INTRODUCTION

[martybea]

Hi There:

Bea & I are enjoying ourselves here in Mesquite, Nevada. Whilst here, we were informed that Norcold was recalling some refridgerators and sure enough, our fridge qualifies. We traded our 30 footer for a 2010 3445SA and enjoy it very much, however, this recall sucks.We are still awating the new cooling unit, however, it's frustrating to live on shopping on a daily basis as we don't heve a fridge. Is anyone else in the same predicament? Is there any financial kick back from Norcold on this recall? We were advised to shut the fridge off, etc. So what do you do with food, it won't keep.

Marty

[HamRad]

Marty,
We like the Mesquite area. I love the red and green contrast! Many folks have a small 'apartment' type fridge or some even use an ice chest to keep food in an emergency. I know they advise you to NOT use the fridge but I'm sure that is as much a CYA thing as it a 'real' issue.

If it were me I'd simply use the fridge until they were ready to actually change it out. I would, however, watch it very carefully. In our case we continued to use it until it actually broke! There was yellow stuff all over the outside in the lower vent area.

To be extra careful while using the fridge I'd have a fire extinguisher at the ready just in case. You just have to weigh the convenience against the danger. In our case the 'dangerous' part was 'fixed' by the addition of a flimsy little screen device. After this was installed was when our fridge lost its coolant. There are a couple of different brands of fridges used in the Montanas and I don't know if the recall was for the same reason or not.

We were lucky that they replaced our broken fridge at their cost. Shortly thereafter they stopped doing that.

On the same subject some folks are replacing the RV style fridges with a regular residential type when they need a replacement.

Good luck with whatever you do. HamRad

[bncinwv]

Disclaimer: This is not to be taken as advice!!!

We were subject to the same recall and did exactly as Hamrad says, we used the fridge until we could get it to the dealer for the recall work. Others on the forum have stated that this is a serious issue and the instructions to shut the fridge off should be followed, I have my opinion on that as well that I will keep to myself. It may not be an option but if you have any plans for adding a small dorm type fridge, now may be the time to do it!! Beyond a doubt, the safest thing to do is to not use the fridge until the recall is addressed!!
Bingo

[CamillaMichael]

Sorry to hear of your situation...hopefully you get in fixed soon, but until then, above advice seems to be on target.

[Waynem]

There have been fires and catastrophes associated with refrigerators. It just isn't worth the risk. There were a couple of recalls on the Norcold. The latest one is to place a heat sensor on the stack that when it senses a certain temperature it shuts the refrigerator off. Once this has been tripped the refrigerator needs to be replaces, as I understand it.

We always have carried an ice chest with us. As long as you have ice in it it will keep frozen things frozen, but the condition is that you must keep ice in it.

We were fortunate with our recall. I told the dealer that I wanted the part second day air shipped, and they complied. I picked up the $15-20 shipping cost, the rest was under warranty.

Personally, it is not worth the high stakes risk to continue to use it.