recall done; phaeton burned

[Maladjusted]

HOLY MOLY anotherone!!

Glad you and everyone made it out ok!

"things" can be replaced (including Coaches), people and animals cannot.

As daunting as this is... perspective is key.

Good luck

Mal

[anotherone]

Thanks everybody for the encouragement. Yes it was fully insured but the amount of things inside was amazing as we are realizing now little by little all the things we are missing. We were on a 4 month cross country tour ; motorcycling and sightseeing with 3 other couples. We are formulating inventories now for the insurance company.

[tomwalt]

I'm really sorry for your loss. I think you just motivated me to yank my refrig this winter - thank-you for sharing the info.

[stearn]

Sorry for you loss! Thankfully you and your loved ones are ok!

[Lincolnboy2]

Originally Posted by anotherone

Thanks everybody for the encouragement. Yes it was fully insured but the amount of things inside was amazing as we are realizing now little by little all the things we are missing. We were on a 4 month cross country tour ; motorcycling and sightseeing with 3 other couples. We are formulating inventories now for the insurance company.

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear of this. Your words of warning are heard loud and clear here. I can't believe how quickly it went. Thank the Lord you were all ok.

I'd have probably never heard that, as I have a box fan running to drown out the background noises, what a scare!

I have a feeling if the true knowledge about these fires were documented, and statistics were out there somewhere, there would easily be a backbone for some incredible insight into what/how/why and any negligence in allowing these things to continue from the manufacturing standpoint.

I have a 5 year old Dometic, it runs on elect 99% of the time, and no problems so far, however; I'm incredibly concerned about these fires.

I know someone else asked, were you running on A/C or Propane?

[azpete]

it seems that all the fires on norcold 1200 series occur when they are running on electric.
i have had all the recalls done on mine, and it still doesnt work. norcold CANT fix these refrigerators. all the recalls do is shut them down when they get too hot. ruins all your food.
so ive done what i should have done long ago. i installed an AMANA cooling unit. it worked great right out of the box. my ice cream stays hard, and it even makes great ice cubes.it even works great at 110 degrees outside temp.
the old cooling unit gave out above 80 degrees. its the only fix

[Gary RVRoamer]

Be sure to report it to Norcold and NHTSA as well. There is increasing evidence that the Norcold "recall box" is still not sufficient to prevent fires when the cooling unit fails.

You might also tell your story to Rideout & Lyon, LLP, the attorneys who filed the class action suit against Norcold. I'm sure they would love to add your experience to their case file.

[Sky_Boss]

That gives me the chills.

I don't want to harp too much or preach but honestly, removing the Norcold 1201 and replacing it with a Samsung was one of the first things we did after we bought our MH this year. Certainly we bought it for better performance but we also didn't want to have something like this happen. Melted ice cream is a pain in the ars...toasted MH is a total tragedy.

Sandee and I send our best wishes. We hope you make a speedy return "normal" and that you can enjoy the road again soon.

[pdidonato]

Brother, Sorry for your bad luck, but also being a paid F/F for 28 years (I.A.F.F.) you and I have seen our fair share of fires and it makes it so much worse if someone is injured or killed. Easier said then done sometimes, but just put one foot in-front of the other each day and it will get better. Respectfully, Capt. Dave

[GA Navigator]

I already had my Samsung RF197 ordered when I read this post. It's supposed to arrive Saturday. Mine is/was a Dometic but it still scared me and didn't cool good.
I'm glad everyone is ok.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I've been working with an engineer, Paul Unmac, who may have at least a partial solution for this. Paul is a consulting process control engineer who has developed an add-on cooling unit controller called ARP (Absorption Refrigerator Protection) that manages the cooling unit temperature within a closer range than Norcold's own boards and keeps temps much lower than where the Norcold "recall box" cuts out. Paul believes that keeping the boiler temperatures in a narrower range will extend the life of the cooling unit and reduce the internal corrosion that leads to leaks and subsequent fires, without sacrificing cooling efficiency. See ARP Safe for some informational videos and more about ARP.

I'm helping Paul by organizing testing on a variety of fridges in use by real RVers, in normal RV use. The data collected in this field test will help validate the ARP design and also document the actual range of operating temperatures experienced in normal RV use. Preliminary data suggests that cooling unit boiler temperatures can easily soar to near 800 degrees F., far hotter than is efficient for cooling purposes and dangerous to the metal cooling unit.

[CoastieSCPO]

So sorry for the loss of your Phaeton and the thought of the harrowing experience that you endured gives me the chills. Good luck on your search for a new coach.

Lori, your words are so true.

Speaking of failing cooling units on absorption refrigerators Gary, I assume that these types of fires may not happen with residential type refrigerators that are so common now in many diesel and some gas powered motor homes. I know that newer Tiffin Phaetons and Allegro REDs have residential refrigerators as at least an optional item. The Allegro Open Road 36 LA and 31 SA models do offer residential refrigerators as an optional item. I know that if I were to purchase a new gas motor home and a residential fridge was offered that I would buy it. With a diesel coach, a residential refrigerator is a no brainer.

Bob

[96 Wideglide]

Really sorry to hear this !

[C&SL]

Sorry for your loss.
It is a good reminder for us to revise out coach inventory list and up date all items. We take pictures of all our items with our list too.