Nocold 1200 Failed

[tricotec]

Originally Posted by Mjay

We are thinking about converting to a Samsung from the Norcold also. Norcold is getting close to 7 years old, and would rather change it out at home than on a trip somewhere.
Have any of you installed a Samsung in a Fleetwood Revolution? These have a one piece windshield, so I dont really want to remove it.
We are not near the coach now, so cant measure entry door etc.

The Samsung will fit in the Norcold 1200's space with an increase in height of 3-5 inches or so. The width and depth are actually slightly less than the Nocold. It has thicker doors so they will protrude 3-4 inches further into the hall than the nocold. I can see from photos of '07 Rev LE's online that you have a lot more space above your fridge than we do (our ceiling height is a bit lower on the 2005s). It will barely fit in ours by lowering the floor and taking an inch or so at the top so I'm pretty confident when you measure you'll find that it will fit in yours. In most Monaco's the driver's side window is quite large, and both fridges will fit in the hole if it is removed. The photos of your RV model look like your driver side window is quite large, perhaps not quite as large as the Monaco's but looks promising. Most Rev's I saw online also had quite a large window in the wall or slide just behind the entry door, which looks big enough. Windshield is definitely the last resort. The entry door on our windsor is definitely too small, but a lot of folks say their norcold and the Samsung without doors fit so measure carefully.

Good luck. My advice is not to wait too long. Ours was 8 years old, and I was just reading these forums last week and thanking heaven ours was still working...only days later it died.

[paz]

Originally Posted by Mjay

We are thinking about converting to a Samsung from the Norcold also. Norcold is getting close to 7 years old, and would rather change it out at home than on a trip somewhere.
Have any of you installed a Samsung in a Fleetwood Revolution? These have a one piece windshield, so I dont really want to remove it.
We are not near the coach now, so cant measure entry door etc.

On diesel pushers, the Samsung may fit through the door, but you will have to remove the passenger seat. You will also have to be sure you have enough clearance to get the fridge around the bend if there is a center console and if there are any overhead obstructions such as a TV

I'm not familiar with your specific floorplan, but most motorhomes have a rather large window behind the couch. If the new fridge won't fit through the door, I recommend removing a side window instead of the windshield. The side window is a lot easier to handle and a lot easier to reseal than the windshield. As I stated in my previous post, the Samsung RF197 is only 24 5/8" deep with the doors removed, and it's about 32" wide. Therefore, your window only has to be a little bigger than that, but you may also have to unbolt the couch from the floor to get it out of the way.

[CoCoDave]

Originally Posted by tricotec

Good luck. My advice is not to wait too long. Ours was 8 years old, and I was just reading these forums last week and thanking heaven ours was still working...only days later it died.

Our Norcold 1200 is 11 years old and is humming along just fine. We use the coach about 90 days per year.

Should our Norcold fail and having seen all of the experiences posted here about Norcolds and residential replacements, I think I would call the Amish people first and then follow that with a call to Elite Repair and Remodel in Harrisburg, OR, for their opinion on what the Amish folks said. Then, barring any compelling reason not to, I'd arrange for Elite to install an Amish unit.

Elite is not far from you in motor home miles. If they order the cooling unit you would probably escape sales tax. Also, it would not hurt to establish a relationship with Elite.

For whatever the reason, the Seattle area does not seem to have many motor home support resources.

FWIW

[Mjay]

Thanks for the reply's. Found a measurement for the door opening, and its 27" wide. Tight fit but should work with refers doors off.
I found the dimensions for the norcold online, but not the exact depth. Does anyone have this measurement? Will it easily come out the entrance door to?
We do have a large enough window behind passenger seat if all else fails.

[jtovo]

Go with the Amish Cooling unit, I replace the Norcold with an Amish last year & couldn't be happier. The unit cools better than the Norcold ever did.
If you go on Utube there are several videos showing how to install one.

[tricotec]

Ok, finally decided what to do.

1. Contacted Elite Repair and Remodel in Harrisburg, OR
2. Made Appointment for Install
3. Ordered Samsung Refrigerator from Home Depot - 10% OFF! Free Delivery!
4. Got a reservation at an RV park in Harrisburg OR.

Got this rolling and can't wait to have a working fridge again!

Big, Big thanks to WindsorDave for tipping me off on Elite!

Will be posting pics of the before/after and install.

[tricotec]

Originally Posted by Mjay

Thanks for the reply's. Found a measurement for the door opening, and its 27" wide. Tight fit but should work with refers doors off.
I found the dimensions for the norcold online, but not the exact depth. Does anyone have this measurement? Will it easily come out the entrance door to?
We do have a large enough window behind passenger seat if all else fails.

Here is a link to the NoFreakingCold web page with all the dimensions.
Ultraline 1210

Per this page the depth is 24". Our fridge bay is exactly 26" deep so the spec is probably right. In any case if the 1200 was any deeper than 26 it wouldn't fit in our coach so it will definitely fit through your door.

[paz]

Originally Posted by Mjay

Thanks for the reply's. Found a measurement for the door opening, and its 27" wide. Tight fit but should work with refers doors off.
I found the dimensions for the norcold online, but not the exact depth. Does anyone have this measurement? Will it easily come out the entrance door to?
We do have a large enough window behind passenger seat if all else fails.

The Notcold 12xx is about 24" deep w/o doors. It should fit easily through your 27" door provided you have room to make the bend. You'll probably have to unbolt the passenger seat.

[Mjay]

Thanks again for the dimensions for the 1200 notcold.
Coach is in storage in AZ, and we are going there in a week so I can recheck some measurements.
Will bring it back home late March and hopefully swap fridge out.

[Mjay]

Originally Posted by tricotec

Ok, finally decided what to do.

1. Contacted Elite Repair and Remodel in Harrisburg, OR
2. Made Appointment for Install
3. Ordered Samsung Refrigerator from Home Depot - 10% OFF! Free Delivery!
4. Got a reservation at an RV park in Harrisburg OR.

Got this rolling and can't wait to have a working fridge again!

Big, Big thanks to WindsorDave for tipping me off on Elite!

Will be posting pics of the before/after and install.

Yes, please post pics when you get this conversion going!!

[Yukon Jack]

tricotec,
I have a 2001 Monaco Dynasty with a Norcold 1200 LRIM that was working very well, but decided last year that I wanted to upgrade the refrigerator to a more efficient one. After removing all the insulation I was glad I did, as the heater element tubes and boiler assembly were in pretty rough shape as illustrated in the attached photos. I did a sizeable amount of research and due to the furnace being under the refrigerator, and the top of refrigerator next to the ceiling, it would have been nearly impossible to install a residential unit. Plus I do a fair amount of dry camping and one of my requirements was to have a efficient operating refrigerator without having to add more coach batteries or extra inverter to power the residential refrigerator.

I removed the Norcold and installed the Amish cooling and it was a pretty easy conversion, plus I was able to remove the original 2 ea. 120mm fans and add 3 ea. 12vdc powered 120mm fans onto a special built aluminum bracket that enhanced the cooling of the absorber and condenser coils for a more efficient performing Norcold Refrigerator. In addition, with the refrigerator removed, I was able to install an air deflector to the rear of the cooling unit to assure that I was getting the maximum air flow across the cooling unit and was also able to customize the exhaust venting in the refrigerator compartment that is responsible for directing and dissipating the heat out through the roof vent.

I hope the photos help give you an idea of what can be done to the Norcold 1200 series units to improve their cooling efficiency. During the summer with an 90 - 95 degree day I had the controls set at 4 and the freezer was around 4-5 degrees and the refrigerator was around 34-35 degrees.

I would strongly recommend the Amish cooling unit, as I feel I made the best choice for my application. And I know there are many others who have elected to install the residential refrigerators, but it really depends on what a person desires and how you use your RV.

Hope this helps, Good Luck and happy RV'g

Jack

[bruceisla]

For those of you that are considering a residential. Go to the AJMadison site:

Refrigerators and Freezers | AJ Madison

Select the style from the pics (top freezer, bottom freezer, etc.)

You will then get a new page that allows size input.

Select "counter depth" on the left and it will limit the reefers to those that are suitable in depth for most RVs. You can then look at the manufacturer's other specs for height and width.

I'm not necessarily recommending AJmadison (although the prices are competitive) but they do have a great web tool for figuring out what might fit.

[moisheh]

yukon jack: Nice photos. I would think that your original installation was flawed. They had way too much room behind the fridge. In our Bounder the coils are very close to the outside wall. I could never fit fans in where you mounted yours. That is the recommended spacing from Norcold so that the incoming air goes past the upper coils and not right out the top. I have seen a number of installations where the fans are mounted right under the roof vent. Your baffle has certainly corrected any previous problems. Nice installation.

[ruffian]

Your Norcold may not be dead in the water.

The Norcold Owner's manual shows the "no-co" code as meaning "no cooling". It doesn't mean "Bury Me". The manual gives several possible repairs that will cost nothing.

A person wouldn't want to jump into something expensive untill he had checked the simple stuff.

Reading the trouble shooting section of the manual could get you another year or two use before having to take drastic action.

I found the manual online somewhere.