Norcold refrigerators - keep or replace

[1Poet]

I needed to repair or replace the Norcold 1200 in my coach. I seriously considered putting in a residential, but the cost was substantial and the logistics and things to check in order for it to work properly were daunting to this diy-er.
Then, somehow, somewhere, I found an Amish unit that would replace the entire cooling unit on the back of my Norcold and make it into a "residential" unit! And, it only used one amp to run at 110 volts, and could use a regular modified sine wave inverter like in my coach!
I did the work myself with a friend (we are both in our 70's) and I did not have to do any carpentry! Best news is it works like a charm, frozen ice cream and cooool in the fridge. Best decision I ever made. Total cost was just the unit itself from JR Refrigeration in Sesquehana, Indiana, at about $1300.
If you want reliable, safe refrigeration for your coach and have a Norcold or Dometic elec/propane fridge, there is a reliable, relatively affordable alternative to a residential unit.
Disclaimer: I do not work for JR Refridgeration and receive nothing from anyone, anyhow for my reference. Just a happy camper!👍😎

[nehog]

As I type, the fridge is at 33, and the freezer is 14 in our Norcold. It was replaced with a new one when we got the coach about three years ago, and has worked well ever since. When/if the existing cooling unit fails, I'll replace it with a compressor type.

[shootist]

Originally Posted by nehog

As I type, the fridge is at 33, and the freezer is 14 in our Norcold. It was replaced with a new one when we got the coach about three years ago, and has worked well ever since. When/if the existing cooling unit fails, I'll replace it with a compressor type.

A freezer at 14 is not adequate for any long term storage , the rule of thumb is you loose half the food life for every five degrees above 0. Assuming 2 years for frozen red meat, 14 takes you into the 6 to 3 month time frame.

[djbmsu]

You will be further ahead by breaking the Norcold up in little segments !

[Enchanter]

My 2007 Winnebago Adventurer came with the 4-door Norcold refrigerator with ice maker. After complaining that it wasn't getting cold enough, my extended warranty company first insisted on replacing most of the cooling parts and when that didn't work I received a factory fresh, new unit last year. It stays cold now but ice cream is still soft so I stopped buying it and simply accepted it's just God's way of keeping me fit.

I like the way the refrigerator switches over to propane whenever it's not plugged in at a campsite. Having gotten used to that feature alone, a residential unit simply doesn't appeal to me. I've also heard that residential units were not designed to handle the constant jostling and road shock sustained while mounted inside a moving vehicle.

[Reacher]

Residential vs norcold aka nevercold? Residential wins hands down in all categories:


Size, More cubic feet for your refrigeration pleasure.
Efficiency, More insulation and lower power consumption.
Temperature, consistent zero degree freezer and 37 degree refrigerator temps.
Frost free! Never have to defrost it.
Durable, I've never heard of a properly installed unit breaking down due to being mobile.
Safety, I've yet to hear of a residential unit catching fire and killing its owner.



The DW liked our old NC1200 but now loves our 3 door Whirlpool for the above reasons.

[shootist]

Originally Posted by Reacher

Residential vs norcold aka nevercold? Residential wins hands down in all categories:


Size, More cubic feet for your refrigeration pleasure.
Efficiency, More insulation and lower power consumption.
Temperature, consistent zero degree freezer and 37 degree refrigerator temps.
Frost free! Never have to defrost it.
Durable, I've never heard of a properly installed unit breaking down due to being mobile.
Safety, I've yet to hear of a residential unit catching fire and killing its owner.



The DW liked our old NC1200 but now loves our 3 door Whirlpool for the above reasons.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...M=VIRE&PC=MOZB

[shootist]

I really like this one. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...VDRVRV&PC=MOZB. Mr greenpeace thought we would all be better off with propane and butane instead of r134 in our refer pumps. One of these killed 70 people in England from the fire that ensued. Not all manufacturers are using explosive refrigerants but many are. And although not much being said, they are not dot legal propane containers, lol.

[jack35p]

Originally Posted by Doug427

Thank you for that. IN fact I have a Samsung fridge at home. It's been reliable and trouble free, but it's only 3 years old. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.......
I'll have to look into the Fischer Paykel. I have heard before that they are quality built. As you said this does not appear to be a easy replacement job. I'd rather do that on a one and done basis.

Just keep in mind that NOTHING in a R.V. is actually made to go bouncing down roads. You can and will have problems with everything!!

[Jeepster]

My “NotCold” was replaced in 2012 with a Samsung 197 Residential and has been one of our best decisions since purchasing our 2006 Holiday Rambler in 2010. The “NotCold” was not cold even after a new cooling unit. The very possibility of fire was the straw for me....did I really want grandkids sleeping in this MH? Minor physical alterations, 50% larger interior, no issues electrically, way more attractive appearance......no brainer!!

[Piros1]

Originally Posted by Doug427

I'd written a long post with many questions previously and it was suggested to break it up into many individual posts. I'll start doing that here. I've decided to target mid-2000's era Winnebago Vectra / Itasca Horizon 40KD coach with a Cummins 400HP engine for purchase. All questions are related to that model.

I have it narrowed down to two individual units. I'll probably pull the trigger on one or the other after the holidays.



This post will deal with the fridge. I have heard good and bad on the Norcold units. The two coaches I am considering both have 4 door Norcold refrigerators. I absolutely need to have reliable refrigeration, not only for comfort and convenience reasons. My wife takes a crazy expensive injection every week, and it MUST stay cold. If it gets warm and goes bad, it's about $1500 a pop!


My plan is to have a good cold sand reliable fridge with a ice maker as the first line. The first backup will be a small version of the electric refrigerated coolers that mount below in the outdoor entertainment/storage area. The second backup will be a small countertop mounted independent ice maker with a small Yeti cooler stored underneath ready to go should it be needed. All of this can be more than paid for with the cost of only one injection going bad.



So the question becomes how reliable are the Norcold refrigerators? Do they get as cold as a regular fridge? I would like to keep it if possible as I understand they function well ever while driving without the generator running. With a home style refrigerator I would have to keep the generator running while driving to keep the fridge going, is that correct? I'd rather not have to do that, both for fuel and noise, and for wear and tear on the generator too. Do the Norcolds have an icemaker inside? Does it work well typically? How cold and reliable are they, typically?



Thanks!

I have two comments regarding your post. First I have had eight different RV’s with both Dometic and Norcold fridges and both are equally unreliable at keeping consistently cold to the point we really had to watch our food to prevent spoiling. We also have had residential fridges and by far they are the most reliable. I rarely run my generator while traveling unless I want to use the roof AC. In most cases if not always it is best to have an extra bank of batteries with a inverter for your fridge to run off while traveling. In my case my batteries charge off the engine alternator while driving and I think this is common. If you are handy you could set this up yourself or look for an RV that is setup this way.

Your choice of coach I am not fond of. I am not extremely versed on the particular model you are looking at but my previous coach was a Winnebago Journey 39Z. Drove horribly in the wind and while passing trucks. A lot of white knuckle experience with it. Not to mention the brakes were terrible. I did add a Safe-T-Steer to it and that was an improvement. As for as brakes go we tried everything available with minimal improvement. Stopped better with my trailer in tow.

To qualify my driving experience I am a Class A CDL drive with a lot of miles under my belt driving just about anything imaginable including oversized loads and my Winnebago was on of if not the worst vehicle I have ever driven long distance. I presently own and drive a 2005 Country Coach and is it a great experience to drive.

Just thought I would share my experience with you because Motorhomes are big investments with horrible resale and gate to see good folks throw money away. Good luck in what ever your choices are and be safe.

[SurfsideGolfer]

Why would you not use an inverter to keep power to fridge when traveling? I’ve been doing this for a year now, without problems staying cold. You could not pay me enough to put that fire hazard Norcold back in my MH.

[MSGDLD]

You don’t indicate whether you’ve previously had an RV of any type. If this is so, you might want to go slow before making a major change and expense with your fridge. It sounds like you wisely want a 12v chest unit in the basement as backup, let that be your fail safe until you know how you’ll use it. I thought the DW and I would be doing a lot more boondocking than we have. So far it’s only been when we’re on the road, for instance 3 days to go to Texas from Ohio.

Take a good look at the JC Refridgeration (http://www.jc-refrigeration.com/) units. They have Amish built heavy duty absorption cooling units, and have either 12V or 120V compressor units for RV fridges that draw about half the amps of a residential, and there’s no worries about the fridge fitting.

Our Norcold, a 2 door 8 cu. ft. Model, started getting unreliable 2 years ago at age 18. Precipitates plug the small orifices in the tubing, driving and the vibration shakes them out and it works again. This past week I didn’t even start it until we were on the road, and it worked fine for the 7 days we were out. It helped it was cool outside, and probably more help was the Smart Products brand fan I installed. It was to temperature within a couple hours.

I’ll be getting the 120V version from JC Refrigeration this coming spring. Two major reasons, our driveway is on too much of a slope for us to use an absorption fridge, and we have limited room in our 30’ gas class A coach for extra batteries. I’ll use an inverter to power it when not on AC. Since we’re only 5 hours from them, I’m going to have them install it.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your RV!

[Zooandmrfox]

Our first rig was a 1998 Fleetwood Prowler 26H. It had a Dometic fridge unit in it. That fridge kept food from molding for months, that would usually mold in weeks.

Now.... In our 2018 Jayco Eagle Ht. .. We have a norcold. Food molds faster than it would in a residential fridge, the water catch has no edge to catch the water dripping from cooling unit, is constantly dripping all over the fridge, the water drain is frozen shut no matter how cold it not we keep it, water is flowing out of the bottom of the fridge. This is the worst sealed, working fridge I have ever heard of. When we can afford it. We will be buying a Dometic again.