Alarms sounding from SAMSUNG 197 RF while driving on rough roads

[bkphotog]

HI

Just came back from a trip to Northern CA and I had to experience all the junk roads conditions on US 101 and I5.

Several months ago I had my "NORCOLD" taken out and replaced with a New SAMSUNG 197 refrigerator. Have been very happy with the installation and the use of the refrigerator.

On this trip though when ever we hit any overpass bumps and or radical dips in the road, we would hear a alarm coming from somewhere near the center of the motorhome. It would last about 10-15 seconds but was very nerve racking. I had the wife sit back near where we thought the alarm was coming from and to try to determine what was causing it to sound. She could not!!

Other information concerning this problem
1. The doors to the refrigerator were strapped closed.
2. The refrigerator is securely attached in the motorhome.
3. The refrigerator was attached to the inverter circuit and the inverter was turned on and operating.

This was a two day trip up north, so on the second day I decided to unplug the refrigerator and turn the inverter off. The refrig and the freezer were cold from the night before and this portion of the trip was only 4 hours. So when we arrived at the next camp ground it was still pretty cold and only increased a couple of degrees.

When I turned everything off for driving the alarm did not activate.

Here is my question's

1. Does any body have any ideas why this might be happening?
2. For those who have converted to a residential refrigerator, have you experienced this problem.
3. Can anyone offer any thoughts or help concerning this problem

I will thank all in advance for any assistance

Bill

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by bkphotog

HI

Just came back from a trip to Northern CA and I had to experience all the junk roads conditions on US 101 and I5.

Several months ago I had my "NORCOLD" taken out and replaced with a New SAMSUNG 197 refrigerator. Have been very happy with the installation and the use of the refrigerator.

On this trip though when ever we hit any overpass bumps and or radical dips in the road, we would hear a alarm coming from somewhere near the center of the motorhome. It would last about 10-15 seconds but was very nerve racking. I had the wife sit back near where we thought the alarm was coming from and to try to determine what was causing it to sound. She could not!!

Other information concerning this problem
1. The doors to the refrigerator were strapped closed.
2. The refrigerator is securely attached in the motorhome.
3. The refrigerator was attached to the inverter circuit and the inverter was turned on and operating.

This was a two day trip up north, so on the second day I decided to unplug the refrigerator and turn the inverter off. The refrig and the freezer were cold from the night before and this portion of the trip was only 4 hours. So when we arrived at the next camp ground it was still pretty cold and only increased a couple of degrees.

When I turned everything off for driving the alarm did not activate.

Here is my question's

1. Does any body have any ideas why this might be happening?
2. For those who have converted to a residential refrigerator, have you experienced this problem.
3. Can anyone offer any thoughts or help concerning this problem

I will thank all in advance for any assistance

Bill

Assuming you can duplicate the failure, while on the road, try running the reefer from the genset instead of the inverter. That will at least eliminate the reefer or the inverter from your scenario.

[Hipshot]

My Nocold will give a door alarm if nothing is on the top shelf. Weird, drove us crazy until we figured it out. Still don't know why. But doesn't matter, replacing the Nocold with a Samsung 197 in 2 weeks. Please keep us posted on what you find.

[bkphotog]

Thanks to those that have replied. Next time out I will try the genny instead of the inverter. DW assures me that we had items on the top shelf while we were driving. I also think that it is strange that you need something on the top self. We are also going to look a bit closer to the straps on the door to make sure they a shut tight.

My coach does ride rough, so I am going to bite the bullet and have the SOURCE ENG "Ride Enhancement Kit" installed in the next couple of months. I have already had the Source Eng "Trailing Arms" installed some time ago with KONI shocks, so the cost will be just for the REK unit and installation. Researching now for the best dealer even though I might go back to the same dealer who installed the trailing arms.

Thanks again to those who replied.

Bill

[Argosy]

Got a manual/get a manual, look for what conditions will make the refrigerator alarm and if any of those could be because of any conditions during your trip.

[paz]

The only alarm we get from our RF197 is if a refer door or the freezer drawer is open for a long time. You say the doors are strapped shut, but how about the freezer drawer? It doesn't take much to pull it open a fraction of an inch. That being said, however, the open door/drawer alarm isn't that loud. We can barely hear it with our old ears when we're sitting still, and we would never hear it when driving.

How big is your inverter, and where is it located? Is it possible you're getting an overload alarm from the inverter that may be occurring when the compressor tries to start? In addition to running the genset while you're driving as a test, you could also try running the fridge on the inverter while stopped.

[bkphotog]

Hi Paz

All the doors on the refrig and the frezzer are strapped while in motion.

The inverter in my MH is the Magnum unit and the refrigerator works perfectly when we are camping. The freezer goes to -2" degrees and the frig to 38" degrees within a short time after turning on the inverter. It also is fine when connected to a camp ground post of either 50 amp or 30 amp (such as when we are connected to our stick home.) It is also fine (no alarms) when we might stop at a rest stop for any given time along the route. Here it is only connected via the inverter and the engine is even off. I will do some research and run it only on the inverter to see if it sounds when the compressor kicks in using only the inverter while here at our home. The inverter is located in the passenger side rear compartment. Thanks for the thoughts.

By the way the alarm we were hearing was very loud.

Argosy:
The manuals I have only talks about a alarm when a door (frig or freezer) is ajar.

Bill

[Winepress]

I don't think the alarm is very loud when I have left a door open too long. If the temperatures are normal I would continue to look for other sources of the alarm noise your are hearing.

[Argosy]

Given the doors are strapped closed and that's the only alarm it doesn't seem likely it's coming from the refrigerator.

Is the inverter located where the alarm could be coming from it? How big is it, how heavy is the wiring to the batteries? I'm wondering if the frig compressor starts and the voltage drop at the inverter is enough to set off an alarm on it.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by bkphotog

On this trip though when ever we hit any overpass bumps and or radical dips in the road, we would hear a alarm coming from somewhere near the center of the motor-home. It would last about 10-15 seconds but was very nerve racking. I had the wife sit back near where we thought the alarm was coming from and to try to determine what was causing it to sound. She could not!!

When I turned everything off for driving the alarm did not activate.

Here is my question's

1. Does any body have any ideas why this might be happening?
2. For those who have converted to a residential refrigerator, have you experienced this problem.
3. Can anyone offer any thoughts or help concerning this problem

I will thank all in advance for any assistance

Bill

Bill,

The Samsung RF197 has only one alarm sound that I know of and it is a very distinctive door ajar alarm sound. Open one of the doors for a few minutes and you will hear what it sounds like.

It's a ding-ding-ding sound like an electronic bell.

If your wife was sitting next to the fridge and could not hear that specific alarm sound then it wasn't coming from the Samsung.

You need to look at some other possibilities.

If it was that specific sound then look at the alignment of the doors and drawer to make sure that the magnetic switches line up correctly. Those are the door ajar detectors. If the doors were not installed correctly and misaligned it's possible that you are getting a door ajar alarm even when the doors are fully closed.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[bkphotog]

Thanks Richard:

The alarm was not a ding : ding : ding electronic bell sound.

It was a loud constant sound lasting about 10 - 15 seconds every time we hit a intense bump or dip in the road.

I unplugged the refrigerator on our second day driving and on the way home while driving and the alarm did not sound when we hit some of the road issues. So I am still investigating the problem. As stated in my first post above, I am going to have the Source Eng "Ride Enhancement Kit" installed in a couple of weeks and then try a short trip again to see if the issue continues.

In the mean time I have "feelers" out to the installers to see if they might have some ideas. We may be looking into the connections via the inverter to make sure that there is not a loose connection in the system.

Right now I am having to deal with some other private issues not related to the MH issue and just have not had the time to explore this fully since returning home from our trip.

Thanks again to all:
Bill

[Sky_Boss]

I've never heard a "loud" alarm with my 197. Sometimes I barely hear it.

Not knowing what sound you are hearing let me toss out 2 possible sources in the coach; LP detector and Fire/Smoke detector. After that...I'm at a loss.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by bkphotog

Thanks Richard:

It was a loud constant sound lasting about 10 - 15 seconds every time we hit a intense bump or dip in the road.

Right now I am having to deal with some other private issues not related to the MH issue and just have not had the time to explore this fully since returning home from our trip.

Thanks again to all:
Bill

Ah-ha, that sounds like your chassis alarm going off telling you to make an appointment at Source Engineering ASAP to get their REK installed.

Truthfully, I have no idea what that might be but you can be guaranteed that it is NOT your fridge.

You will be very happy with the REK and the guys at Source. For a chassis such as yours they have some wonderful products to really help your ride comfort and coach control.

Good luck with your troubleshooting and also taking care of the other more important issues at hand.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[bkphotog]

Richard & Don

Thanks again for your input.

As for the smoke/fire alarm and the LP detector, that was my first thought when the alarm sounded. Those two items have a very different sound than what I was hearing. Also when the wife sat back near where the alarm seemed to be coming from she said that neither items were making any noise or showing the little red warning light. I will check again just to confirm.

As stated I have some other things going on right now so I have not had a chance to do investigate further. I will post if and when I determine the cause.

Thanks again to both of you for the input / thoughts and kind words.
Bill