Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010

Bigblockronni, contact the manufacturer online. They usually have a list of repair shops they recommend. Then make sure you join Good Sam, they are a lifesaver in many instances. Also get the Good Sam Emergency Road Service, they are there when you need them on the road.

My problem with the RV industry is how they seem to avoid problems after the sale. When I bought my new Chevy and the alternator went bad I took it to the Chevy Dealer and they repaired it. They didn't tell me to get in touch with Delco. If you buy an RV and the airconditioner quits working they tell you to get in touch with Dometic or Norcold. I had to take my Workhorse Chassis to a Workhorse Service Center. I think that is the reason the dealer I bought my motorhome from is now out of business.

My problem is getting a dealer to do the stupid RECALL !!!! Is it just in NC or is every RV Dealer in the country a million dollar sales department with a $.10 service department....It seems to me that with sooo many people without jobs someone should get hired as an RV Tech. They seem to have more work than they can get done. We have only had to take it in for a repair one time and it took them two months to get it repaired and guess what one of the repairs was the refrigerator...

MrDoneIt65 wrote:
Ray Chez, the chinese sensor with the little red light was suppose to blow if the refrigerator got to hot. I don't know how hot that is. I don't know if it got so hot that the coils blew and then the red light came on or what. I just know that the so called "recall fix" is not a fix, but a removal of liability. If your chinese sensor comes on with a little red light, your refrigerator WILL NOT WORK. No matter where you are in your journey. Why didn't Norcold come up with a Fix that prevented a fire, or prevented the coils from getting so hot that they would cause a fire in your unit? It would be like Toyota, instead of fixing the accelerator problem they had, putting in a sensor that shut off the brakes and shutting down the engine if the car suddenly started to accelerate. Leaving you parked along the side of busy highway at rush hour. I won't buy another rig with a Norcold anything in it.

I agree with you completely that Norcold should have recalled all those refrigerators that could give problems and replace the coils or what ever it needed to be safe. The sensor is a cheap way of getting out of replacing the real problem. Reminds me of Cummins with the problem they had with the ISL engines with wrist pins that were not machined properly. They just installed a light to warn you that the engine was about to blow up. Cheapest way to getting out of a big problem with their product.

Ray Chez, the chinese sensor with the little red light was suppose to blow if the refrigerator got to hot. I don't know how hot that is. I don't know if it got so hot that the coils blew and then the red light came on or what. I just know that the so called "recall fix" is not a fix, but a removal of liability. If your chinese sensor comes on with a little red light, your refrigerator WILL NOT WORK. No matter where you are in your journey. Why didn't Norcold come up with a Fix that prevented a fire, or prevented the coils from getting so hot that they would cause a fire in your unit? It would be like Toyota, instead of fixing the accelerator problem they had, putting in a sensor that shut off the brakes and shutting down the engine if the car suddenly started to accelerate. Leaving you parked along the side of busy highway at rush hour. I won't buy another rig with a Norcold anything in it.

RayChez wrote:
It is hard to believe that the coil would blow up because of a sensor attached to the pipe, unless the clamp they installed crimped the pipe causing a weak spot. I have had all the recalls and my 1200 LRIM is still working really good for the last nine years. But if it does fail one of these days I will probably look into installing the Amish coil.

But thats the installer that caused that problem not the recall

It is hard to believe that the coil would blow up because of a sensor attached to the pipe, unless the clamp they installed crimped the pipe causing a weak spot. I have had all the recalls and my 1200 LRIM is still working really good for the last nine years. But if it does fail one of these days I will probably look into installing the Amish coil.

Oh, and the coils blew in the flu area, exactly where the recall sensor had been installed. I removed the entire contraption and sent it back to Norcold at my expense. A lady called me from Norcold and said they were looking into some type of compensation for what happened. I thanked her for her concern and that was the last I heard from Norcold. My refrigerator is fixed, no thanks to Norcold.

Let me repeat this again. My refrigerator was working just fine before they started the recalls. The first one lasted about a week and the reset button wouldn't work. So then they did the second recall which didn't last 4 hours and the red light came on. No reset. When they came to check it out, my coils were blown. FACT! So the recall didn't FIX the problem, it removed them from any liability by shutting down the refrigerator when it overheated. I don't know if the refrigerator overheated, the coils blew out, and then the red light came on or not. I wasn't watching it when the coils blew, and neither were you. But it removed Norcold of any liability on a refrigerator that was working just fine before they came up with thier jerry rigging "fix" that didn't fix anything. Enough said! And I have repaired this motorhome from the rear bumper to the front so I know how to work on the thing.

MrDoneIt65 wrote:
My refrigerator was working fine. No problems for years. Then they decided that a recall was necessary. The first recall lasted a week and the button wouldn't reset. The second recall lasted 4 hours and when the technician checked it the coils were blown. Thanks to RV Net I found out about the Amish coils. When I put the new coils in the refrigerator the cooling fans did not come on. So I, having worked on this rig from front to back, got out the wiring diagram. Surprise, surprise, the black wire and the white wire had been switched on the control box. Wonder how that happened. If I hadn't read those instructions and found that switching of the wires then my new Amish coils would have blown out too. Where did I get this idea? I got it from doing the work myself to replace the coils. Fact! The original coils on a refrigerator that was working just fine before the recalls were blown. You doctor it, I don't.

I repeat!! The recall has NOTHING to do with your coil failure

My refrigerator was working fine. No problems for years. Then they decided that a recall was necessary. The first recall lasted a week and the button wouldn't reset. The second recall lasted 4 hours and when the technician checked it the coils were blown. Thanks to RV Net I found out about the Amish coils. When I put the new coils in the refrigerator the cooling fans did not come on. So I, having worked on this rig from front to back, got out the wiring diagram. Surprise, surprise, the black wire and the white wire had been switched on the control box. Wonder how that happened. If I hadn't read those instructions and found that switching of the wires then my new Amish coils would have blown out too. Where did I get this idea? I got it from doing the work myself to replace the coils. Fact! The original coils on a refrigerator that was working just fine before the recalls were blown. You doctor it, I don't.