Three Norcold conversions

["007"]

NORCOLD COOLING COIL REPLACEMENT TO AMISH UNIT by FreeByrd

Another Amish conversion by Yukon Jack

OUT WITH NORCOLD IN WITH MAYTAG by Brigadoon

[FreeByrd]

Hey "007",
Do you know how many hits I was up to before you pulled Brigadoon's thread and mine into this one sticky? . . . . just curious?
Thanks,
Mike

["007"]

29,871 was where you had views and 19,037 views for the Maytag, good job by both.

[Larry 1190]

I have a question about this Norcold recall. The serial number on my cooling unit is #13424792 on my 2011 Carriage Carri-Lite and the recall is for numbers between #700000 an #13085759. I do have all of the modifications, does this mean that Carriage did the modifications at the factory before the delivery to the dealer or did Norcold properly correct this problem in 2011 ???
S/F

[flaggship1]

Larry - your best bet is to call Norcold. Then we can talk about what they tell you. The reason I say this is that the recall is not a correction to the problem but a stop gap measure that has been through six maybe seven iterations. It is a fix that will shut the unit down and they will then tell you to take it to an authorized service center for reset. It is an ongoing battle and the problem remains after the recall is installed. This is why many pull them and replace cooling unit with Amish or refrigerator with residential.

Call Norcold and check back in. JMHO.

[okie-dokie]

IMO,I don't think Norcold will be around much longer. There is a law firm in Orange,CA that has filed a CLASS ACTION lawsuit against them. There was another norcold fire,last month that burned a unit to the ground in a park (Pio Pico) a Thousand Trails Park in San Diego County.

[Dr4Film]

I am hoping that the Norcold plant burns to the ground on a weekend of course so that no one would be there working.

Then after a thorough investigation by the arson squad and once they discover it WAS arson caused by a homeless person trying to stay warm, the insurance company will NOT pay their fire insurance claim.

BTW, the homeless person that was trying to stay warm once had owned a luxury RV that had burned to the ground by one of their POS cooling units.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[TXiceman]

I finally gave up the battle with a No-cold and replaced it with a Haier 10.3 cu ft apartment unit. I initially made the conversion to an Amish cooling unit which worked great for a while. It would work fine for a week trip, but whne we moved into the trailer full time, after a week, the temp started slip and we had to drop the temp setting lower and lower. The coils were frosting way to fast which indicated an air leak.

After talking to Dave at Amish cooling, it was determined that the foam reseal on the new unit was not sufficient. I pulled the frig and also the cooling unit and the insulation was wet. So I cleaned up the mess, dried everything with a hair drier and reassembled being extra careful to get the unit thoroughly foamed. After two days, it would not hold temperature again.

At this point, the No-Cold was pulled and headed to the dumpster. My wife is much happier with the new larger refrigerator that actually cools well.

Now my next chore will be getting an inverted set up to run the frig on the road.

The Amish cooling unit cools like a strong mule, but it is a chore to get the coil pack refoamed to get a good seal against the air and moisture. I guess there is a major difference in running the frig for a few days vs. several weeks.

Ken

Ken

["007"]

Larry I post this information on newer 2013 model coach's and their refrigerators, if the newer coach's are safer from this mess, Norcold did change some things with their refrigerators but the 1200 have almost gone back to the first recall with a slit change.
When they started the change is anyone's guess but the year 2011 is early so who really knows.
If you have read this thread there are links to TSB's for recalls and tag info members have posted for there latest recall version see if they match up with yours or call Norcold with your serial numbers and see if you get the run around.

[FreeByrd]

We did our install back in November of 2010 and have not looked back. The fridge runs @ 37* on setting 3 most of the time with the freezer running between 0* and 5*. Since we have an ice maker, I do pay attention to ice building up in that half of the freezer every month or 2 in the summer.
I run a 4" muffin fan full time in my Slide-out's outside top vent and when it gets warm, I run 2 of them. If it's over 100* outside I run 3.
We do spend a lot of time in humid areas while traveling so I installed 2 of the eBay fans inside the fridge (see the 6th post on this page) to discourage the fins from icing up.
While moving the RV especially in the summer, we did have the fridge warm up 3-4* on occasion. I cut a car "sunroof air foil" in half and installed it in front of the top fridge vent and it's no longer an issue.
We find the fridge more than satisfactory for our full-timing needs and the ice cream is always hard, the beer is always cold and that's all we need out of a fridge. If you're even near Shipshewana, IN stop by and visit the 2 Amish Farms where the Father, Son & Son-in-law build these "White Wizards". They're wonderful dedicated folks and it solved our No-Cold issue.
Hope to see you out there someday soon,
Mike & Julie Swain

["007"]

A belated thank you Mike enjoy your travels with your cold fridge.

[stink]

I installed a Samsung ref in my discovery last weekend! Loving it. Left yesterday for a great park near Felton by Big Bason np. Three hour drive and ref temps stayed below 38deg with no power. I can run inverter to power ref for longer drives. According to my intilliteck hooked up to 30 amps the ref draws 3 amps when running. Yes dr4film, love it! I got a 22 cub foot floor model counter depth for half price at the local Orchard Supply that is going out sense Lowes bought them.

[Brigadoon]

Well it has been 3 years since we installed our residential refrigerator. I'm happy to report that this has been the best single improvement to our rv.

From what I've read here on iRV2 this is the same for many others who have made the change. The only thing I should have done differently is it should have been done sooner!

I have confirmed that there is no reason for us to have a larger and or dedicated inverter for the frige or to purchase extra batteries. Of course we do not dry camp with this rv. For someone making the conversion who does little to no dry camping I would suggest skipping the inverter/battery upgrade until you knew you had the need.

["007"]

Thanks for your update Terry glad to hear its work out for you.
Enjoy and safe travels.