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Refrigerator discussion & recommendations (Not residential)

MamaGoose
Explorer
Explorer
Hello,

We're new to RV'ing with a motorhome. Just purchased a pre-owned 2003 Fleetwood Revolution. I happened to find out about the recall on the Norcold 1200LRIM 4 door refrigerator, and we had the high temperature sensor installed 2 days ago at a dealership under the official recall. Fast forward to today, we're home from our trip and planning to park the rig for a few weeks. The refrigerator was running on Auto/LP. I removed everything from the fridge and, using the on/off button on the refrigerator, I turned it off. I heard it shut off, I actually heard the LP go out. Then we proceeded on to other things, like unpacking, having supper, and so forth. My husband gave the rig a wash and parked it in the shed. Walking by, he saw the glow of the red light from the sensor. He mentioned it to me and I said that shouldn't be on, it meant the high temp sensor had shut off the fridge (which hadn't been on in the first place) and we would be unable to start the fridge again unless we were able to reset the sensor. I went inside, tried turning it on...nothing. So the sensor is obviously faulty and we'll try resetting it. (This does make me wonder how trustworthy the sensor is, however, since there was no high temperature and no reason for it to trigger, and this is an issue I'll be taking up with the dealership who installed it and/or the Norcold rep I've been exchanging e-mails with. Probably best to have as much in writing as possible.) We don't have time to drive the 8 hour round trip to have the dealership install a new sensor at this time, but this will likely have to be done. (Unless they can ship it to us and we can swap it out ourselves?)

All of this has made me wonder, in the event that we do find it necessary to replace the refrigerator, if there is another brand anyone could recommend. We do need one that runs on LP or AC, since we do plan to do a fair bit of traveling with the motorhome and we want to have the option of boondocking. I know many new motorhomes are manufactured with residential refrigerators, but ours is not set up that way and apparently the modifications to do that would be quite expensive.

The 2003 5th wheel we had previous to this motorhome also had a Norcold fridge, but it was smaller and was not a part of this recall. I had it set at 3 and it worked great. In fact, I had to be careful where I placed the fresh produce because 3 was almost too cold but 2 was not quite cold enough. With the motorhome, however, I'm finding it has to be set at 7, and if it's on LP I need to set it at 8 or even 9. The weather has been very hot and humid where we've been. Is that normal for these refrigerators (Norcold 4 door 1200 models)? I would have expected better. It does occur to me that this refrigerator is old and may be near the end of its life expectancy.
18 REPLIES 18

2chiefsRus
Explorer
Explorer
Old-Biscuit wrote:
Hubby washed rig........got the box/wires wet.

Reset box using a strong magnet.
Place magnet over LED and move it make and forth.


x2 - I've seen it more than once. Folks think my husband is a magician when he makes the red light go off with a magnet. Each time folks have just washed or had their rigs washed.
Dave & Kathy
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WyoTraveler
Explorer
Explorer
We were in CA at an RV park and neighbor had a recalled Norcold with that mod. His refer just ran hot all the time. My dometic never runs that hot. I was glad I didn't have the Norcold. He had trouble with his Norcold when he got it washed and had to replace the mod.

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Explorer III
Hubby washed rig........got the box/wires wet.

Reset box using a strong magnet.
Place magnet over LED and move it make and forth.
Is it time for your medication or mine?


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Bob_AnnaMarie
Explorer
Explorer
MamaGoose,
Assuming that your refer is "unfixable" and you do not want to explore the residential alternative, another choice that many make is to replace the back of your current Norcold with an Amish unit. The Amish units seem to be a lot better made than the Norcold backs. And, most importantly they do not seem to be the serious fire hazard that the Norcolds are turning out to be. You just don't hear about fires in conjunction with the Amish units.

One critical factor in your choice, however, is how are your seals on your current box. If they are good (and show resistance when you put a dollar bill between the door and the box and it has friction when you pull on it) then the Amish unit is a cost effective way to go. If your seals are bad, however, be aware that the seals are not sold separately, and the "shells"/frames for the large doors cost around $424 each. So, this can be a real factor in "fixing" your current box.

So, a lot depends on the condition of your current box. But, this may all be academic since you will probably get a fix to your problem that will keep you in good shape for the time being and give you more time to investigate alternatives.
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