Amish Refer Upgrade

[Craig P.]

I decided last year that I was going to either replace or improve my Norcold refer. It just doesn't cool well enough during the summer. I looked at two alternatives: retrofit the RV with a residential refer, or somehow improve what I already have.

My first choice was retrofitting with a residential unit. I found a counter depth energy star model that would fit, and got estimates on retrofitting all the of necessary electrical upgrades. The entire project would run about $4500.. That was a major drawback for me.

After reading countless reviews of the Amish refer replacement cooling units, I've decided that this was a good alternative to the much higher priced residential refer option. A plus is, I would retain the flexibility of running the refer on LPG.

After all of my rambling, I am just now getting to my question! The only place I've found that sells the Amish built cooling units is the RV Cooling Unit Warehouse. Are they indeed the only distributor? The unit I need currently lists for $1025, plus $50 freight.

Craig

[H. Miller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig P. Are they indeed the only distributor? Craig

That's what their web site and other ads say.......

[stik]

Along the same line, is the Amish unit a strictly Do It Yourself item, or has anyone had one installed by a professional, and if/so, who and where?

[kitkat]

Craig;
We installed the amish cooling unit you are speaking of. It came from the RV Cooling unit warehouse.It works great!! Ice cream actually gets hard in the freezer.We also paid 1025.00 plus 50.00 shipping.We live in Wi.They shipped it to a warehouse in Green Bay.about 20miles from our house. It works soooo much better than the Norcold lrim1200.

[Sammie]

I just recently replaced the cooling unit in my Norcold 1201 and as far as I know, RV Cooling Unit Warehouse is the only distributor for the Amish Built Cooling Units. When you call them ask for David Force and he will help you with any questions you may have. One of the best guys I've dealt with over the phone in a long time.

Pines RV Refrigeration in Shipshewana, Indiana. is the manufacturer of the Amish Built Units and if you are close to them, they will do a factory installation for you (Ask David about this). Otherwise you can get one shipped to a local RV repair shop who you trust and they can do the installation for you.

You can do the installation yourself if your handy with tools and save some $$$$ in labor. I did mine by myself and it really wasn't that hard. I called David several times to ask questions and he was very helpful.

Here is a video that I made while doing my installation. Hope it helps.

Sammie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgjDl5nwPMo

[docj]

We decided to simply replace the Norcold with a residential unit, a Samsung RF197 which provides 18 cu ft of storage in the same space. Samsung is the only company I know of that sells a counter-depth unit for a normal refrigerator price (~$1200). Samsung refrigerators will operate with a modified sine wave inverter which reduces the overall cost. With installation our total cost was ~$2500.

I realize that lots of people have had good luck with the so-called Amish unit (which is not Amish at all), but I couldn't bring myself to pay $1000 plus installation for something built by a small company with limited resources. Given the performance and safety issues that Norcold has experienced, it is not unreasonable to speculate whether similar issues will arise once enough Amish units are in use. Despite the good intentions of the manufacturer and distributor of these products, it is unlikely they would have the resources to withstand significant warranty or product liability claims. We have found that between our four 6-volt batteries, a small solar panel, and the MH alternator we have no need to run the generator when we are traveling and we hardly ever boondock so the lack of propane capability doesn't matter to us.

[ottffss]

Sammie has your answer. Pines RV Refer happens to install what they make, in Shipshewana. The dealer, RV Cooling Warehouse, uses 2 web site addresses but it's the same company...
http://www.rvcoolingunit.NET
http://www.rvcoolingunit.COM

[EMD_Driver]

This may not be your problem, but our Dometic RM2852 was having problems keeping cool during the summer months. I decided to try installing a fan, just inside the access panel and have it blow the air up through the back of the unit.

The fan I used, was an old computer fan I had lying around. It looks like this:



Once I got it installed, I wired it through a fuse and to the fridge's 12v power supply. After the install, the fridge maintained a constant 34-36*F, no matter how hot it was outside. Since I already had the fan, wire and fuse, this install cost me nothing but 10 minutes of my time.

[Craig P.]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I realize that some folks have completed the residential refer retrofit without upgrading their electrical supply, but we do boondock occasionally so I personally wouldn't perform the retrofit without the electrical upgrade.

I did try the 12V fan idea but for some reason it backfired. It actually increased my inside refer temps. I have read many reviews where it has helped others however.

I haven't spoken to David Force, but I have corresponded with him via email. He has been very helpful. Since it appears that he is indeed the only distributor of the Amish units, I will be ordering one from him. I have a very bad back so I won't be attempting the install myself. I found a local mobile RV mechanic who has installed many of the Amish units. He charges $600 for the install. The RV repair center that I normally use said they would charge $800, so I guess I'll go with the mobile guy. Much more convenient to have someone come to me anyway.

Thanks again folks.

Craig

[FreeByrd]

Contrary to one of the apparently misinformed replies above.

The main reason for my reply was that we had a leak in our 6 year old KZ Escalade Sportster a month ago and decided to take it back to the factory which happens to be in Shipshewana, IN some 800 miles away from our “then” current location in Eureka Springs, AR.
We originally picked KZ because it was one of the few "Family Owned" RV manufacturers remaining and they’d been building RV’s since 1972. It's been our experience that if we can deal with a family owned business, we usually seem to make out a little better with any issues that might arise "after the sale" than we would trying to talk to someone at a large corporation.

After the repairs were completed and before we left Shipshewana, we drove out to the “Family owned” Pines RV location. This is an area of beautiful pristine Amish Farms just outside of town with a very modest Farm House, a Barn and a large shop housing the refrigeration works. There were horses in the barn, the recognizable black Amish Carriage with the Orange Triangle, bicycles but no cars, trucks or tractors. I met the owner, Larry Miller, a nice young man in his 30’s, his father Mervin and later, I met Mervin’s son-in-law, Harley, who owns J C Refrigeration which is a separate shop a few farms down the road which bends all the tubing and does the welding prior to Pines RV’s final assembly, charging, testing and shipping of the finished cooling units.
Told them that I was the person that won David Force’s first Cooling Unit Installation Video Contest and had the cost of the Cooling Unit returned to us. That I just wanted to meet and thank them for building a fine quality product compared to the item that had originally come on the back of our RV fridge.
Harley did mention that they would not only be pleased to do, but would actually prefer to do the installation of their units. That way, they would know that the customer's new cooling unit install was done correctly.
Before leaving, they told me that if I ever had an issue with the unit to let them know. . . because they stood behind what they built.
You can call David Force for details on having Pines RV install a new Cooling unit for you if you prefer not to do it yourself. Not to mention that a day or two in Shipshewana is great. Fantastic food, shopping and a huge flea market in the summer.

I've had an Amish cooling unit in our rig for over 14 months now and the unit continues to perform flawlessly. I have since added 3 more fans to the slide out top vent to facilitate more air movement on a hot day.

By the way, KZ covered all the costs involved in the rebuild of our Bedroom slide out. (about $1,000). This is THE reason we try to do business with a smaller family owned company. We the customer are their bread & butter, we are valued by them and we will continue to let others know just how well we were treated. And, chances are, we’ll buy from them again.
Hope to See You Out There !
Mike

["007"]

Thanks for your answer FreeByrd my Newmar Amish built coach appreciates it.
Fridge will when it has its new cooling unit built by people who take pride in their work.

[Sammie]

Mike, I applaud the fact that you took the time to travel so far and give appreciation to some of the good, hard working people that are still trying to make a decient product and earn a dollar the hard way (by working for it). I also try to buy what I need from smaller family owned business's as much as I can because I know they are struggling to survive in this economy. I'm glad KZ was able to take care of you and get you back on the road.

See you down the road,
Sammie

[Craig P.]

FreeByrd,

Thank you very much for your detailed input. It's refreshing to know that these cooling units are exactly what they are advertized to be.

I ordered my unit from David Force yesterday.

Craig

[RCtime]

Craig

Would you please share your mobile RV repair guys Business name and number.
I am also a So. Calif. guy and would appreciate knowing .

Ron