strap down and latch it on the bottom keeping the doors from opening. Thanks to ALL for your help and information. We would not have had the courage to do this without IRV2. I am attempting to attach pictures.
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