BULLETLS1 wrote:
There is one in ebay made from ARTICOLD for about 580 (free sh), another amish brand (?), for 535+85sh.
Did not heard about the nordic brand, i'll ask if still in stock.
Now.... which brand!?
I know the Amish-built units are very popular. I *think* they're new whereas others (like Nordic) are remanufactured. I did a lot of reading and really didn't come across any problems with either (new vs rebuilt) beyond the various vendors bashing each other.
BULLETLS1 wrote:
I did consider the residential fridge, I like the fact that is almost noiseless!, but is kinda about pride, the fridge might cost a third of what the rv cost to me!, i do VERY FEW camping, half of those ive seen really practicall the propane fuelled ref.
Why if the fridges fail because of corrosion, why arent INOX an option?
That's why I did it - kinda about pride (the challenge of repairing it) and the fact that replacing it would cost several times more than the entire RV cost me. Plus, I do like the option of using propane for when I'm on the road or where 120V isn't available.
My brother tried to talk me into a residential fridge but I'm a stickler for detail and wanted the original to work as designed.
From what I've read, they fail primarily because of corrosion over time. The tubes corrode from the inside and the ammonia solution can't circulate anymore. You can, however, destroy one pretty quick by running it when it isn't level. The heat is meant to be applied in a very specific area. If it's not level, the heat is in the wrong place and will destroy it pretty quick. There's a couple of tutorials on YouTube discussing this.
Mine was 30 years old so I had no complaints about having to repair it.
I just did this on my Norcold 8310. I was lucky enough to find a rebuilt Nordic unit on eBay from an out-of-business RV place. It sounds like you've gotten your Amish unit, but the Nordic people were VERY helpful and friendly despite the fact that I didn't buy the unit directly from them. Here are the highlights:
First - if you smell ammonia do not apply heat anymore! It's done!
- Fridge removal: It's easy. There are screws around the perimeter on the front - you may have to remove the doors to get at all of them, but you're going to want to remove the doors anyway. There are typically two more screws at the base of the unit, in the back via the access door. Unplug it and unhook the gas. It will slide out. You will need 2 people. I set mine down on a moving dolly to work on it inside the RV. You might want to cover the floor with blankets because it can be a messy job.
- Cooling unit removal: You're going to want to unhook the heating element from the circuit board as well as remove anything that's attached to the cooling unit, primarily the burner and associated sheet metal. My cooling unit was attached via 4 screws through the back and about a dozen more inside the fridge in the freezer and refrigerator. With all the screws out, I still had to use a putty knife to slice through the foam (the messy part) to loosen it up and remove it. You should be able to see a line in the foam where the cooling unit is glued into the box.
- New unit installation: Mine was not an exact fit, hopefully yours will be. I had to hack about 1/4" of foam off of the bottom in order for it to sit low enough for all of the screws to line up. You're going to want to scrape off the old thermo-mastic and replace it with the new stuff that's typically supplied with the new cooling unit. If you do wind up having to "customize" the new unit, seal up any resulting gaps with Great Stuff. You're probably going to need some foil tape, too, if it doesn't come with the new unit. It took 2 people to get mine installed - one to push really hard from the back and another to start the screws inside the freezer. Once I had them started, I carefully drew it in with the screws. Once it was drawn in, everything lined up nicely.
- Fridge reinstallation: Bolt everything you removed from the old cooling unit to the new cooling unit. Slide it back in (with a helper) and reinstall the screws. You're probably going to have to goof around with the door hinges to get them lined back up right. Hook up the gas, check for leaks, plug it in.
At full blast, my "new" unit got down to 16.5 below zero in the freezer and high-20s in the fridge. I dialed it back a bit and the temps got more reasonable.
There are some decent vids on YouTube, but none really fully prepare you for when you actually dig into the job. Like any other first time job, I could do it again in half the time if I had to.
First - if you smell ammonia do not apply heat anymore! It's done!
- Fridge removal: It's easy. There are screws around the perimeter on the front - you may have to remove the doors to get at all of them, but you're going to want to remove the doors anyway. There are typically two more screws at the base of the unit, in the back via the access door. Unplug it and unhook the gas. It will slide out. You will need 2 people. I set mine down on a moving dolly to work on it inside the RV. You might want to cover the floor with blankets because it can be a messy job.
- Cooling unit removal: You're going to want to unhook the heating element from the circuit board as well as remove anything that's attached to the cooling unit, primarily the burner and associated sheet metal. My cooling unit was attached via 4 screws through the back and about a dozen more inside the fridge in the freezer and refrigerator. With all the screws out, I still had to use a putty knife to slice through the foam (the messy part) to loosen it up and remove it. You should be able to see a line in the foam where the cooling unit is glued into the box.
- New unit installation: Mine was not an exact fit, hopefully yours will be. I had to hack about 1/4" of foam off of the bottom in order for it to sit low enough for all of the screws to line up. You're going to want to scrape off the old thermo-mastic and replace it with the new stuff that's typically supplied with the new cooling unit. If you do wind up having to "customize" the new unit, seal up any resulting gaps with Great Stuff. You're probably going to need some foil tape, too, if it doesn't come with the new unit. It took 2 people to get mine installed - one to push really hard from the back and another to start the screws inside the freezer. Once I had them started, I carefully drew it in with the screws. Once it was drawn in, everything lined up nicely.
- Fridge reinstallation: Bolt everything you removed from the old cooling unit to the new cooling unit. Slide it back in (with a helper) and reinstall the screws. You're probably going to have to goof around with the door hinges to get them lined back up right. Hook up the gas, check for leaks, plug it in.
At full blast, my "new" unit got down to 16.5 below zero in the freezer and high-20s in the fridge. I dialed it back a bit and the temps got more reasonable.
There are some decent vids on YouTube, but none really fully prepare you for when you actually dig into the job. Like any other first time job, I could do it again in half the time if I had to.
