Norcold Refrigerator

[JBrockey]

I am replacing my Norcold 1200 Refrigerator. I am becoming very frustrated trying to find a refrigerator that will "at Least" come close to fitting into my coach with minor adjustments to the cabinetry. My concern is how much they will protrude from the cabinets and how that will limit access to the back of my coach, when the slide is in.

I'm toying with the idea of going with another Norcold 1200, hoping that they have improved the performance after having so many problems. Has anyone purchased a Norcold product recently and has it functioned as a refrigerator rather than a poorly functioning cooler?

There just does not seem to be any good residential units that are less than 30" in depth.

Your thoughts would be appreciated

["007"]

Jim, we have some people that have changed the cooling coils with the Amish unit and one that place a Maytag residential fridge with good results.
Not sure you have seen this thread about the newer Norcolds which have had some changes done which up to now have not required the many recalls they have had.
I have never kept track of what refrigerators people have been using but if you do a search in forum many threads will point them out.

[Mike and Cha]

Jim, we have new Canyon Star with the Norcold 4-door fridge. Ours works great. We level our MH and turn the fridge on a day before we plan on leaving. So far it has been plenty cold for us. Within 24 hours of being turned on we have plenty of ice in the icemaker, the freezer is down to about 20 degrees and the fridge part is at about 36 degrees. After 3-4 days we usually have to turn the control down 2 or 3 settings as it is getting too cold, in the fridge. We have went on two one month trips so far where I think we had way too much stuff in the fridge and it still worked great, and in my opinion just as good as our in home fridge. Both of the long trips we were in over 100 degree heat for several of the days.


I keep hearing people say they have done nothing to fix the previous problems, and Norcold doesn't get cold or starts fires but that is just not true as so far ours has worked great. I hardly think Newmar would keep installing them if no improvements had been made. I think that some people whenever they hear something negative about a product there's no changing their minds no matter what was done. We are very happy with ours.

[lass]

Jim,

We had the Norcold 1210 series in our 2013 Ventana and had no problems what so ever with cooling it or making ice. We normally set the fridge at about 4 and it would maintain the setting no matter how much we packed into it.

The limitation is that the unit is only 12 cu. ft. and since I wanted a residential fridge from the start, elected to remove a perfectly good Norcold and replaced it with the Samsung RF 197. While the Samsung does stick out a few inches farther into the hall, there is insufficient room to move back and forth and we can also open the 2 doors and the freezer.

Other may chime in on the safety factor, so I'll just say that I am much more comfortable with the Samsung. We set the fridge at 38 and the freezer stays at -2.

[newmarpusher]

We have a Norcold 1200 in our 2010 Winnebago DP. We've never had an issue with it. No failures, no fires, etc. As long as you don't overload the interior and block the fins on the top shelf, the refrigerator portion functions perfectly. Ice cream and other frozen deserts are never really solid enough in the freezer section though.

A propane/electric absorption refrigerator can never keep the interior as cold as a true residential refrigerator, especially in hot weather. It's advantage is with dry camping although with today's large sine wave inverters and plenty of batteries, that advantage may be history. As you've discovered though, the residential refers are larger.

[Sky_Boss]

Jim,

What model DSDP do you have?

[tom chelbana]

We put a R/F in our 04 Essex and it was set back almost 1 inch which gave us more room in front. We had almost a 12 inches behind the Norcold fridge so when we put the R/F inch we put it against the side wall, Look behind your Norcold and see how much space you have which will tell were it will be when you change it out.

[bwaller]

We have the Norcold in our 2014 Canyon Star. So far (after one year) works great. It is the 4 door unit with freezer. Maintains temperature well. Hope it continues!

[JBrockey]

Sky Boss, I have a 2006 4024.

[Nana25K]

The life span of the Norcold is about 12/13 years. We replaced the one in our 5th wheel at 8. However had we had known then about the Amish cooling units that's the way we would have gone for lots less money. Our Moterhome is 15 years old and the Norcold is acting up. It has new boards so we will be replacing the cooling unit. We have several friends who have done this and are very very happy with the outcome.
Our freezer keeps ice cream rick solid. Put it on bottom back corner of the freezer

[Brockx]

If I decide to give up on my 1210 Norcold I will install the 10.7 (11) cubic foot Whirlpool w/icemaker. It will fit thru the entry door with the refer doors removed, is only 24 inches deep and wide. This will also allow me to reclaim the pantry lost due to the optional 1210 being installed. We have one of these now (5 years) outside on our Lanai, sees temps from 40 to 95 year round, no problems, 11 cubic foot is plenty for us. Sears sells it as a Kenmore also, frequently see both brands for well under $600 for Stainless Steel, blk and wht for less.