Community Forums

jlfbatonrg · 01-11-2013, 04:36 PM

calhyatt,

The job is straight forward, and not terribly difficult. The wife and I built a palette to set on the floor and come up to the height of the bottom of the Norcold 1200 unit. I removed the propane line outside and labeled and removed the wiring from the control board, then removed the ice maker water feed line, and 2 screws in the bottom of the back of the refrigerator. While I was doing that, Lynda removed the scews top and bottom from the inside of the refrigerator that hold the unit in. We placed the palette so the refrigerator could be slid onto the palette, then slid it onto the palette. We turned the unit 90 degrees to make it easy to remove the components on the back, while Lynda removed the retaining screws inside the refrigerator box. When everything was removed, I lifted the cooling unit off the box and set it outside the coach. NOTE: It was bulky and a bit difficult to handle, but certainly doable. The Amish unit comes with the special expansion foam which makes installation easy. You spray the foam along the opening where the unit goes, then add the thermal mastic to the cooling plates. then place the cooling unit in the hole. While I held the unit, Lynda installed the screws inside the box. Then you reverse the process of hooking everything up. The most difficult part of the installation is to get the refrigerator back in the hole it came out of. Once we got it started straight it went on in by pushing on it. I hooked up all the electrical wires, water and propane line outside, while Lynda installed all the mounting screws inside. After checking your work thoroughly, plug it in and you're on your way. The total time for this job for us was about 5.5 hours, but we also took a lunch break during the work.

Bruce C · 01-11-2013, 05:15 PM

I did mine as well. It's easy to do and many have done it. It'll give you a good understanding of how everything works. Strongly urge anyone who has any ability to do their own.

Old Dude 66 · 01-11-2013, 05:36 PM

I didn't have anyone to help me, which is the reason I hired it done.

MandG-Fun · 01-12-2013, 08:37 AM

Since my coach is on the shorter side, I have a smaller fridge, so without doing some extreme rebuild an electric is not even an option. I am thinking of doing the Amish upgrade myself once the weather warms up a little. I am curious to hear from the community of those who have done it themselves if it is best to take the fridge completely out of the coach to do the job or is it practical to do it inside?

BobGed · 01-12-2013, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandG-Fun

I am curious to hear from the community of those who have done it themselves if it is best to take the fridge completely out of the coach to do the job or is it practical to do it inside?

No need what so ever to take the fridge out of the coach. Just make sure you protect your floors.

jlfbatonrg · 01-12-2013, 09:05 AM

Absoutely don't want to remove the refrigerator from the coach. To much trouble. Just lay something on your floor so you don't damage it. You have 2 choices once the refrigerator is out of its hole. You can lay it down on the floor with the cooling unit up (but you have to remove the support screws from inside first), or you can leave the unit upright and remove the cooling unit. We doen it either way, and we prefer the upright approach.

MandG-Fun · 01-12-2013, 09:22 AM

Perfect... thanks for sharing your experience.

I already have the instruction sheet detailing the swap out process. Some of the instructions will probably make more sense when I am looking at the parts. I'm guessing it should be pretty straight forward based on everyones comments that has done it before. I'll post any questions I have if anything is questionable when I go to do it.

SteveLevin · 01-12-2013, 02:24 PM

The Amish unit sounds great... does anyone have recommendations for installers either in the San Francisco area, or near Denver?

Thanks!

Steve

MandG-Fun · 01-12-2013, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveLevin

The Amish unit sounds great... does anyone have recommendations for installers either in the San Francisco area, or near Denver?

Thanks!

Steve

The guy I have been using for some maintenance that I can't handle (he's a factory authorized AquaHot repair) has a mobile service or a shop in Monument, CO. Called Turbo's RV Service, fair prices, very knowledgeable - Turbos RV | Mobile RV Service. I would bet he can do it, no sweat. If you are on the south side of Denver that may be convenient, if not check out RV Service Reviews. I have done well finding RV service people as needed.

Sammie · 01-12-2013, 02:44 PM

For all of you who wish to do the Norcold to Amish change out yourself, here is a picture video I made while doing the conversion to my 2006 Norcold 1200. The job can be done by yourself but it may just take a little longer according to your skill level and strength. I'm 65 years old and this was done about a year ago.

Sammie

Norcold 1200 to Amish Cooling Unit Conversion.mpg - YouTube

jlfbatonrg · 01-12-2013, 03:14 PM

Glenn,

Just be sure you label your wiring before you remove the wires. You have both 120VAC and 12V circuits and connections. It would be hard on the circuit board if you got something crossed. Something else to consider, on ours we changed the electric heaters to be sure we wouldn't have a problem. On others we have done, we have checked the continuity and resistance before re-installing the original heaters.

MandG-Fun · 01-13-2013, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammie

For all of you who wish to do the Norcold to Amish change out yourself, here is a picture video I made while doing the conversion to my 2006 Norcold 1200. The job can be done by yourself but it may just take a little longer according to your skill level and strength. I'm 65 years old and this was done about a year ago.

Sammie

Sammie,

Thanks for beating me to the punch... my next thing was going to be a search of Youtube for any posted videos. Looks like a pretty reasonable weekend project.

Glenn

MandG-Fun · 01-13-2013, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlfbatonrg

Glenn,

Just be sure you label your wiring before you remove the wires. You have both 120VAC and 12V circuits and connections. It would be hard on the circuit board if you got something crossed. Something else to consider, on ours we changed the electric heaters to be sure we wouldn't have a problem. On others we have done, we have checked the continuity and resistance before re-installing the original heaters.

Jim,
I see that RV Cooling Unit Warehouse has a number of replacement parts, like the fans and heating elements. I suppose a discussion with the guys there about my specific model fridge (Norcold 841) will yield a recommendation of parts to consider replacing/upgrading. Did someone recommend that you change out the heater? Did you change out the fans too, like Sammie?

I'll be sure to mark all wires and take close-up pictures before disassembly.

jlfbatonrg · 01-13-2013, 09:17 AM

Glenn,

No one recommended changing the heating elements. While we had the elements out I checked the resistance on them. They were within specs, but I didn't like the looks of the wiring on one of the elements. It was pulled out a bit, and I was concerend about getting a short, so I replaced both elements. They can be purchased at your local RV dealer parts department. I didn't and haven't replaced the muffin fans on any of the installs we have done, and we haven't experienced any problems. Just lucky I guess. They are inexpensive, so it's probably a good idea to replace them.