Three Norcold conversions

[PeterFTH]

Originally Posted by road glide

9-4 Just finished our Norcold myself. Bought the package from David Force with new CU, 2 new fans, elec heaters and temp switch. Took my time, one day out and one day back in.
Our Safari cabinet would not take a residential and we do sometimes dry camp.
Haven't checked temps yet, but yesterday bought ice cream to put in freezer and some beers and water for frig. New unit has been running on AC now for 2 days. Ice cream rock hard (close) and water and beers hurt your neck to touch even here in California where we just finished around 107 over the weekend. Our coach is in the barn but temps were still horrible...can't wait to see the performance in the normal summer temps..

9-8 UPDATE: Bought a refrigerator thermometer at H-Depot....$5
Freezer is running 0 degrees as low as -5 degrees...Frig compartment at 32 degrees..

There are many foibles to Norcolds, but the biggest is the fans. I had two new fans installed with a complete overhaul and they failed, a year apart, and I had to have the refrigerator pulled each time. Now I have installed an extra fan so if one fails it will still have adequate air movement, but I also ran a wire to the roof and from the thermistor that triggers the fans to the lower back where I can add additional fans under the roof vent cover ... it is not a redundant system - it needs both fans to work efficiently - and be sure that any fans you add are triggered by the thermistor up high in the back. The original installation used a relay, but the fans draw so little the thermistor can handle 10 of them at once and not exceed it's amp rating.

[road glide]

Originally Posted by PeterFTH

There are many foibles to Norcolds, but the biggest is the fans. I had two new fans installed with a complete overhaul and they failed, a year apart, and I had to have the refrigerator pulled each time. Now I have installed an extra fan so if one fails it will still have adequate air movement, but I also ran a wire to the roof and from the thermistor that triggers the fans to the lower back where I can add additional fans under the roof vent cover ... it is not a redundant system - it needs both fans to work efficiently - and be sure that any fans you add are triggered by the thermistor up high in the back. The original installation used a relay, but the fans draw so little the thermistor can handle 10 of them at once and not exceed it's amp rating.

I installed the new fans as per instructions, if they fail yes I will have to pull frig, but maybe only part way. The 2 original fans (14 yrs old) I mounted in the upper vent and tied them into the new thermal switch. I can access the upper fans without pulling the frig...also I wired in line a toggle off and on switch for the 2 upper fans. In cooler weather, I may just run 2 fans and not all 4.
I also bought the $17 baffle to direct flow over the condenser but my cabinet was pretty close to the back of the fridge. So at least Safari was thinking about airflow...
All in all we got 14 years out of the original unit, we'll see how long this serves us.
Attached 4 pic, there is NO room top or bottom for me to engineer a residential unit....I looked hard. So I opted to repair (myself) so I know it was a clean removal and replacement....If the new fans take a dump, there near center, I believe i could slide frig half way out and replace them.
Hope not...

[TipS]

Originally Posted by road glide

I installed the new fans as per instructions, if they fail yes I will have to pull frig, but maybe only part way. The 2 original fans (14 yrs old) I mounted in the upper vent and tied them into the new thermal switch. I can access the upper fans without pulling the frig...also I wired in line a toggle off and on switch for the 2 upper fans. In cooler weather, I may just run 2 fans and not all 4.
I also bought the $17 baffle to direct flow over the condenser but my cabinet was pretty close to the back of the fridge. So at least Safari was thinking about airflow...
All in all we got 14 years out of the original unit, we'll see how long this serves us.
Attached 4 pic, there is NO room top or bottom for me to engineer a residential unit....I looked hard. So I opted to repair (myself) so I know it was a clean removal and replacement....If the new fans take a dump, there near center, I believe i could slide frig half way out and replace them.
Hope not...

road glide....
I just replaced my 13 year old Norcold 1200LRIM in my Monaco Diplomat 40PRQ. After talking with several other Norcold owners in our Tennessee Travelers chapter, I realized it was in our safety interest to go ahead with a residential replacement. After looking at many makes & models we settled on a 14.7 cu ft LG bottom freezer, counter depth model we bought from Lowe's locally. Sale price was $799 but that was before Thanksgiving holidays. Availability was scarce but was finally delivered about 10 days ago. The LG is, from what I've read, supposed to have a compressor system similar to the popular Samsung model many are using. It has the "Inverter Linear" compressor and supposedly works fine on the MSW inverter in our Diplomat. I am still trimming it out, but the new fridge required me to lower the platform about 3" and remove the trim at the top. I'm going to trim out with some cabinet stock to complete the install. We just sid the swap day after Christmas. Here's a pic of it. We wanted to keep our furnace below and I had to make a 3" filler/extension to support the foot under the freezer door. This fridge has reversible doors, no ice maker but a built it ice tray system (I'd rather use bottled water for for ice anyway.)

Originally Posted by PeterFTH

There are many foibles to Norcolds, but the biggest is the fans. I had two new fans installed with a complete overhaul and they failed, a year apart, and I had to have the refrigerator pulled each time. Now I have installed an extra fan so if one fails it will still have adequate air movement, but I also ran a wire to the roof and from the thermistor that triggers the fans to the lower back where I can add additional fans under the roof vent cover ... it is not a redundant system - it needs both fans to work efficiently - and be sure that any fans you add are triggered by the thermistor up high in the back. The original installation used a relay, but the fans draw so little the thermistor can handle 10 of them at once and not exceed it's amp rating.

[Bucky573]

I recently replaced our Norcold 1200 IM with a LG Model # LFCS22520S
21.8 cu. ft.- Fridge 14.5 cu. ft.- Freezer 7.3 cu. ft. (Weight 237 lbs)
Our coach is a 2010 Ventana 4333.
I was luck nothing was in the space below the elevated floor where the old fridge was. This let me use a taller model in the space. I did re-run the gas tubing to the stove and eliminate the branch for the old fridge.
I simply taped over the vent openings in the access panels. I’ll seal them better later if they let too much heat/cold in.
I used a piece of metal strip pipe hanger to secure the fridge from rolling out of cabinet. Attached under existing screw in middle of rear cabinet of fridge and anchored to back wall.
I removed the drivers side window behind our Euro recliner. Used a material lift to raise fridge up to elevation and slid it into to coach. Saw this on another person’s post and believe me, that’s the way to go.
Here are a few pics of the project.

["007"]

Thanks for the upgrade and explanation of how it was done Tom, always helpful for members.

[bpu699]

How hard would it be to buy a cheap medium sized compressor fridge from home depot, remove the cooling/compressor, and slap it on the norcold? These parts are all external. I would it think it would be doable, and cheap too...

[PeterFTH]

Originally Posted by bpu699

How hard would it be to buy a cheap medium sized compressor fridge from home depot, remove the cooling/compressor, and slap it on the norcold? These parts are all external. I would it think it would be doable, and cheap too...

JC Refrigeration in Shipshewanna IN converted my gas/electric 1200 model Norcold to a 12vdc unit - exact bolt on replacement - for under $700 installed. While you could install it yourself, there are some issues - more peace of mind for them to do it. The only add on charge was to run an extra power line as the existing 12v wiring was not sufficient. Fired up the unit after a 3 month break in using the RV and the next day the freezer was 0-6 degrees, refrigerator 37-40. I run it on a 3 panel 750 watt solar array. While I liked the ability to run on propane, it was too fluky - BOTH fans have to work and they tend to fail, and on one fan the temperature in the freezer jumps 18 degrees. To replace the fan unit must be removed - not a one man job. The performance is far more constant than the gas/electric, and with just hot water occasionally and cooking, the propane tank should last for years.

[lowman]

So last week I came home to a no co error went through the steps to reset it but after it started to cool again it will only get to 58 degrees so I then unplugged thermistor and it is now at 48 but that’s really not cool enough....any ideas?

[dustyone]

Lowman.
Not knowing anything anything about your camper. I'm going out on a limb and say it maybe related to where you are. Heat and humidity. Check out A R P. Google it. Its a controller that has a fan or two that helps airflow at the back of your fridge. It also has a few safety features that may be good. Some have done other mods that work to. I put a 40 cfm fan that is used to cool computer component in the back of mine and also a 20 cfm inside my fridge to keep air flowing inside fridge. 37 to 40 degrees and being they are brushless and very low current draw they were easily installed. More info would help to correct the issue.

[Batmobile]

There was another more recent post (2018?) with really detailed description of the replacement in their Monaco but I can't find it now! I'll keep searching but if anyone knows what I'm talking about I'd appreciate a link.here. thanks!

[Batmobile]

Okay, so I finally found the post but not sure how to link it. For anyone else who's interested it's by vito.a.

Unfortunately we DO have a furnace under our Norcold so we're going to have a tough time finding a residential that we like to replace.