RV Fridge Cooling Unit

Hi All,

Has this happened to you? You are camping and the fridge in your RV stops working. You do the diagnostics test and it shows your cooling unit is bad. I had this experience just last month. Upon research I was amazed I was looking at over $1K in parts and labor to replace the cooling unit. I am a general contractor and so I was not about to pay that kind of money. I am not sure why so many of us are afraid to tackle service work on an RV like it is something special.

I found a resource for cooling units wholesale. (PM me if you want to get connected to a cooling unit) All the installation instructions can be found on the web but it is relatively easy to do yourself. Mine took about 4 hours (Norcold 621). I ordered the new cooling unit and then took the fridge out. You disconnect the gas and the power and then on mine it was only 4 screws to pull the fridge from the opening.

Upon getting the unit out there is some minor disassembly and a few screws to get the the cooling unit portion removed from the back of the fridge. At this point I discovered why my unit had failed. They had insulation installed around the unit and up the vent shaft. But Keystone did not properly secure the insulation going up and it had fallen down and was preventing airflow up the back of the unit. That is why the unit failed prematurely.

Once removed you clean old mastic and apply new thermal mastic and expanding foam before you place, align and secure the new cooling unit to the fridge.

Then you put the unit back in the opening and make your connections on the back and you should be back in business. I save $800 from the repair I was quoted and also got improvements by securing the insulation. I added a fan with thermal switch to improve draft in the vent across the coils and also added a fan to circulate the air inside the fridge that I found on ebay, that really helps to create uniform interior temperature.

Never be afraid of taking on RV projects they are as easy as your home projects. :)

14 Replies

darsben1
Explorer
Aug 25, 2016
Elkhound wrote:
FYI, all the research I did I would absolutely buy the new Amish cooling unit to replace a failed product if money was not a issue. I was on a budget as this was a expensive unexpected repair and cost was a concern. Since the warranty was the same I went re-manufactured. If it has to ever be done again I would buy new Amish unit.

I also stated along the way that I have the Norcold 621. If you have a Norcold 1200 make sure you replace with the The Amish unit only. All the info I found shows the 1200 has serious design flaws and is at great risk of fires.

Now that is good info

PS IF you stick around then criticism will diminish. We have to many people come on here as first time posters and tell us about how great a product they found. hey are here to sell something.

For comparison look at
THIS THREAD
notice no criticism of poster because he/she has been here a long while so it is accepted he is not here touting something.
There is a term for posting as a user when you are just trying to sell something. It is called Astroturfing and is to common. Sorry if you where inadvertently labeled
Elkhound
Explorer
Aug 25, 2016
FYI, all the research I did I would absolutely buy the new Amish cooling unit to replace a failed product if money was not a issue. I was on a budget as this was a expensive unexpected repair and cost was a concern. Since the warranty was the same I went re-manufactured. If it has to ever be done again I would buy new Amish unit.

I also stated along the way that I have the Norcold 621. If you have a Norcold 1200 make sure you replace with the The Amish unit only. All the info I found shows the 1200 has serious design flaws and is at great risk of fires. Actually if I had the 1200 i would budget and plan to replace the cooling unit proactively.
Elkhound
Explorer
Aug 25, 2016
Old-Biscuit wrote:
All you needed to do was come on here and do a search on 'cooling units'.........lots of information, lots of discussions, lots of recommendations etc.

Cooling unit failures and replacements are nothing new.

As a first time poster your thread reads like a commercial

I did come on here and many other forum's. Info is hard to find unless you have time to dig through the unrelated info and comments. Sorry it reads like a commercial. I almost paid $900 dollars for the cooling unit from norcold with a 1 year warranty. I am sure my post may help others that want this info.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Aug 25, 2016
Elkhound wrote:
Triker33 wrote:
Upon research I was amazed I was looking at over $1K in parts and labor to replace the cooling unit.

I save $800 from the repair I was quoted and also got improvements by securing the insulation

So you got a cooling unit for only $200? :h

No I said I saved over $1k did not think I needed exact details on the costs, labor had 3 different prices. so it varied. If you must know I paid $400 for the unit.

to be honest I am not sure I will do much more posting. Thought this was a great way to share info but I have never seen so many people get critical over every little thing. Some of us are not super wealthy and just want info on what works and how we can do it ourselves. Go Hire the RV tech and write the check, anyone want info on how easy the repair is and what I learned let me know.

No reason to leave, you just to toughen your skin a bit.

That said Holly Molly, you were going to be charged $1,000 to install a cooling unit!! I think I will start a side business, charge half as much and make a killing!!

Great choice to DIY.
Elkhound
Explorer
Aug 25, 2016
Triker33 wrote:
Upon research I was amazed I was looking at over $1K in parts and labor to replace the cooling unit.

I save $800 from the repair I was quoted and also got improvements by securing the insulation

So you got a cooling unit for only $200? :h

No I said I saved over $1k did not think I needed exact details on the costs, labor had 3 different prices. so it varied. If you must know I paid $400 for the unit.

to be honest I am not sure I will do much more posting. Thought this was a great way to share info but I have never seen so many people get critical over every little thing. Some of us are not super wealthy and just want info on what works and how we can do it ourselves. Go Hire the RV tech and write the check, anyone want info on how easy the repair is and what I learned let me know.
Triker33
Explorer
Aug 25, 2016
Upon research I was amazed I was looking at over $1K in parts and labor to replace the cooling unit.

I save $800 from the repair I was quoted and also got improvements by securing the insulation

So you got a cooling unit for only $200? :h
RonWSl
Explorer
Aug 25, 2016
I too have been there and done that. Not too hard and like you said you can find info online on how to do it. Of course, I had a young guy to help with getting it out of the space so I could get to the back of it. Also helped to build a wheeled wooden base level with the refrigerator's base to slide it out onto. Between this site and the web you can find information on just about how to do anything to an RV.
darsben1
Explorer
Aug 25, 2016
Old-Biscuit wrote:
All you needed to do was come on here and do a search on 'cooling units'.........lots of information, lots of discussions, lots of recommendations etc.

Cooling unit failures and replacements are nothing new.

As a first time poster your thread reads like a commercial

.. ..
......
SCVJeff
Explorer
Aug 24, 2016
There is no way I would buy a remanfactured unit for something as big as the NORCOLD 1200, and I sure hope you didn't either for lots of reasons easily found here. There is a reason people are going to the Pines/ Amish units.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Aug 24, 2016
All you needed to do was come on here and do a search on 'cooling units'.........lots of information, lots of discussions, lots of recommendations etc.

Cooling unit failures and replacements are nothing new.

As a first time poster your thread reads like a commercial