Community Forums

plasma800 · 01-22-2014, 07:44 PM

A buddy just informed me about the Norcold recalls, and mines in the list.

What to do!?

I'm 2000 miles from home, a super busy driving schedule in front of me, and a fridge FULL of food.

Keep the fire ext. handy i guess HA! But man, what a hassle to deal with.

So my friend has the EXACT same bus, and he moved to a 197, but it was a LOT of work, he didn't trust the fix from norcold, which by the way triggered on his fridge.

What do I do now?

Spizzer · 01-22-2014, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plasma800

A buddy just informed me about the Norcold recalls, and mines in the list. What to do!? I'm 2000 miles from home, a super busy driving schedule in front of me, and a fridge FULL of food. Keep the fire ext. handy i guess HA! But man, what a hassle to deal with. So my friend has the EXACT same bus, and he moved to a 197, but it was a LOT of work, he didn't trust the fix from norcold, which by the way triggered on his fridge. What do I do now?

From your profile, your rig is an 05....over eight years without a problem. I think the odds are you can go a little longer before getting the recall done. If you bought it used recently, there is a good chance the recall has already been done. You can call and find out. If it has, just press on, and forget about it.

Jeff

**CLIFFTALL** · 01-23-2014, 04:37 AM

Take off the outside vent cover and see if you have this little black box about a 3" square and this yellow tag.

Click image for larger version

Name: image-22132043.jpg
Views: 198
Size: 499.9 KB
ID: 54474

Click image for larger version

Name: image-1195711522.jpg
Views: 227
Size: 446.8 KB
ID: 54475

If you do , the recalls been done.

GregOk80 · 01-23-2014, 04:41 AM

I have a though that the recall on Norcold is because so many people use the fridge in a unlevel setting.

Steve N Sal · 01-23-2014, 05:09 AM

As Clifftall pointed out, check to see if it's been done. If not there are plenty of places that can correct the problem. Give Norcola a call and they will give you some info on repair centers. Find the closest to your location and have it performed. We have a friend in our park that lost their coach last year. Yes, it was a Norcold.

Stan&Jacquie · 01-23-2014, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve N Sal

As Clifftall pointed out, check to see if it's been done. If not there are plenty of places that can correct the problem. Give Norcola a call and they will give you some info on repair centers. Find the closest to your location and have it performed. We have a friend in our park that lost their coach last year. Yes, it was a Norcold.

Just went through this with much disappointment. The recall does nothing to correct the problem. The thermal switch merely prevents the frig from overheating and hopefully from catching fire. The downside to this is...
You have no FIX
If the unit shuts down, you have no cooling.
Resetting must be done by a tech (though you can do it with a strong magnet) and still have a potentially unsafe condition.
Erratic performance
Poor performance as outside temps climb
All this for a frig that doesn't cool or make ice anywhere near what a residential unit will produce.

No brainier...switch to a samsung now to secure your safety and safe a lot of money....and to have peace of mind .

Just my humble opinion.

Jimooo · 01-23-2014, 07:52 AM

That is correct the recall is for a new type of overheat protection sensor located in your small black box, once it is retrofitted with new overheat sensor it is still critical to have the refrigerator as level as possible, also the new recall black box should be resettable if an un level condition happens and causes a ammonia circulation problem resulting in high temps in cooling unit coils.
Be sure to keep level all the time , check door seals do dollar bill test all around seals , never put hot food in it , plan your door openings to help retain the cool air, during summer heat it helps to provide shade and proper air circulation to cooling unit side, and what I do once every two months is defrost it for at least 6 hours preferably 12 hours for maximum cooling temps , an absorption refrigerator should be treated with care it is real sensitive to changes and takes a long time to recover from a lost circulation event .

Good Luck, with your recall

James

wildmandmc · 01-23-2014, 08:03 AM

my rv has the fix done, but with all the info on this site, my next rv search going to be a bit longer. as the list of things/products that i don't want going to determine if i go to step 2 on looking at an rv.

Smitty77 · 01-23-2014, 09:43 AM

Do some searching on Norcold, and you will read many options. IMO, regardless of age, do take some countermeasures. Some options:

-Swap out to residential
-Do all of the recalls
-Do an Amish Cooling Unit swap out
-Add the SS-30 Halon Extinquisher
-Add a fire/smoke detector to the rear cabinet area
-While working on this add extra external fans to the rear cooling unit

It depends on how long you plan to hang onto the coach, and how important the propane option is to you.

We liked our units size, and wanted to maintain propane for boondocking. We did the first recall, then the second. When they came out with the third Mickey Mouse recall, I decided NOPE! So, we went with:
-Amish Cooling Unit (very well built, and the fridge runs at a lower number setting to maintain the same temps)
-SS-30 Halon extinquisher
-Smoke/Fire detector in rear cabinet area
-Two additional pancake cooling unit fans. (Both set to come on by me, when I feel the extra fans are needed. Like in 115 temps of the desert.)

Costs for all of this was a bit less then the residential fridge route.

Do take this seriously, and either do the recall, or some other countermeasures to be sure you are safe.

Best of luck,
Smitty

MSHappyCampers · 01-23-2014, 09:43 AM

Get in touch with David Force at RV Cooling Unit Warehouse and get one of the Amish-built replacement cooling units.

Solask · 01-23-2014, 10:08 AM

Boy, this thread reminded me to double check whether my 2 door model 982 was affected by any fire hazard related recall. Seems no 900 series models are involved.
Whew, still makes me nervous.

plasma800 · 01-23-2014, 10:56 AM

I like this amish cooling route. I don't know much about it, but I would guess that you are talking about an entire fridge replacement? or just the cooling part of my norcold?

We do boondock, and we pack a LOT of food onboard - I'll look again, but I did NOT see a retrofit in the cabinet, but again, I was only looking for the cooling serial number.

Getting the samsung in my bus requires the front cabinet to be taken down, or a window to come out.

1ciderdog · 01-23-2014, 11:03 AM

If it hasn't had the recall done it only takes an hour or so to have it done. You don't have to remove the food or empty the refrig.

MSHappyCampers · 01-23-2014, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plasma800

I like this amish cooling route. I don't know much about it, but I would guess that you are talking about an entire fridge replacement? or just the cooling part of my norcold?

We do boondock, and we pack a LOT of food onboard - I'll look again, but I did NOT see a retrofit in the cabinet, but again, I was only looking for the cooling serial number.

Getting the samsung in my bus requires the front cabinet to be taken down, or a window to come out.

The Amish-built cooling unit is an exact replacement for your existing unit. You just have to pull the fridge out of the hole to replace the unit. It is easier to lay it on it's front to make the swap, but it can be done standing up, which is the way I did mine. You can do it yourself if you're handy with that sort of thing, many people have done it. It definitely is a two-man job!

Lots of folks have swapped to the Samsung RF197 and love it, but I just didn't want to have to remove my windshield to do the installation!