Community Forums

PABO05 · 10-28-2021, 03:38 AM

I did the JC 120V install myself, three years ago.
Today it still works great.
Setting stays at 3
No retro needed to cabinets, or gaps.

grldst · 10-28-2021, 10:02 AM

Four of us in this family have Monaco Class A diesel motor homes. Two are 2000 yr models two are 2002. All have the Norcold 1200 LRIM.

About 2 yr ago one 2002 model’s fridge caught fire and destroyed the RV. It did not have the recall/safety box installed. At this time the other 3 fridges are working with no complaints.

The fire caused the rest of us concern though, because our thought was that if they went this long without problems there was nothing to worry about.

My fridge had a “recall” box/switch on it and it was a pain. Every time I drove in a rain it would trip out. I would have to take a hair dryer and dry it out and then reset it with a magnet. I even tried covering the switch with cling wrap. It helped but occasionally it would still trip out.

Finally the day came when the switch would no longer reset. I had to bypass the switch to get the fridge working. Neither of the other two fridges had the recall switches….the owners were concerned.

So, we all liked these RVs and plans were to keep them for some time. We all decided to do the JC conversion. We did the 120 volt compressor and after a Yrs use, couldn’t be happier with the results. No more fire worries and nice cold fridges even in 100+ degree days.

Also I’d like to add that neither of the three of us noticed any signs of charring or forth coming trouble when the fridges were removed from their cabinet. Monaco did a good job.

followingsea · 10-28-2021, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarylandRich

....

Before I place the order, is there anything else I should be thinking of. ..... I am not interested in a Residential FYI.

Thanks

Yes, the cost! I boondock a lot and did not want to go residential. I was ready to order till I got to the bottom line

However, the cost was hefty. Put in a residential for $400. The biggest advantage is more interior space.

MarylandRich · 10-28-2021, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by followingsea

Yes, the cost! I boondock a lot and did not want to go residential. I was ready to order till I got to the bottom line

However, the cost was hefty. Put in a residential for $400. The biggest advantage is more interior space.

$400???

The Samsung at best buy is $1250, with some around $1500 plus any cost to install and modify cabinets.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...?skuId=5801600

followingsea · 10-28-2021, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarylandRich

$400???

The Samsung at best buy is $1250, with some around $1500 plus any cost to install and modify cabinets.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...?skuId=5801600

Just sharing my experience.

Let me try to make my point a different way. Rather than put a new mechanical system in an old box, I got a new box.

My new box has 40% more storage and is a nicer box inside. My son and I installed in about the same time as if was in an upstairs apartment with narrow steps.

Did not have to modify enclosure fortunately.

johnfr80504 · 10-29-2021, 02:18 PM

Our '07 Monaco Cayman had a Norcold fridge. Concerned about fire, I did the conversion with the help of a friend. I did run a pair of 10 gauge wires from the battery bay to the fridge to power the unit. Running these wires actually took longer than installing the conversion unit.

During the initial install I connected the 12V, 10 gauge wires and the original 16 gauge 12V supply together to to power both the compressor unit and the control circuit board. My reasoning was that by paralleling the two 12V supply lines I would have plenty of current supply. After the install we had numerous occasions where the controller board would go to sleep and fridge would stop working.

I finally disconnected the original 16 gauge wires from the 10 gauge wires. I wired the 10 gauge wires to only power the compressor and the original 12V, 16 gauge lines to power the controller board. The idea was to provide good "clean" power to the controller board using the original 12V, 16 gauge wires.

That solved the problem. We have been on the road now for 7 weeks and haven't had a single occurrence of the fridge going to sleep.

MarylandRich · 10-29-2021, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnfr80504

Our '07 Monaco Cayman had a Norcold fridge. Concerned about fire, I did the conversion with the help of a friend. I did run a pair of 10 gauge wires from the battery bay to the fridge to power the unit. Running these wires actually took longer than installing the conversion unit.

During the initial install I connected the 12V, 10 gauge wires and the original 16 gauge 12V supply together to to power both the compressor unit and the control circuit board. My reasoning was that by paralleling the two 12V supply lines I would have plenty of current supply. After the install we had numerous occasions where the controller board would go to sleep and fridge would stop working.
I

I finally disconnected the original 16 gauge wires from the 10 gauge wires. I wired the 10 gauge wires to only power the compressor and the original 12V, 16 gauge lines to power the controller board. The idea was to provide good "clean" power to the controller board using the original 12V, 16 gauge wires.

That solved the problem. We have been on the road now for 7 weeks and haven't had a single occurrence of the fridge going to sleep.

Thanks very helpful. I have already run wire for solar through that area, so running additional wires will be a piece of cake.

Besides the wiring how long did it take the 2 of you to complete the project , including dismantling?

RayAZ · 10-29-2021, 04:40 PM

So glad i found this thread , I just ordered me a kit for my 1200 Norcold instead of taking the residential fridge route . THANK YOU THANK YOU for this thread and the projects never end.

johnfr80504 · 10-30-2021, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarylandRich

Besides the wiring how long did it take the 2 of you to complete the project , including dismantling?

It took us about 4-5 hours to do the conversion of the fridge itself. I had watched several of their instructional videos so was pretty well prepared for what we were up against.

Running the wires was a far more difficult and time consuming job. I did it all by myself and had to run the wires through chases that move with the slide. (Our fridge is in the slide.) I ran a flexible conduit from the battery bay on the right side of the coach behind the rear wheel to the bay under the left side in front of rear wheel. I then pulled the wires through the conduit which proved to be tricky. Used some fishing line with a cotton ball on the end of it. I then used my shop vac to suck the cotton ball through the conduit. That allowed me to pull a heavier wire through it that I then used to pull the 10 gauge wires. That took me some 8-10 hours over a couple days. These 70 year old bones don't work as good as they used to. By the time it was all finished I was mighty sore.

Steve_Joan · 10-31-2021, 01:54 PM

I did the swap myself with our Norcold 1210IM. It is the 120V AC model not the 12V DC one. I opted for the AC model because it was a bit more efficient. I would probably do the 12V DC model if I had it to do over again.

The performance is excellent! We have wireless thermostats inside both the freezer and refrigerator. Typically on a 90+ degree day we are about 35 degrees in the refrigerator and 0 (or less) in the freezer.

I used a Kil-O-Watt meter to check my power consumption. It uses about 120W when the compressor is running. It uses about 1/3 of the power of a household unit. I didn't want a household refrigerator because we do boondock quite often and I don't want to suck my batteries dry with the refrigerator.

I'm a VERY happy customer of JCRefrigeration!

US1 · 10-31-2021, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnfr80504

During the initial install I connected the 12V, 10 gauge wires and the original 16 gauge 12V supply together to to power both the compressor unit and the control circuit board. My reasoning was that by paralleling the two 12V supply lines I would have plenty of current supply. After the install we had numerous occasions where the controller board would go to sleep and fridge would stop working.

I finally disconnected the original 16 gauge wires from the 10 gauge wires. I wired the 10 gauge wires to only power the compressor and the original 12V, 16 gauge lines to power the controller board. The idea was to provide good "clean" power to the controller board using the original 12V, 16 gauge wires.
.

I also did the same, used my newly ran heavier wire just for the compressor, running the pos wire thru a relay, and used the smaller existing wire for the fans and the controller board just because it was there. The controller board would trigger the relay. All clean power this way

AKIQPilot · 11-01-2021, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John24RLS

Attachment 347366
Attachment 347367

Couple of pics during install, one after all old stuff was removed from the back. The other is with new compressor installed. The reason you see lots of foil tape is to help clean up the old fridge from age and deterioration.

How much noise does the 120vac JC conversion put out? We have the Norcold 1200LRIM. It works incredibly good except on the hottest days. At 15 years old and running full time from Oct to May I know it's on borrowed time.

I can't decide if I want to do the JC gas/electric conversion or just go with the compressor conversion.

grldst · 11-02-2021, 08:02 AM

I went with 120 volt conversion. You won’t hear it running. Very quiet. All you hear is the fan when you open the door. Uses very little power. We run 4 six volt batteries and a 2000 watt inverter. When over nighting batteries are still near full power in the morning. I did my install in Sept 2020. Camped last year in 100 + degree weather, fridge worked great. Fridge temps 34-38 freezer 0 to -5.

My furnace is located under the fridge. Going with a residential fridge would have required a good deal of modifications. We did not feel we needed anything bigger, so decided the JC conversion was for us. No regrets.

AKIQPilot · 11-02-2021, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grldst

I went with 120 volt conversion. You won’t hear it running. Very quiet. All you hear is the fan when you open the door. Uses very little power. We run 4 six volt batteries and a 2000 watt inverter. When over nighting batteries are still near full power in the morning. I did my install in Sept 2020. Camped last year in 100 + degree weather, fridge worked great. Fridge temps 34-38 freezer 0 to -5.

My furnace is located under the fridge. Going with a residential fridge would have required a good deal of modifications. We did not feel we needed anything bigger, so decided the JC conversion was for us. No regrets.

Great to hear, thanks for posting. Did you have a 4 door or 2 door fridge? Norcold or Dometic? Did you do the conversion yourself? Was it as easy as everyone makes it seem?