Keep the Norcold "recall box"?

[Gary RVRoamer]

As I understand it, cooling units in RV fridges fail from the unit being out of level while parked. What constitutes 'out of level'?

The spec for Norcolds and Dometics are in the Op manuals, but I think they both use 3 degrees side-to-side and 6 degrees front-to-back. That's as viewed at the fridge, not the RV, and front-to-back on the fridge is usually side-to-side on the RV.

What few realize is that the fridge gets off-level for short periods when traveling, or when stopping for lunch or fuel, or to register at the office. Over time, that can amount to a fair amount of time off-level, a death of a thousand cuts. Each episode erodes the sodium chromate rust inhibitor a little, leading to an eventual problem. Whether that "eventual" is a few years or 20 is hard to assess.

[powercat_ras]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Various tests have shown the Norcold sensor tripping between 700 and 800. It's not a very exact device, and boiler tube temperatures and sensor positions vary a lot. That's right up around the burst temp/pressure for the boiler and flue tubing, so things are at the disaster level when and if it trips.

Right ! The absorbtion refrigerator operates at well above atmospheric pressure and at its internal pressure point water in the boiler starts to form steam at about 406 F. Below that temp that the water stays liquid and system operates as designed. Above that temp of about 406 F the water starting to boil causes the corrosion inhibitor to come out of solution and form deposits within the system. Without the proper amount of corrosion inhibitor in the solution corrosion starts to happen and eventually the boiler fails, or the corrision inhibitor deposits can restrict the coolant flow and that can also cause reduced cooling and eventually failure.

ARP Control shuts off the heat source well below 406 F and prevents the failure condition from happening.

Note I am not affiliated with the makers of ARP Control in any way other than being a believer in the technology and a user of the technology in my own RV.

arprv.com

[IC2]

I had looked for that levelness info and evidently passed over it in the jumble of manuals that Norcold supplied hence my question. With that said, here is a copy and paste from the on-line version:

"CAUTION: The refrigerator is made to operate within 3°
off level side-to-side and 6° off level front-to-back (as
looking at the front of the refrigerator). Operating it at
more than these limits can cause damage to the cooling
system and create a risk of personal injury or property
damage. Make sure the vehicle is level before you
operate the refrigerator.

Operation during travel:
While the refrigerator should be level when the vehicle is
stopped, performance during travel is not usually effected." That's word looks like a CYA

Just for chuckles, I'll put my degree finder in our 5er as it sits in our driveway and see how close it is while prepping for travel. It will never be 6* front to back there though may be occasionally approach 3* side to side if the 5er gets parked in a divot (dam' burrowing chipmunks)

[HD4Mark]

Our Norcold 1200 would shut itself off if it was out of level long enough. The new Samsung doesn't seem to care.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

So what would you do?

1. Nothing - wait for the replacement recall box and use a picnic cooler in the meantime

2. Bypass the recall box and leave the ARP controller in place and working, and use the fridge normally. Install a new recall bocx when available.

3. Bypass both the ARP and the recall box and use the fridge normally. Install a new recall box when available and reconnect as before.

4. Forget the recall box and just let the ARP handle boiler safety monitoring?

For those who haven't heard of ARP, you can read more about it at https://www.arprv.com/

Definitely #4 !!!

Do you REALLY think that Norcold is going to hand you thousands of dollars or possibly millions of dollars if you lose your life in the fire? Look at how the Nocold Class Action suit is ending up with people getting a few shares of their worthless stock.

You are better off if there is a fire to have your insurance company payoff the coverage that you carry and then let them go after Norcold if they choose to do so.

If you are worried about whether they will discover if the box had been tampered with, trust me, there won't be much of the box, wiring, etc. left to tell from as your coach will be gone in 300 seconds.

I would totally trust the ARPrv device as it was engineered correctly.

Norcold's black box was engineered by a bunch of lawyers.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

So what would you do?
1. Nothing - wait for the replacement recall box and use a picnic cooler in the meantime

2. Bypass the recall box and leave the ARP controller in place and working, and use the fridge normally. Install a new recall bocx when available.

3. Bypass both the ARP and the recall box and use the fridge normally. Install a new recall box when available and reconnect as before.

4. Forget the recall box and just let the ARP handle boiler safety monitoring?

You forgot option # 5: Remove the Norcold and replace with a residential fridge. . .

See pic attached, not a Norcold, in this case it was the Dometic exploding refrigerator. Caught early, and fire extinguished, but still totaled the fiver. Oh, and by the way, all the Dometic "recalls" were up to date.

For us, (and I'm sure not this will work for everyone) the residential fridge was a no brainer. For me, it's all about risk management.

[Brockx]

If the root of the Norcold evil is un-level conditions then Norcold is completely ignoring a simple and inexpensive fix. Out of curiousity I have researched what it would take for me to build an electronic tilt indicator.

Think of a pinball machine, they had a simple metal circle with a weight suspended inside the circle. When the machine was bumped too hard or raised or tilted too far the weight would touch the ring, complete a circuit and shut the machine down. That simple type device could save a Norcold. The only addition to that would be addition of an electronic timing device that would start when contact was made, and the on circuit maintained for a measured time (say 2 minutes) then shut down. The circuit would be "normal" again as soon as the tilt circuit opened again, that would take care of driving, bumps, turns, hills etc. etc..

I searched the web for ideas and hardware and found all kinds of motion switches that would accomplish the function. The motion switches are unbelievably cheap, the relay a simple 12 volt automotive (think of a headlight off delay when you lock the car). These things could be mass produced without a doubt for less than $20.

I even found existing circuit boards similar to the smart phone circuits that re-orient your view based on which way you hold your phone for $10. Those boards as is won't work but you get my point.

In my self-serving point of view Norcold is extremely negligent in not providing a similar device.

[IC2]

Received my ARP 2.0 yesterday then pulled the instruction sheets from their website and found that I need a couple things - super glue and some .25 piggy back wiring connectors (I have a few of the next size larger) but not a big deal. Off to Home Depot.

I have to say that the 14 page installation instructions are, for no better word, interesting. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a set that has so much info and probably some irrelevant stuff, i.e. the v1.0 used an external relay - but then goes on and says that an 87a relay can be used for some installations with the v2.x, OKaaaaaay!!! I'll figure it out with a marker in hand to blot out the irrelevancies - this also, not a big deal. I also printed the 8 page owners manual and 18 page trouble shooting manual. The comments on the length of the paperwork is just for information and that they are needed to install and operate this gadget and are not supplied.

Curiosity question, where do folk mount this gadget? In the outside fridge compartment or inside the RV?

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by IC2

Curiosity question, where do folk mount this gadget? In the outside fridge compartment or inside the RV?

If it were me I would want it inside the coach so I can monitor what it is doing. Do you really want to go outside and open up the compartment door to see what it is doing each time? Depending on your specific floor-plan it could be on a wall adjacent to the fridge.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[Johndale]

This is how I mounted mine. I got the one with blower and it is great.