Community Forums

John Hilley · 10-04-2012, 08:19 AM

I find the switch to residential refrigerators trend interesting. If the absorption type was just now invented and made available, I think there would be a massive switch in the other direction for the convenience of running on propane.

JohnFreyja · 10-05-2012, 04:13 PM

Dick (TheBerrys),

I just read the manual on the Norcold and your numbers are correct but it's inches.
3 side to side and 6 front to rear.
Good white paper.

Jchet · 10-06-2012, 07:51 AM

Well is been days now and the freezer seems to be working properly but the the refer side seems to not be cooling. The metal fins or cooling units in the back seem to be working but not cooling the refer enough to make a difference.

Theberrys · 10-06-2012, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnFreyja

Dick (TheBerrys),

I just read the manual on the Norcold and your numbers are correct but it's inches.
3 side to side and 6 front to rear.
Good white paper.

I think the rule of thumb is within 1/2 Bubble in both directions. Easy to remember and easy to measure.

Dick

Dr4Film · 10-06-2012, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauguston

Ernie,

Are you planning to add your scare tactic to every post that mentions refer?

Jim

Jim,

It isn't about any scare tactic, it's about common sense.

Ask Ernie about what happened to a friend of his who HAD owned a coach with a Norcold.

Once he explains what happened, you may be a little more understanding.

I had owned an 11 year old NotSoCold for almost 8 years. I finally had enough of the numerous problems that it had caused during that time. Last March, I had made an appointment with David Force of the Cooling Unit Warehouse to have an Amish cooling unit installed. However, it would have been around $1700 by the time it was installed. Once I really thought about and listed ALL of the pros and cons of each system, there was only ONE logical choice.

I used that $1700 dollars toward the installation of a residential fridge.

No more problems, headaches, spoiled food or doors falling off. And after 6 months of use, I haven't had to defrost the freezer even once.

The greatest part about America is that we all have the freedom to make our own choices when choosing the RV we want to purchase and what to do with it. However, there will always be consequences for each decision we make. Some of those decisions we make end up more costly than others.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

jauguston · 10-06-2012, 12:03 PM

One persons "Common Sense" is anothers "Scare Tactic"

The "Common Sense" person would not be happy until everyone installed residential refers.

I do not appreciate anyone saying that I do not have "Common Sense" because I have a RV refer. That is a insult!

Jim

Jchet · 10-06-2012, 08:13 PM

Holy crap, how did my request for assistance on my refer turn this into a debate over household refer as opposed to RV refers?

steelheadbluesman · 10-06-2012, 08:52 PM

It's..... Are you ready for this???? It's.... refer madness. Again.

Dr4Film · 10-06-2012, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauguston

One persons "Common Sense" is anothers "Scare Tactic"

The "Common Sense" person would not be happy until everyone installed residential refers.

I do not appreciate anyone saying that I do not have "Common Sense" because I have a RV refer. That is a insult!

Jim

Jim,

I will apologize if you feel insulted but that was not the intent of my post.

I will state it one more time.

You are entitled to use what ever you want in your RV. You have the freedom and the right to make those choices. They are your choices.

No one is forcing anyone to switch from a RV fridge to a residential. However, there are people that need to know what the consequences could be for their decision of continuing to use the defective Norcold 12XX versus alternatives.

What better place to do that than iRV2.com.

I have been to many locations throughout this country the last few years where there have been people with Norcold 12XX fridges and they weren't aware of ANY of the three recalls that Norcold has requested over the past few years or longer.

Let me ask you this question. If the role was reversed and you had a Norcold built fridge in your home that you were using everyday as your main fridge. Then they notify you to turn it off until you have their lame recalls done to your fridge because it may catch fire otherwise.

Then you do some research only to find that hundreds if not thousands of these units have caught fire and destroyed peoples homes.

Would you continue to use it inside your home with the thought that one day you may come home and find a pile of charcoal?

Information is a good thing. What we do with it is even better.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

mfire1339 · 10-06-2012, 10:12 PM

I was going to make a comment about the noise of a res unit in a motorhome as our's in the kitchen turned on 20' away and is more noisy than I want.

I Would "Never" have one in an RV.

Mike

fschambe · 10-14-2012, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

Then you do some research only to find that hundreds if not thousands of these units have caught fire and destroyed peoples homes.

Cite your source.

Dr4Film · 10-15-2012, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fschambe

Cite your source.

There are way TOO many to list. I did not write them all down when doing MY research but it was enough to scare the $hit out of me. Just take some of YOUR time and Google the information. You will have plenty to read and also see some of the photos too.

Remember, Google is YOUR friend when you need information.

Many salvage yards with burned out remains, Google some of them. Here is just one example.

Visone RV, RV Salvage Parts, Motorhome Repairable Wrecks, Used RV Parts Monaco, Prevost, Allegro, Holiday Rambler, Alfa, RV Junk Yard - Dismantler | visonerv.com

USED MOTORHOME PARTS 2003 MONACO DYNASTY PART FOR SALE Used RV Parts Repair and Accessories | MONACO RV DEALER IN KY TN GA CA ON FLORIDA TX | visonerv.com

Also, a Monacoers club member of mine lost his RV house in Florida located at the TGO aka The Great Outdoors in Titusville when his Norcold caught fire parked at the house. This is only ONE example.

As I stated earlier, information is good. What each person decides to do with it is their choice.

I chose to get rid of the biggest POS Norcold ever built and I have NO regrets. After all, it's my home and I want to keep it that way for a long time.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Ernie Ekberg · 10-15-2012, 08:04 AM

Richard, I don't blame you a bit. My friend lost his coach 2 weeks ago when that piece of crap caught fire. I was at a salvage yard last week and there was this burned out Holiday Rambler. I asked the owner what happened- said the refer caught fire and you could see where it all melted and the huge hole in the roof. Everything below the floor was ok

Papa_Jim · 10-15-2012, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jchet

I know little about these absorption refer units and how they work. ......

The issue is the freezer seems to be cooling but the refer side doesn't seem to be cooling. Not having experience with these any suggestions as to why one side would be working and not the other would be appreciated.

I think the conversation is straying away from the OP's original question. I think it's fine to talk about all the reasons why we should or should not switch over to residential fridges, and maybe we should start a new thread about that. But that's not what the OP wants help with.

With my following response, I'm trying to respond to the question that the OP wants help with.

I just read about this in one of the trade magazines. It was an excellent article on understanding how propane fridges work. I thought it was written by Gary Bunzer, the RV Doctor. The article might be in FMCA magazine, or Sam's Club, I can't remember. Can someone else help here?

One thing in the article really caught my attention, because it is why we are replacing our fridge. I understand that the article said that if the freezer compartment is cold, but the fridge compartment is not, then the coolant pipes in the fridge are getting blocked. In other words, it's good bye fridge !

The performance of our Norcold fridge deteriorated to the point that it was a power hog. The freezer would freeze OK, but the fridge was too warm. And, the humidity was way too high all the time. It was a pain to control the frost build up in it. It had become a very, very poor imitation of a fridge.

So, we are replacing it.