Community Forums

gmarsha2 · 11-28-2015, 12:06 PM

We are contemplating replacing our Norcold 1200 with a domestic refrigerator. I have read alot about going with a counterdepth refrigerator with Samsung being a favorite brand to go with. We are thinking about going with a standard 2 door, top freezer refrigerator for several reasons, one being the cost as opposed to the counter depth models as well as space. In our situation it looks like a standard will not interfere with any traffic problems in our unit. My question is, has any one tried bringing the refrigerator thru the drivers side window. In our coach there is a power window which I believe when opened fully with the top half of the window removed, we would have ample room to remove the old fridge and bring in the new. By going with this type of refrigerator the hole size would not have to be enlarged to install where the Norcold was removed, the weight is considerably less then a bottom load freezer and the capacity is much larger then the Norcold 1200. Am I missing something with my line of thinking or is my plan a good one?

JLDHELMS · 11-28-2015, 02:54 PM

Just a few comments. I recently removed my Norcold 1210 and replaced with a domestic 120V refrigerator. I called Newmar in regard to an opening, if any, I could use to install a french door style refrigerator without having to remove a windshield. Their reply was that the raw opening (window and frame removed) of my emergency window (the one behind my drivers seat, ie, 2005 MADP) was 29" and intended for that use. The refrigerator I selected was 28.5" with its doors removed.

Some of the more dimensional friendly Samsung's have been discontinued. Find a refrigerator on the floor somewhere and measure, measure and then measure again.

I think it is a personal decision in what you want: you are not wrong in acquiring more space than Norcold but accepting less than side by side doors or french doors; weight has not been a problem with my conversion; power consumption has not been and issue; modifying cabinet was hard but could have been easier if I had had that as an objective instead of working so long to avoid modifying; don't ignore the possibility of using the front door with removing door on your new refrig or taking off screen or hand rails; choosing an emergency window as Newmar suggested is probably easier than removing a powered window. Norcold was removed thru front door in pieces with no problem. Jim

gmarsha2 · 11-29-2015, 07:03 AM

Thanks Jim for your input. I looked at the emergency window behind the drivers seat and our case we have a wall cabinet that runs the full length of the slideout. In order to be able to use the window access, I would have to remove this cabinet as the clearance opening is restricted to about 23" with the cabinet in place. Now on the passenger side there appears to be an opening of 28" when the window and frame are removed. Like you stated there will be alot of measuring going on before the final decision is made.

Bmaintz8 · 11-29-2015, 07:14 AM

On my Winnie that I had I replaced the Dometic with a Hiar from lowes for around $350...
It was a top freezer with 10 CU...
Went through the door opening of the '89 Winnie...
Had to take off the doors ...
Bob

HHIDan · 11-29-2015, 07:44 AM

I replaced my Norcold 1200 with a Samsung RF18 (SS). You want french doors as they take up 1/2 the space as they swing open. The RF18 is the exact perfect width, just is taller. Once the doors are removed on both the new and old units they will come in and out in a 24 1/2 inch opening. I had 24 3/8 in my side window and I had to swing the new one in at a 30 degree angle, very tight bot got it done. The doors come off and go back on fairly easily. You will need to remove and seal the ref. opening/vent on the roof (I used a thin ply wood with two layers of Eternabond tape) and you will need to block the vent on the side of the coach (I used plywood again, painted black and screwed from outside for access). The Samsung is also fairly easy to bolt onto the floor, mine is very solid. There is a circuit board in a plastic box on top of the Samsung, at the rear and about an inch which is OK as you want an inch clearance at the top for proper heat dissipation. I ended up going with a new inverter (True Sine) with more watts (2800 vs 2000) and I am adding two more batteries but the Samsung worked well with the Modified Sine Wave and with 4 batteries I had enough power to last at least 1/2 day before recharge (old batteries). I only had non inverted 120 v behind the fridge so I moved the AC wire from main panel to inverter panel (fairly easy) so refrigerator works all the time. Hope this helps!

JLDHELMS · 11-29-2015, 02:53 PM

gmarsha2

You have passed the first measuring test.

Yes, my cabinet had to be removed. Not a big deal as the cabinet is put up with screws. At this point, I decided to do all the cabinet mod and take my coach to an RV shop willing to remove that cabinet and had the employees to do it. They also had a fork lift to lift the refrig I purchased thru that window. It worked out because they didn't want to do the cabinet work and I could do it for my self in my driveway.

I moved the electrical junction box on the back of the cabinet to the side which gave me a couple more inches of useable depth. That circuit is also on the electrical buss supported by shore power because when you go down the road, you use LP and didn't need 120VAC. So, I switched positions of this breaker (on the electrical buss) with the microwave which was on the inverter side of the buss. Now my new refrigerator is supported by the inverter. The only loss for me is that I must start the generator to run the micro when not hooked up to shore power. No loss for us we didn't use the microwave when on the road.

I have a fan coil (Hydro Hot) under my refrigerator cabinet but was able to drop the floor to gain enough height to get a French door style in that height. You will find that cabinet depth refrigerators grow in width a bunch. Be aware that if your cabinet opening is close to any wall, you door on that side will not open fully if you open up the width moving the refrigerator closer to the wall. Measure!!! Once I knew I had 29" of raw opening to deal with, I went to a site like AJ Madison?? and used their selection guide to start with a limitation of 28 1/2" and looked at what wasn't excluded. Next limitation for me was that width opening, 33" because of the wall that would restrict the opening of the door.

Last, be sure you have top of door clearance if you have a ceiling light overhead. Yes I sealed the original vent opening to make the cabinet airtight to the inside of the coach. I stabilized the refrigerator to prevent tilt or slide from the back ( original vent door), made a removable plug to seal this opening, and rerouted my condensate drain thru this plug instead of into a drip pan, to take this moisture outside my coach. Recommend painting the inside of this cabinet black so you won't see anything when you leave the small air gap around the sides and top. Don't get discouraged. The change from the Norcold was worth everything. Jim

gmarsha2 · 12-05-2015, 07:33 AM

Thanks for the replies......we have been looking at replacements and we have found a 15.5 GE which seems to fit our needs, without having to do alot of readjustments. The depth with doors off is 25.5 and our entrance door opening is 26+....getting out the old and bringing the new in should be relatively easy. Existing opening of the Norcold on preliminary measurements, appears to be slightly larger then the GE...thus eliminating moving the floor. I checked the power receptacle and yes, by moving mine I can gain about 2". I checked my converter and it is a Xantrex RV2012 which has an output of 2000 watts. The fridge power usage is 15amps so can I use the existing converter? I found the electrical boxes and thanks to Newmar for marking them clearly I believe I have found the wiring, if switched, AC and Micro, will allow me to run off of the Inverter. Having read the previous replies, am I correct in assuming this is what should be done? Thanks for the replies.....

harleyjt · 12-05-2015, 01:28 PM

I can't believe the GE's power usage is 15 amps. Look at that again, I think you will probably see that they want it on a min 15 amp circuit. It would be a real power hog if it pulled that many amps running. Amp draw on most current refrigerators is actually very low. They have become quite efficient. Seems like I remember reading another thread about a Samsung and it was pulling less than 3 amps when running iirc. It was very low. If in fact the GE really does pull 15 amps then you'd be maxing out a 2000 wt inverter (15A X 120 VAC = 1800 wts). I know some electrician will tell me thats wrong, but its pretty darn close.
jt

JC2 · 12-05-2015, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harleyjt

I can't believe the GE's power usage is 15 amps. Look at that again, I think you will probably see that they want it on a min 15 amp circuit. It would be a real power hog if it pulled that many amps running. Amp draw on most current refrigerators is actually very low. They have become quite efficient. Seems like I remember reading another thread about a Samsung and it was pulling less than 3 amps when running iirc. It was very low. If in fact the GE really does pull 15 amps then you'd be maxing out a 2000 wt inverter (15A X 120 VAC = 1800 wts). I know some electrician will tell me thats wrong, but its pretty darn close.
jt

You are correct or relatively close. Our res Haier 10.2cu fridge pulls about 3 or so amps when running. We currently have it wired to run off of our current Xantrex 2012 MSW inverter also but will be installing a Xantrex 1000w PSW purchased from donrowe.com for the fridge only.

"007" · 12-06-2015, 04:12 AM

I have added this thread to QT's # 3 -- Problem Solving.
Thanks for the reply's, folks.

jimbo2013 · 12-06-2015, 05:23 AM

Whirlpool 10.72 cu ft Top-Freezer Refrigerator (Black)

Model #:WRT111SFAB

I had the furnace under so used 3/4" ply with styro insulation under.

under $400 fits right thru door, it has worked off my solar panels so it doesn't draw too much elec.

.

JC2 · 12-06-2015, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo2013

Whirlpool 10.72 cu ft Top-Freezer Refrigerator (Black)

Model #:WRT111SFAB

I had the furnace under so used 3/4" ply with styro insulation under.

under $400 fits right thru door, it has worked off my solar panels so it doesn't draw too much elec.

.

What steps were taken to secure fridge inside the compartment where the old one had been? Have you seen the necessity of using any type of lock to prevent the doors from opening when moving down the road?

JLDHELMS · 12-06-2015, 06:40 AM

gmarsha2
I have been negligent in listing the French door model I used, Whirlpool WRF560SMYB04.
I am using my original 2000 watt inverter and I has kept up on the road with no problem. I'm not sure about your wiring, ie, A/C and Micro. I switched the refrig and micro. The micro was originally on the inverter supplied side of the electrical buss (there are two and they are separate electrically) and the refrigerator was on the shore supplied side. By swapping these two, the refrigerator became supplied all the time from the inverter side, with or without shore power. Thus your refrigerator can run while driving down the road but you would lose that option for the micro (no problem for me).

All electric motors (compressors too) have an inrush of electricity as the motor is getting up to speed when started. If measured, you would see probably 15A at start momentarily but running amps will likely be around 2 after the refrig is cooled down (normal running conditions but influenced by ambient heat). You should have no problem if you make sure you are drawing power from the correct buss.
Jim

jimbo2013 · 12-06-2015, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JC2

What steps were taken to secure fridge inside the compartment where the old one had been? Have you seen the necessity of using any type of lock to prevent the doors from opening when moving down the road?

I opened the outside door from the old unit, drove a few large screws into the 3/4 ply thru existing holes in the frame of the new fridge.

I pickup two child proof door latches at HD they stick on, much to my surprise they have lasted almost two years.