When is RV Fridge Paranoia, Paranoia?

[bigstonebay]

We did have a failure of the first Norcold recall, it did shut off at the wrong time. Had the second one ordered but never put it in. Went with an Amish unit instead(quite a bit heavier). Not that difficult to put in, BTW our Norcold unit worked great and I liked the operation and look of the fridge, but I was concerned about there band-aid approach to their problem. Our's is also in a slide, so a residential may not have been the best idea. I do like Glenn's idea of a high temperature alarm though.

[Dr4Film]

And here is some more "Paranoia" for those naysayers that keep thinking it won't happen to them.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/the-o...ml#post1490392

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[Dr4Film]

Here is another one that you can add to the "paranoia".

Newmar Mountain Aire RV Full Body Paint motorhome Double Slideouts Damaged | eBay

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[danandcarol]

IMHO, it's called 'paranoia' up until your RV actually catches fire; after that, it's called 'total loss'.

[Possum]

You may be right but considering the numbers built versus incidents reported and attributable then where does paranoia leave off. I have a Norcold in my 94 unit and its still works passably well. So far I guess I have been very lucky.

[NeilV]

For kicks I did a few hours searching for local boat fires from an amonia refridgerator and found none despite have so many tens of thousands of boats here in Tampa Bay Florida. Found commercial boat fires from other sources including arson, folks using bargeques on board and leaking fuel systems but absolutely nothing about refridgerators as the cause of a recent boat fire.

I have also asked at a few very large and very busy campgrounds that I stay at how many fires have they had from failed refridgerators and so far I have received the same answer from all of them none.

So maybe the issue is not that prevalent and only a very few that keep getting repeated from over the years that we are hearing about. It could also be related to the few coaches that have really bad refridgerator installs done by the builder, leveling systems that are far out of calibration or owners who turn on the fridge even when they have not leveled their coaches.

[KSCRUDE]

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

Here is another one that you can add to the "paranoia".

Newmar Mountain Aire RV Full Body Paint motorhome Double Slideouts Damaged | eBay

Dr4Film ----- Richard

That thing is toast. It will not bring much money, and may just go for salvage. Might be a good rig for people who smoke. Won't have to sweat the smoke damage. It seems the fires always happen to the older rigs with fridges over 6 to 8 years old. Nice rig, it was.

[KSCRUDE]

Originally Posted by Possum

You may be right but considering the numbers built versus incidents reported and attributable then where does paranoia leave off. I have a Norcold in my 94 unit and its still works passably well. So far I guess I have been very lucky.

. Dennis we had a 94 fiver with a Norcold and it worked great for the 14 years we owned it. Sold it to my cousin and a couple years later it shot craps on them. They put in a new Norcold in about 2010 and have been happy campers since. I think I read where you are going Amish unit for yours. Did you Norcold have fans, or is that just something they add to the Amish cooling unit? I don't think either of our Norcolds have had any fans that I have noticed. Good luck with your project and keep us posted.

[KSCRUDE]

Originally Posted by Possum

You may be right but considering the numbers built versus incidents reported and attributable then where does paranoia leave off. I have a Norcold in my 94 unit and its still works passably well. So far I guess I have been very lucky.

I think I got you mixed up with PT Jeep. He's the one doing the Amish unit upgrade in Arizona as we speak.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by KSCRUDE

It seems the fires always happen to the older rigs with fridges over 6 to 8 years old. Nice rig, it was.

Nope, not necessarily.

See this thread of a 2007 Tiffin Phaeton with a NotSoCold Model 1210 that totaled their rig. Plus they had all of the recalls done on their Norcold.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f84/recal...ed-177590.html

Not saying that it can't happen in the older TWO door models BUT most of the documented Norcold fires that have happen are with the FOUR door models that are labeled Norcold 12XX.

Those have been in coaches since the late 1990's to present.

Are people safe?

Only time will tell but R HOME doesn't have one anymore so that's one worry to check off my list of possibilities.

I also have installed a fairly decent fire protection plan because they are many places for fires to get started from failed components.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[vtwinwilly]

Originally Posted by NeilV

For kicks I did a few hours searching for local boat fires from an amonia refridgerator and found none despite have so many tens of thousands of boats here in Tampa Bay Florida.
....

I have never seen an ammonia absorption fridge on a pleasure boat. I used to live in the Clear Lake area south of Houston. Lots of boats.. and spent many, many days on and worked on many pleasure craft. The fridges on these boats all had some sort of electric driven compressor. Usually capable of running on either 12v DC or 120v AC. The exception was sailboats that had a simple icebox that used dry ice.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I have also never seen anyplace to buy propane at the marina.

This might explain the lack of boat fridge fires.

Just sayin.

[NeilV]

Originally Posted by vtwinwilly

I have never seen an ammonia absorption fridge on a pleasure boat. I used to live in the Clear Lake area south of Houston. Lots of boats.. and spent many, many days on and worked on many pleasure craft. The fridges on these boats all had some sort of electric driven compressor. Usually capable of running on either 12v DC or 120v AC. The exception was sailboats that had a simple icebox that used dry ice.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I have also never seen anyplace to buy propane at the marina.

This might explain the lack of boat fridge fires.

Just sayin.

Was checking out the claim that there was a high incidence in the boating community and that we didn't hear about them because we are in an RV forum. You can't verify that one, though having been in the boat repair business, either.

[foreverfree]

I have read this thread with interest as we have been going back and forth on changing out our norcold 1200 with a residential. It was not an easy decision as the norcold was only a few years old and so far had worked fairly well (but not perfect as we had lost one refrigerator full of food when it did not hold the cold in the heat of summer). We finally took the plunge and ordered the Samsung.

The shop told us that when they took the unit out they found charred wood and kilz paint used to cover the smell from a previous fire. No I don't know if this was from a norcold but that is what came in the unit originally and the fire was in the area where the refrigerator was mounted.

I know that many people have had these units perform great for years without issue but I also know that I wear a seatbelt in the car even though I have never been in a wreck because I think that you should take calculated risk. A fire in my home that can be prevented should be.

I love our new residential refrigerator and am glad we made the change.

[Dr4Film]

Welcome to the "Official Samsung Owner's Club".

The club is growing faster than some people actually want to believe!

You will absolutely enjoy your fridge and the freedom from defrosting the freezer often, or hoping that the doors don't fall off or the door seals need to be replaced someday. Plus the best part, 50% more storage which is critical if you are a full-timer like we are.

You're only regret will be, "we should have done it sooner".

Dr4Film ----- Richard