Norcold Amish conversion

[CountryFit]

Ray,
The icemaker outlet could be on inverter on some of the other make coaches, I tend to believe CC didn't do that way, as far as I am concerned. To make it on inverter, there are two ways you might consider -
(1) Connect the wires from the outlet right above your dining table, if your floorplan has the table on the passenger side. Or
(2) Route the inverter output back to the main panel, there is a circuit breaker labeled as "Refer", that is for the outlets behind the fridge.

Take it with a grain of thought. Good luck!

[tinman 55]

Originally Posted by CountryFit

Ray,
The icemaker outlet could be on inverter on some of the other make coaches, I tend to believe CC didn't do that way, as far as I am concerned. To make it on inverter, there are two ways you might consider -
(1) Connect the wires from the outlet right above your dining table, if your floorplan has the table on the passenger side. Or
(2) Route the inverter output back to the main panel, there is a circuit breaker labeled as "Refer", that is for the outlets behind the fridge.

Take it with a grain of thought. Good luck!

Thank you, I think the easiest way at this point is to make the change in the Sub panel. So, if I understand it right, I should take the wire from the 20 amp "Refer" breaker from the Main distribution panel and splice it into one of the Inverted breakers in the Inverter sub panel? I was thinking maybe the DS Outlets since I rarely plug anything into them.

Thanks again,
Ray

[CountryFit]

Originally Posted by tinman 55

So, if I understand it right, I should take the wire from the 20 amp "Refer" breaker from the Main distribution panel and splice it into one of the Inverted breakers in the Inverter sub panel?

Yep, you've got it. Make sure do it safely.

[tinman 55]

Originally Posted by CountryFit

Yep, you've got it. Make sure do it safely.

Thanks a bunch. From the posts Ive read, I think I can safely accomplish this goal.

[yzfyoung]

On my 1998 Magna the outlet for the ice maker runs off the inverter. The other outlet is the 110 volt for the refrigerator. My JC conversion runs fine on either outlet. I just plug into the inverter outlet when we’re driving. Works great.

[ELeland]

Originally Posted by tinman 55

Thanks a bunch. From the posts Ive read, I think I can safely accomplish this goal.

Let's see if this helps since we have nearly the same units and I just went through this installing a Samsung 18RF. Both outlets on mine are shore power only and I will be switching to inverter. My original Xantrex 3012 RV inverter is Modified Sine Wave and Xantrex tech says I need to upgrade to pure sine wave with the Samsung refer. You might check with JC to see if MSW is compatible (if that's what you have). It looks like I'll be upgrading to the Xantrex Freedom 3012 Pure Sine Wave in the very near future.


The Allures in 2007 came with the residential refer option tied to the inverter sub panel. It looks like the only thing needed is to swap the 30 amp main to a Cutler Hammer 30/20 to grab the refer circuit on the inverter side. The wire (#527 and related neutral) need to be moved over to the sub panel side.


See marked up electrical sheets.


Hope this helps


Ed

[Herky96]

My 07 Sunset Bay has both. One plug for Norcold refer is shore powe. Other is through the inverter for the ice maker.

[tinman 55]

Originally Posted by Herky96

My 07 Sunset Bay has both. One plug for Norcold refer is shore powe. Other is through the inverter for the ice maker.

Some seem to have been built that way. I thought mine may have been, but, unfortunately not. Seems to be an easy fix tho

[tinman 55]

Originally Posted by ELeland

Let's see if this helps since we have nearly the same units and I just went through this installing a Samsung 18RF. Both outlets on mine are shore power only and I will be switching to inverter. My original Xantrex 3012 RV inverter is Modified Sine Wave and Xantrex tech says I need to upgrade to pure sine wave with the Samsung refer. You might check with JC to see if MSW is compatible (if that's what you have). It looks like I'll be upgrading to the Xantrex Freedom 3012 Pure Sine Wave in the very near future.


The Allures in 2007 came with the residential refer option tied to the inverter sub panel. It looks like the only thing needed is to swap the 30 amp main to a Cutler Hammer 30/20 to grab the refer circuit on the inverter side. The wire (#527 and related neutral) need to be moved over to the sub panel side.


See marked up electrical sheets.


Hope this helps


Ed

Thank Ed, that's the way I am going as well.

[tinman 55]

Originally Posted by yzfyoung

On my 1998 Magna the outlet for the ice maker runs off the inverter. The other outlet is the 110 volt for the refrigerator. My JC conversion runs fine on either outlet. I just plug into the inverter outlet when we’re driving. Works great.

Im going the inverter route also

[tinman 55]

Thought I would come back to update and close out this thread.

I was finally able to install my 120v dual compressor unit in my Norcold 1200. Following the advise offered in this thread, I was able to swap out the 30 amp breaker in the sub panel to a 30/20 amp. Then, a simple move of wire 527 (The numbered wire to the plugs behind the refrigerator and the associated ground wire to the sub panel breaker gave me inverter power to the two plugs.
With the electrical done, I removed the refrigerator and laid it down on the floor inside the coach. The directions are very well laid out and removal of the old cooling unit and installation of the new unit went off without a hitch. I installed the refer unit back into the cabinet and ran into the biggest issue. My coach had a 3/4 gas line and 1/2 inch water line in direct conflict with one of the compressors and mounting plate the compressor was installed upon. Fortunately, the pipes were ran under the refer unit where the two pull out drawers are. I was able to remove the gas line and put a plug in it under the cabinet. I also cut the water line under the cabinet and, after purchasing a pex type crimping tool, plugged that line as well. After moving the lines, the unit fits tightly into the space.
I set the initial temperature on the unit to level three (Third warmest setting) as suggested in the instructions and achieved a temperature of 34 in the refrigerator and -16 in the freezer. I turned it down to setting two, and achieved temperatures of 38/39 and -8 which is perfect considering the outside temperature was in the low 90's with temperatures inside the coach at around 80. We are leaving next week for a month long trip and I will advise of any issues if any are found.

To wrap this up, if anyone is considering this conversion, I would highly recommend it. The ordering process and fast shipping from JC Refrigeration couldn't have gone any easier. The installation process as I said is pretty straightforward and requires basic mechanical skills.

Thanks again to all those who helped with the electric issue at the beginning of this post. Without your help, I would have had a much harder time figuring that part out.

[deandec]

Originally Posted by yzfyoung

On my 1998 Magna the outlet for the ice maker runs off the inverter. The other outlet is the 110 volt for the refrigerator. My JC conversion runs fine on either outlet. I just plug into the inverter outlet when we’re driving. Works great.

Our 1995 Magna is wired the same way. The icemaker is on inverter.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by tinman 55

Thought I would come back to update and close out this thread.

I was finally able to install my 120v dual compressor unit in my Norcold 1200. Following the advise offered in this thread, I was able to swap out the 30 amp breaker in the sub panel to a 30/20 amp. Then, a simple move of wire 527 (The numbered wire to the plugs behind the refrigerator and the associated ground wire to the sub panel breaker gave me inverter power to the two plugs.
With the electrical done, I removed the refrigerator and laid it down on the floor inside the coach. The directions are very well laid out and removal of the old cooling unit and installation of the new unit went off without a hitch. I installed the refer unit back into the cabinet and ran into the biggest issue. My coach had a 3/4 gas line and 1/2 inch water line in direct conflict with one of the compressors and mounting plate the compressor was installed upon. Fortunately, the pipes were ran under the refer unit where the two pull out drawers are. I was able to remove the gas line and put a plug in it under the cabinet. I also cut the water line under the cabinet and, after purchasing a pex type crimping tool, plugged that line as well. After moving the lines, the unit fits tightly into the space.
I set the initial temperature on the unit to level three (Third warmest setting) as suggested in the instructions and achieved a temperature of 34 in the refrigerator and -16 in the freezer. I turned it down to setting two, and achieved temperatures of 38/39 and -8 which is perfect considering the outside temperature was in the low 90's with temperatures inside the coach at around 80. We are leaving next week for a month long trip and I will advise of any issues if any are found.

To wrap this up, if anyone is considering this conversion, I would highly recommend it. The ordering process and fast shipping from JC Refrigeration couldn't have gone any easier. The installation process as I said is pretty straightforward and requires basic mechanical skills.

Thanks again to all those who helped with the electric issue at the beginning of this post. Without your help, I would have had a much harder time figuring that part out.

I'll a follow up also. On May 17th, 2022, JC Refrigeration installed my Twin 12VDC compressor mod on my Norcold 2118. I had a 10:30AM appt time and dropped the trailer off with them. They told me to be back there at 12:30. I rolled up at 12:30 and the unit was installed and running and they were cleaning up inside the trailer and gathering up their stuff. By 4:30 that afternoon, the freezer was -5°F and the fresh food area was at 31°. On our unit, there is a 1 to 9 setting for fresh food section temperature and the setting was on 4. I turned it down to 3 and it stabilized at 34°. The freezer thermostat, which was set to "0", kept the box between -2 and 2.

On our way back from Shipshewana, I started off with a fully charged battery (I have 302AH of LiFePO) and we traveled for a bit over six hours with the fridge on. In those 6+ hours, I used right at 37AH of battery, which works out to roughly 6AH per hour.

Here is a pic of the rear of the Norcold with the JC mod. From left to right....the small black box is the digital temperature controller for the freezer compressor (the larger one of the two), then the freezer compressor, then the fresh food section compressor.

[Ozzsp250]

For what its worth on my and coach electrical drawings:

Upper of duplex plug: ice maker on inverter.

Lower of duplex plug: NOT on inverter.