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New Amana Refrigerator for 08'Discovery 39R
We finally completed installing an Amana stainless double door fridge. We received great help and a big family favor from Roy (aka Lonfu on iRV2) and my brother Richard.
We selected this brand as all the reviews show it to be very reliable. The sales people also confirmed far fewer issues. We needed the lower height of the Amana as our coach has a platform in the slide that provides space under it for heater ducts, slide wiring, water, propane 120V wiring. If we bought a counter depth fridge we could have moved the utilities to the back wall and it might have been an easier install. The idea of paying significantly more for less fridge space made the decision easy to get a normal depth fridge.
While the install process itself is fairly straight forward we did encounter several gotcha's. The old fridge is very heavy so make sure you have strong helpers and wear good gloves, the metal edges are knife sharp.
Removing the old Dometic NDA 1402 required finding the eight wood screws that attached it to the cabinet, disconnecting and plugging the propane and unhooking the power and water. I placed wire nuts on the 12 V line and left it in place for some unknown future use. We removed the condensation drip hose as it is no longer used. After sliding it out of the cabinet we stood it on its head so the heaviest parts rested on the pallet forks of the Bobcat. We removed the side window above the love seat which was also moved out of the way. This gave us enough room to get the old one out and the new one in. The windows do not have sealant except at the top so removal is easy. We used black silicone the seal the top edge and partially down the sides, same as original. Precisely cut wall opening so no hassle reinstalling. The opening is 30" x 40"for that window. All sides windows are that height with the window removed.
After removing the old fridge we noticed that the floor under it was spongy, turns out that that original construction is a light weight design and it is inadequate structurally.
I believe the floor under the fridge failed on the freeway near Dallas Texas. We hit one of the whoop dee do's at about 50 and heard a loud crack. Could not locate the source but now we know. If we had been going the speed limit we would have hit the moon.
If you have one of our model coaches I strongly suggest you remove the propane leak detector and feel under the fridge to make sure the floor is intact. The stringers only have a 7MM piece of Luan plywood for the floor so once they are gone you fridge is not secure. In our case the top screws were also pulled out of the top of the slide. You can see from my pix that the large staples used are a poor construction choice, any down force and bye bye stringers.
Our inverter easily handles the power requirements, most of the time 110 watts according to the watt meter.
Tha Amana version is $100 less expensive compared to the WHIRLPOOL and the difference is four incandescent 40Watt bulbs and not having one lunch meat slide out drawer. We replaced the bulbs with GE LED from Home Depot, $8 for three so you need two packages. Great interior lighting. The annual power consumption rating is much poorer because of the bulbs, everything else is the same, sales BS.
The end result of having the fridge up about seven inches is getting to the bottom drawers is easy. If we ever build another kitchen the fridge will be on a raised wheeled platform.
The extra depth of the Amana was compensated by cantilevering the front of the platform about four inches and adding trim stained to match. I have not waxed the new pieces so the sheen is different but it will be exact. We had the stain custom mixed and use it whenever we get a ding, perfect match even on the plastic faux wood if it gets damaged. Just bring them a piece of the original wood.
We did take the suggestion from an iRV2 member and add a power outlet by the stove so we can use the Induction cooktop instead of the propane when desired.
Temps in the fridge even at 105 degrees are perfect, no more angst I hope.
We also bought the Home Depot three year extended warranty so we can get service anywhere in the country and Canada. Newfoundland here we come!
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