Community Forums

sibe · 09-15-2020, 10:17 AM

Good reads here,, thanks,, I was going to tackle this if my unit dies,, I am very much a DIY guy and macgyver but am a bit disipointed to hear the fitment issues..

jim58 · 09-15-2020, 06:34 PM

Lee where did you get this cooling unit from?

Jim58

LeeB · 09-15-2020, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim58

Lee where did you get this cooling unit from?

Jim58

https://jc-refrigeration.com/

Great people. If you do buy it take it slow and dry fit, plan ahead. Look at what's going effect what when reassembling everything...... DO NOT GET IN A HURRY...

LeeB

US1 · 09-16-2020, 07:06 AM

I installed the 12v compressor version 2 months ago and it went smooth. Dry fitted it checking for holes lining up with the cooling fins ( they were spot on in my case) and the rest was pretty much straight forward. I did have to reposition the circuit board box as it wouldn’t fit at original location, which now makes the cover a little harder to remove. But once all is said and done, it’s really a sweet setup.
I do wish they offered it in a AC/DC version instead of having to choose. Is that due to limitations of the original circuit boards being able to switch between sources? The AC would power from the heater terminal, while the DC would work off the gas valve, possibly requiring a relay config. My boats have the dual source and Ive toyed with the thought of looking into replacing the compressor just for that feature. I don’t see the problem doing so ?????

Dale70 · 09-16-2020, 04:09 PM

I installed my JC refigeration unit over five years ago and did not have most of these problems. However mine was the 1200LRIM which is the double door and that probably gave me more room on the back for the control board.
I had minor issues with holes lining up but as I remember I did get all the bolts in from the freezer and refrigerator to the back cooling plates.

My issue was the ARP controls addition. The instructions on doing that were not great and took a few conversations with the builder there. I eventually had a JC refrigeration unit with the ARP controller with upgraded fans and upgraded heating elements. I do like the ARP controls as I did not have to worry about being off level for short time periods and with one button I could see the burner chamber temperature to know things were operating well.
The ARP controls have worked fine as advertised.

The unit works well but has slightly degraded over the five plus years and I was running it maybe two numbers colder than when it was first installed. Maybe from a 5 to a 7. I attribute that to severe rust inside the burner chamber (not sure if that is the 100% correct term) That rust has continued to fall down onto the burner to the extent that i had to clean it our several times. It still was FAR better than the original Norcold cooling unit.

That rerigerator is still running in the RV I am getting ready to sell.

My new/newer RV again has a 1200 style Norcold and it is totally inadequate. I will either go with the JC regrigeration LP/AC unit again or the DC compressor. As of now I am leaning toward the DC compressor even though several times a year we boondock for 6-8 days at a time.

thx Dale

Ray,IN · 09-16-2020, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale70

I installed my JC refigeration unit over five years ago and did not have most of these problems. However mine was the 1200LRIM which is the double door and that probably gave me more room on the back for the control board.
I had minor issues with holes lining up but as I remember I did get all the bolts in from the freezer and refrigerator to the back cooling plates.

My issue was the ARP controls addition. The instructions on doing that were not great and took a few conversations with the builder there. I eventually had a JC refrigeration unit with the ARP controller with upgraded fans and upgraded heating elements. I do like the ARP controls as I did not have to worry about being off level for short time periods and with one button I could see the burner chamber temperature to know things were operating well.
The ARP controls have worked fine as advertised.

The unit works well but has slightly degraded over the five plus years and I was running it maybe two numbers colder than when it was first installed. Maybe from a 5 to a 7. I attribute that to severe rust inside the burner chamber (not sure if that is the 100% correct term) That rust has continued to fall down onto the burner to the extent that i had to clean it our several times. It still was FAR better than the original Norcold cooling unit.

That rerigerator is still running in the RV I am getting ready to sell.

My new/newer RV again has a 1200 style Norcold and it is totally inadequate. I will either go with the JC regrigeration LP/AC unit again or the DC compressor. As of now I am leaning toward the DC compressor even though several times a year we boondock for 6-8 days at a time.

thx Dale

The rust flakes are coming from the chimney and the sprial inside. It needs cleaned, BUT, the fridge must normally be removed for this cleaning.
If you can seen the top of the chimney below the roof vent, you may be able to pull the sprial and clean the chimney from there.