Norcold or Residential Fridge

[Fordplus5er]

Our camper is a 2010 model. The Norcold fridge was included in the hi temp sensor recall. The recall sensor box is installed on our unit. Long story short... We were in a sideways rainstorm a couple of weeks ago and the recall box failed...or worked, however you want to look at it. It shut down the fridge and threw the LI oP (line open) code. My thinking is that water got to the little computer board looking thing on the recall box through the vent fins on the outside of the reefer causing it to fail. We really like the fridge and it has worked fine until this one incident. I took it to the dealer and they said the recall box had failed. It (the recall box) was fixed/replaced on Norcolds dime. We weren't charged anything.

Sooo, I've been watching reefer fires on RV units on youtube and gotten paranoid.

My question is... Have any of you replaced your RV reefer with a residential unit?

Or do I just need to stay away from youtube.

[jimcol]

YouTube can be dangerous that way. Just remember the few incidents you see on YouTube are out of the millions of units on the road. Jim

[1retired06]

I helped a neighbor do it. Not hard. Have to size the residential to fit, level, put a block on the propane line, level, and do a little trim work. Hardest part was getting the fridge thru the entry door. Did not worry about an inverter, as he is set up as a seasonal. Primary reason for him was the rv unit quit and the residential refrigerator was a significantly cheaper solution.

[randye]

I replaced our Dometic with a Sears, Kenmore has 10.4 cubic feet. DW loves the bigger size much more room. We haven't boondocked but once in eight years. It was only a third of the cost. Brother in law and I installed on had to trim the sides and top of the opening. Saw dust wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. That was last February and it has preformed very well.

[DQDick]

Since we occasionally boondock we don't want a residential as they draw too many amps. Refrigerator fires are rare, but worth worrying about so we installed an automatic fire extinguisher in the back of the fridge. Installed something similar to this I got from Mac the fire guy: http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Fight-Pro...e+extinguisher
Got a small discount on my rig insurance for installing it.

[1retired06]

We have had trailers since 1970, used heavily throughout the years, to include six years of fulltiming. Never had a fire, never ran across anybody who had a fire. Only overheating issue I ever heard about was the NORCOLD recall.

[WeBeFulltime]

When my Norcold dies I'm replacing with residential. When we travel it is for 6 hours/day max. Shouldn't need batteries.

[DmaxDually]

Even though right now I will never boondock on purpose I still don't think I would replace mine with a residential model if it fails. For my situation I like having the RV frig. I don't have a generator in my 5th nor do I carry one with me. I live in FL and I am only a local(50-250 mile radius) camper for now. I been at a couple of camp grounds where the power has gone out from as little as 15 min's and as longs as 24hrs. Here in Fl the RV inside temps climb quickly when the a/c shuts off . I like the propane as an automatic back up. I don't have to worry that my food will spoil if I am away from the RV for the day sight seeing and the power drops off.

I cannot keep my RV at my house so I keep it in a storage unit plugged into A/C power so I do not have to go thru the hassle of emptying and refill my frig every time I go camping. It would takes at least 24 hrs for the frig to cool down if I turned it off.I know the propane will kick if the power goes out at the storage unit. This set up works great for my situation right now.....

Don't worry about YouTube video's on RV frig fires. Like some already said they are few and far between. If you really want something to worry about you should watch YouTube video's on RV accident's/Crashes . You would sell your RV tomorrow. Don't worry, enjoy your RV . If we all worried about what could happen to us ever time we leave our homes most of us never would . But then again they say most accidents happen IN the home...Great now what am I going to do ....Hmmmmmm

[jlb27537]

Stay away from U-Tube.

Jim

[ckwizard]

Personaly I feel that these fire breathing absorption fridges should be put out to pasture as the inverter technology is much better now and residential fridges are more efficiant than they use to be.
I have seen a rv fridge fire so I vote for residential.

[lunalonestar]

When our OEM fridge died 3 yrs ago, we installed a resi fridge ($1600 for direct replacement vs $300 for resi). Money saved was used to help pay for solar panels. Best thing we ever did. We full time and boondock 65% of the time, Works great. No regrets.

[bigred715]

Would Norcold issue the recall to you, or the dealer you bought it from? Haven't had any problem with either 2001 or this 2010 Montana refrigerators.

[DarMar]

Our next unit will definitely have a residential.

[tbhd2]

One more issue that has never been mentioned before, if the temperature in the RV goes below fifty degrees, the residential refrigerators will not work. So, if you live in a climate that gets cold and you want to turn the refrigerator on before you go they don't work below fifty degrees.

[rames14]

I would, IMHO, say it depends upon how you use your unit and where you camp. We are on our third Montana and have not had a problem so far.

[woodman]

Most residential refrigerators (with the exception of newer high end refrigerators) are controlled by a cold control/thermostat in the fresh food section. Residential refrigerators are designed to operate at or around normal room temps. The fresh food section is cooled by cold air from the freezer on almost all refrigerators, again with a few exceptions. What happens is when the ambient temperature gets below about 50 degrees or so, the refrigerator will not run long enough to cool the freezer properly. This is because the refrigerator doesn’t have to run very long to cool the fresh food section to the "set" temperature if the ambient temperature is low. So, if the temperature in the fresh food section is at the "set" temperature (the cold control is satisfied) the entire refrigerator cuts off. When the ambient temperature gets down in the 30s, the refrigerator will not run at all. Realistically, when you're living in your coach, how often are you going to have the inside of your coach at 50 degrees or below? I think it's pretty much of a non-issue.

[lunalonestar]

In the three plus years we've had our resi, that has never been an issue. We live in our 2006 3650RK full time and follow the sun, which I'm sure helps. We avoid cold environments.