2013 3403 6 months Big Sky report - Page 4 - Montana Owners Club

simonsrf · 03-18-2013, 03:38 PM

Sorry to hear of your troubles, Rich and Helen. Hope everything works out satisfactorily. Think you can get them to reimburse you for the $200 worth of thrown-out food?

bigskyjimmy · 03-18-2013, 04:13 PM

Rich ,that happened to us for the first 2 mo we owned it on and off and I did not feel like taking to the dealer so I read some tips on the internet and I shut off ALL power to it for about 4 hours till all the coils were cold then I tapped all over the coils and tank with a screwdriver then plugged it back in and what do ya know It has WORKED GREAT ever since,I guess what happens is sometimes from the factory a piece of debris from the mfg procces gets loose in there and travels around in the coils and clogs it up ,when you shut the fridge down for a few hours and tap around it gets dislodged, by the way as we had it shut down for those 4 hours we used dry ice to keep everything cold,ANYWAY good luck we almost had to take it in if that did not work

simonsrf · 03-18-2013, 04:53 PM

Rich,
I thought I was going to have to replace my fridge too. Reading on the internet, I found that unplugging it in the back for a few minutes.....it later started working. Had lots of anxious time waiting for the fridge to get back to temperature, but it was still working after 3 years later.

steves · 03-19-2013, 12:51 AM

Rich...understand your frustration but the refrig is not keystone's quality issue. Norcold is the standard top of the line refrig in all manufactures.

richfaa · 03-19-2013, 03:44 AM

You are right. Did I mention that keystone Customer service refered me to the repair facility as a Authorized keystone facility but the facility would NOT touch any Keystone warranty job as they said Keystone had "Stiffed " them on payment too many times. It is a vendor provided item and Norcold is supposed to be high quality but it is in a keystone product and their problem as well.

we have tried all of the above..nothing worked. We shall see.

steves · 03-19-2013, 05:05 AM

Again...totally understand your frustration with the Frig problem and then getting service. But w/o knowing all the issues between Keystone and the repair facility it's hard to point the finger.

8.1al · 03-19-2013, 06:20 AM

I'm not sure what the dealers problem is. This is a Norcold warranty item,not Keystones, isn't it? What happened to the mobile tech coming out?

Bigboomer · 03-19-2013, 06:22 AM

We did the same as Robbie and Bigsky when our less than 1 year old Norcold acted up.....turned all power off, turned breakers off and let sit for 20 minutes. Then powered back on and started using on propane before turning back to electric. Working fine now. Guess either the motherboard needed resetting or maybe the coil needed to cool off but she works fine now. Go Figure?

Keep the faith Rich!

bigskyjimmy · 03-19-2013, 09:11 AM

We tried many times the 20min turn off and it would fix it for a week or so and then it would do it again finally like I said what the heck I will turn it off for at least 4 hours and bangned on the coils(not hard) thats when it worked permentely(HOPEFULLY)

Montana Sky · 03-19-2013, 10:10 AM

Rich - sorry to hear that you are having trouble with the Norcold fridge. Mine has been on this entire winter in temps down to -22 and have not had any issues. There has been discussion on a few other threads regarding the required spacing/air flow above and below the Norcold fridges. I realize you cannot change the design and I am sure that Keystone has factored the airflow requirements into the cabinet sizes above/below the fridge. A friend of mine ended up emptying some of the "stuff" they had in the cabinet above their fridge as the heat off the fridge could not escape. They've had no issues since. Not sure if you have cabinets above/below your fridge, but it might be worth a look. I hope the service tech is able to get you up and running soon!

exav8tr · 03-19-2013, 12:01 PM

Hey Rich, I heard if you just take it to the service center they will fix anything......Good luck!!

sailer · 03-19-2013, 03:41 PM

I think if you talk to Ozz you will find duck tape is not the tape for duck work as in time it peals off from the heat. you have to use a special furnance tape that can take heat and cold. Talk to any air cond person or furnance guy . you will get informed. sailer

richfaa · 03-19-2013, 05:07 PM

that is true Phil but we are nowhere near the service center or it would be on the way there.This thing is still under keystone warranty so those are the first folks you would call and I did. Both Montana dealers in the area , both camping worlds are booked solid. Customer service refered me to Camping Connection a authorized keystone repair facility only thing is Camping connection will not do ANY warranty work for keystone due to being " stiffed" Camping connection is also a certified Nor cold repair facility so they are going that route.
camping connection was here yesterday but there are issues that are directly related to Keystone that have to be addressed . I will not talk about it on a open forum at this time but the "proper"folks at Keystone/Montana have been advised of the issues.It is a issue that can affect any of us and we will post it when this has been resolved.

Had I been able to get to the service center or a Keystone dealer the problem would I am sure been resolved in terms of the fridge but there is still a serious Keystone issue that needs to be addressed.

bncinwv · 03-20-2013, 01:56 AM

I am assuming the "Keystone problem" is not of a safety related matter to the fridge, since you are hesitant to discuss it on an open forum. I thought this forum was the ideal place to discuss and bring to light design issues, unless it involves the business side of their business, then I would understand. I think the MOC needs some clarification if you would, Rich. Your choice, but now you have us all wondering if we have potential problems.
Bingo

richfaa · 03-20-2013, 02:27 AM

It is NOT a safety issue if it were I would have reported it at once.It is a warranty related issue and I do not wantt to post the issue till everyone has the opportunity to reply.

bncinwv · 03-20-2013, 02:59 AM

Thanks Rich, I understand.
Bingo

steves · 03-20-2013, 03:58 AM

Hope all is resolved quickly.

richfaa · 03-21-2013, 04:46 AM

Repair facility just called..Camping Connection here in Kissimmee. They say the problem is something blocking the flow of refrigerant a problem we have seen here on this forum and others.So Nor Cold the leader in the industry caused the issue. We have not heard from Keystone of their problem..

MIMF · 03-22-2013, 02:28 AM

Hey Rich, you and others might be interested to know that, earlier this week, I think it was Monday's edition of The Elkhart Truth, there were a bunch of articles cncerning the RV industry in the Business section. One of those articles talked about Thor Industries and how Hiram was promoted or, transferred from Keystone to Dutchmen. There have been a lot of changes at Keystone over the last couple years.

Another article in the same issue spoke about 3 guys at the top of Keystone had left in 2011 and started their own RV manufacturing company over in Middlebury. And, seem to be doing quite well. They are currently producing a high end 5th wheel. They began producing 100 days ago, produced 100 units and have hired the 100th employee. Not sure what that means and I have not seen one of their units yet but, I guess they are NOT making it to the dealers lots before they are sold.

Food for thought!

richfaa · 03-22-2013, 02:47 AM

IMO Keystone needs to take a good hard look at their products and business practices.Again IMO there are manufactures building a better product and many of them are using EX Keystone managers.I do try to keep up with them industry.

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