MrDoneIt65
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Re: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
I drive a 2002 Fleetwood Southwind on a Workhorse chassis. That explains part of the problem. When it comes to RV's you have to remember, they are not like buying a car or a truck. If something goes wrong you don't just take them back to the dealer. Mine never saw the inside of a dealer service center. The only person I ever talked to at Walt Michael's, now out of business, was the operator. I wound up having to fix everything that went wrong on the motorhome as far as the coach. All I ever heard was, "You have to contact Norcold about that". Or, "You have to contact Dometic about that". Or, "You have to contact Power Gear about that". The dealer never fixed a **** thing on my motorhome. And I have never talked to one person who bought a "perfect" RV. They tend to slap them together with the same old slogan the Big 3 Automakers use to have. "Let the Dealer Fix it!" And the dealers don't make much money off Warranty Service as near as I can figure. So I got fed up with Norcold. My fridge worked just fine, even though it would never freeze ice cream and the ice maker was a joke, until they did those "recalls" and the 2nd one blew out the coils. When I called Norcold they said they had fulfilled their obligations under the recall. Then I found that to replace the 1200LRM would cost me $4,300.00. SCREW THAT! Through RV.net I found out about the Amish replacement coils. That cost me over a $1,000.00. So I replaced the coils. They worked fine for over 5 years. And they would freeze ice cream. I ditched the ice maker that never worked anyway. CLICK, CLICK, CLICK! When the Amish coils went bad, and I had 3 pancake cooling fans on them, I decided it was time to investigate something different. So I bought a "Made in the USA" GE refrigerator, modified the opening, and did away with the propane and the problems. And it freezes ice cream. I drive down the road and reach over and start the generator and let it run for a half hour. So far, no problems. When I did the YouTube investigations, and the Google of installing a residential refrigerator in the motorhome, they talked about a Samsung. Mine is a 17.3 cu. ft. GE model. Works great! Good luck and happy camping.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
I replaced the coils in my 1200LRM with the Amish coils. Lasted about 5 years. Then they sprung a leak and my Norcold turned into a warming oven. I did every test suggested, nothing worked. I did a YOUTUBE and there was a number of video's of people removing their Norcolds and replacing them with residential refrigerators. I went to Lowes and got a GE 18cuft fridge. I took the window out of the motorhome, slid the fridge through the opening, reinstalled the window, modified the fridge opening slightly, plugged it in and I can now freeze ice cream. And I have an on board generator. The fridge also uses so few amps that I can install roof top solar and run it that way. That is a future project after the camping season ends. All I lost was a propane hook-up.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
BennieH...If you family should suddenly start to talk funny, like with a high pitched voice, and they giggle a lot, check for a leak in your fridge. LOL (Just Kidding) They didn't have the helium filled coils when I got mine about 5 years ago. Or the salesman didn't mention them. But my fridge wouldn't freeze ice cream before. Now it does.659Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
Make sure your cooling fans are working and wired properly. There is a white and a black wire. If they are backwards they don't work. Our freezer would work but not our fridge until we replaced the coils. I actually put gallon jugs of water in the freezer and then put them in the fridge compartment. Then they did the 2nd recall and the coils blew.659Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
Plumgrubby, my Norcold 1200 came with an ice maker that never worked. I would hook up the water line, the tray would fill with water and then it would click, click, click, click until I unplugged it. So when I put the new coils in the fridge I removed the ice maker and replaced it with ice trays that now freeze. But I read in an rv post about putting additional cooling in the compartment. When I looked in the back there didn't seem to be much room for additional cooling fans. I went to Radio Shack and Lowe's. I bought two 4" pancake fans and some threaded rod and nuts. I fastened the two pancake fans together side by side and then used the threaded rod to make legs for them that raised them up off the floor of the cabinet. I placed them in the corner opposite of the heating tube and exhaust and wired them into the 12v wires left from the broken ice maker. They work perfectly and I have a constant flow of air across the coils.659Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
When I did my Norcold recall Amish coils replacement I put electrical tape around the wheels on my motorcycle jack. I pushed the fridge out from the back of the compartment after disconnecting everything. When I got the fridge on the jack I rolled it to the middle of the kitchen, put a piece of cardboard on the top and then jacked it up so it was against the ceiling. Read the instructions. You have to clean all of the old caulking off the fins that are in the back of the fridge. There were 4 bolts in the coils. Note what it says about the cooling fans. Even though they are 12 volt they can be hooked up backwards and will not work if they are. I found out that my cooling fans were hooked up backwards. No one had ever touched the refrigerator except those who originally installed it and the technicians who did the recalls. My original coils blew out at the point where the heating tubes and the recall mechanism were attached. As the other writer said, I run my Norcold on 5 and it will even freeze ice cream now . Which it never would before. I couldn't even keep popsicles for the grandkids because they would melt in the freezer when the fridge was on 9. Do not be afraid to do this real fix. The Amish coils are heavier, they are double coiled and they work a whole lot better. And they are MADE IN THE USA! Good Luck!660Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
Williamh. Welcome to the wonderful world of RV Refrigerator recalls. Now do a Google and type in RV Coil replacement. There is an Amish company in Shipshewana, Indiana who will fix your problem and it won't cost you $4,500.00. Get in touch with them.659Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010
When that so-called "recall" finally quits working or your coils blow out DO NOT THROW THE FRIDGE AWAY. There is a company in Shipshewana, IN that makes coils for RV and Marine applications. The so called "recall" blew the coils out of my Norcold. Naturally I have been told that is wrong but my coils blew out AFTER they did the recall. It is a simple fix to replace the coils and they are better made than the OEM. I also put 2 4" pancake fans in the compartment to blow air across the coils. And I am not going to argue about the recall. My fridge worked fine until they started doing the recalls. The Chinese sensor lasted about 4 hours and then my coil blew out. It cost me approximately $1,000.00 to replace the old OEM coils with the new Amish made coils.458Views0likes0Comments
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