I just received a call from my wife that the Original equipment black Norcold fridge with the freezer on top (not a side by side) in our 1997 U270 is not cooling on gas or electric. She detected a unknown odor about 12 hours ago and now the fridge is fully "defrosted" and the normal ice on the fins has melted away (lights on the fridge are normal...IE it has power) . As I am deployed as a contractor 10,000 miles away I am not there to investigate. We live full time in the coach and the Norcold has been faultless until now. I instructed her to put it on gas and it lit I think but still no change in temps to the cooling fins after 10 mins.
Luckily in Huntsville AL tonight it is 31 F outside tonight so she will put the contents of the fridge outside and some in the freezer in the relatives house. I think we need to consider a residential fridge for now as my work will not have me back in the US until the middle of next month to address the problem. We are near Lowes and Home Depot so should we consider buying a new Samsung (or ?) that I can install on my return (it can live in the adjacent barn for now on 110v power). As we have a 1997 U270 with the fridge to the left of the sink floorplan I assume only one model will fit. Also. we have the narrow forward entry door (compared to 98 and newer) so how do we get the new fridge inside the coach?
I am assuming that the original fridge is not easily repairable (is this true?) and may have lost its ammonia (?) charge....any recommendations appreciated. We plan to be live full time as I work in Huntsville and overseas for the next 2 years so though eventually we will resume boondocking the next 2 years we will have shore power. I think many of you have been down this road.....What to do!
Carl
Shut off the electric and the gas to the refrigerator immediately. Risk of fire is major concern.
Sadly it sounds as if the coach is in Huntsville, not Anacortes. I am in Gig Harbor and am happy to help in any way.
Can your wife drive the coach to Nacogdoches? IS there someone who. Could drive her there if she cant in the coach for a day or two? SOunds like a classic ammonia leak - if so very dangerous to operate the refrigerator in any mode.....
PM me for my phone number if you wish to speak live re options.
1st thing shut the fridge off, sounds like the cooling unit has failed. Well if you go with a Samsung it will require you to do some extensive modifications, and loose the cabinet below the fridge. With that said you could likely go with a 10 cubic foot or so that would require little to no modifications, around 400 at lowes or the Depot. 3rd option is a replacement Amish cooling unit around 1500 bucks time you get it installed.
How i might help that is!!!
Cabinet modification not that big a deal depending on the width of your current refridgerator. IN many 1999 U-320 a 33" wide counter depth fit in there perfectly - start by measure it the width of the current cabinet, and see what if any counter depth refrigerator is available in that width.
AJ Madison has a great web site for searching on size of appliances.
Buy Appliances Online | Home and Kitchen Appliances | AJ Madison (http://Www.ajmadison.com)
Good luck! Let's us know what you decide to do
If it was me I would contact JR at JC Refrigeration and ask him to refer you to a local tech that installs his cooling units. I am sure there is someone close to Huntsville, but if not my second choice would be to go to Shipshewana, IN (weather permitting) and have JR do the work. Shipshewana is 100 miles closer to Huntsville than Nacogdoches so my last choice would be NAC.
http://jc-refrigeration.com/
^^^^^ agree 100%.
We are pleased with our new cooling unit from JC Refrigeration. I think it's the perfect option if you don't want to do a residential conversion.
JR is a man of few words but he provides excellent customers service and stands behind his products. My freezer is rock solid at 0 degrees, fridge ranges from 37-40.
This does sound like the classic symptoms of failure mentioned above so leave it off. This is common enough that a local quality RV shop should be able to handle the labor for at least a cooling unit replacement.
JC mentioned above has both the propane replacement and the new electric compressor units. Another closer option for the labor may be Tennessee RV in Knoxville. They were great to work with on my Norcold on our Arctic Fox.
http://www.buddygregg.com/rv-service.aspx
This is exactly the scenario that pushed us in the direction of a residential fridge. We went with a full-sized model and lost some storage space. Friends have preferred the smaller unit and happily boondock for long periods with just their roof solar handling the load. BUT ... if you decide to replace the cooling unit on this Norcold, and do not already have a fire suppression plan in the fridge compartment ... GET ONE NOW! If your wife had been away for a day or so ... or deeply asleep ... and the ammonia leak had taken a different turn .... Don't want to think about it.
Absolutely-- Turn off the refrigerator NOW. With a compromised cooling unit it is a significant fire hazard.
Choices:
Replace with another absorption refrigerator
Install a new cooling unit in the existing refrigerator
Replace with a residential refrigerator
Pluses and minuses to each.
Short term "work arounds": Many areas have dry ice available-- will easily and without a mess keep the freezer frozen. Small piece of dry ice wrapped in newspaper will keep refrigerator cold. We do this all the time in the boat when going off shore to reduce compressor run time.
If the cooling unit has gone bad, I would replace it. That can be done inside the RV if necessary.
Was your coach level when the problem happened? An un-level coach can cause the cooling unit to fail.
Good luck!
If you have an ice maker, you can put ice in bags and keep your refrigerated goods from spoiling.
I recommend replacing the refrigeration unit. A residential fridge draws too much power.
If you full time, are planning on keeping coach a while and you are always plugged in this is an easy decision. Residential.
More space inside, better cooling and freezing, no defrost and no chance of fire.
Cost difference not meaningful over 3-5 years Only defensible reasons to fix old unit are - you wish to extensively boondocks without solar and without running gen set, or you are getting rid of coach soon and saving a bit of $44 matters. Even the second reason might not hold up, most (not all) buyers would view the residential unit as more "modern" and desirable. So the price difference might come back somewhat even in a near term resale.
Had propane in 1989, 1999, and 2000 .
Had leak in 199 with no fire. Scary!11 Replaced cooling unit. Failed within 6 months, PITA to change out cooling unit. Bought new fridge (propane) for 1989. Traded for 1999 U-270 with propane. Put in fires suppression, costs $$$$.
Traded for u-320 2000 (wanted slide and aqua hot. Upgraded refrigerator rather than put in fire suppression on then 10 year old unit.
Almost unanimously praise their propane refrigerators.
Folks on the forum who have upgraded to residential would almost universally say they would never go back.
Anybody out there on the forum having put in a resedential miss their propane and want to go back to a gas/electric refrigerator? If so please let us know your thoughts and reasoning.
Count me strongly in the never going back crowd. Also not giving up power windows, cruise control in my vehicles, automatic headlights and most of all soft close toilet seats......
Let us know what
Folks that have never had a reside-dentils on the forum
Tim, the small residential does not draw too much power. My average is 40 watts
Agree Mike, but willing to concede point. Gas refrigeration draws less power than electric refrigeration. For some it may matter a lot. For most full timers, matters not a bit. For most non full timers, matters little.
As Dave Metzger often said, 'do what makes you happy" '
Just had a JC Refrigeration gas elec unit put in ours to replace the still working Dometic unit. We enjoy boondocking with out having to hear the generator run, but hey that's us. Everyone I know with a large res fridge, even with solar seems like generator is running every time you walk by them. As always the choice is yours DWMYFG. 😎
My Dometic 3863 refrigerator quit so I ordered a cooling unit from RVCool and it arrived 9-20-2017. I did the change out inside the coach and reinstalled yesterday. Everything is working perfectly, making ice in freezer and 35 dg in the bottom. cost $425 plus $45.00 shipping with a lifetime warranty. Hope it lasts another 20 years like the original, I probably wont need it after that.
Bill ^.^d :)) ^.^d
Still working great 12=24-2018
Bill
Look no further than the link in the next paragraph. All your answers are in it. The Samsung being used by many on our Foreforums will not fit as it is too wide.
Replacing an Absorbsion Refrigerator with a Residential unit in a 1997 U270 (http://bit.ly/2CxM7DG)
or
Replacing an Absorbsion Refrigerator with a Residential unit in a 1997 U270 (http://beamalarm.com/Documents/Replacing%20an%20Absorbsion%20Refrigerator%20with%20a%20Residential%20unit/replacing_an_absorbsion_refrigerator_with_a_residential_unit_in_a_1997_u270.html)
BTW, it is much better to replace long before the original fridges fail. Do it at a convenient time without stress. Old original propane fridges will all fail and some failures can be catastrophic.
And if you insist on turning the fridge on, I would recommend that you first park the coach right next to a manned fire station.
Also, check your insurance coverage. If insufficient you should increase it to what ever the price is on a newer coach you have been contemplating.
Tim Drager, not Tim Fielder, maybe you just need more solar or battery storage than 1920 watts and 14KWH lithium batteries? Sarcasm, or am I missing something?
yes, I feel solar challenged at only 1180 Watts on roof and only 6 L-16 lifelines!
Tim Fiedler
Sure Start Soft Start (http://www.gen-pro.biz) - home of SureStart soft starters TCER Direct (http://www.tcerdirect.com) - home of Generac Approved Aluminum and Copper TCER Composite cable generator-gas-prod (http://www.generatorgasproducts.com) - home of X-Riser Gas Risers for PE installation Call me at 630 240-9139
Gen-Pro
We replaced our Dometic fridge with the same model that Barry used. We do not run gen at all and have 970 watts of solar and 4 -8D batteries for power. We are very frugal with all electric accessories and run this fridge off a dedicated 1000 w PS inverter mounted under bed. We are not parked while travelling in an RV park so all our power comes from solar or alternater. All LED lighting makes a big difference,and we do not watch TV more than an hour a day (if we can get it) as no sat unit on roof. Solar panel took that spot.
JohnH
We too have gone from a Dometic unit to the Samsung - about 5 years now. We do not boondock much, but when we do we must run the gen set twice a day for a total of 5 hours +/-. Not great. We also use a lot of power and have some parasitic draw that I haven't tracked down.
We were scheduled to do solar last winter but our schedule for the next couple of years are set and will not boon-dock much. Therefore the cost does not make sense to me yet.
We much prefer our Samsung and it cost less for me to install than replacing the coils + I sold the Dometic unit for $$$ too.
With the difference in cost you might be able to squeak out another 8-D. Just make sure you cable the new battery properly - using buss bars. That 4th battery will just about run the Samsung alone.
Lots of conversations here about this topic and lot's of opinions.
The hardest thing for any owner is to understand their power usage and what to do about it. Plug in or power up.
Good luck with your decision. Which ever way you go will be right. :D
Thanks for all the great advice! Given that I will be working/deployed for the next 2.5 years and we will be plugged into shore power we will go with a residential unit. More space and safety and we can do the job ourselves. Looking at the write-up from Barry and Cindy I am hopeful we can weasel the fridge through the entry door rather than remove a window to save time (the 1997 U270 has the narrower door unfortunately but measures just over 24" wide so it might be possible). For the time being we have the use of a fridge and freezer in the nearby house so we are not suffering too much.
Being fairly new to RVing (but no stranger to living self contained aboard our sailboat for many years)...the best tool we have is this forum...many thanks to all.
Best Regards,
Carl and Kathleen
Carl,
Plenty of sailors and retired sailors here on the ForeForum as well.
Carl, if a 10 cu ft Refrigerator is big enough for you there are some you can get through Home Depot or Lowes. The 14.7 cu ft LG
without doors may go through door but the main problem with it is depth when door is open. Their diagram shows total depth with door open to be 46 1/2 inches it is 52 1/2. our coach is the 1999 DGFE which has bar extending out directly in front of refrigerator
DW likes the unit but it has been a real pain to get everything in place without door hitting bar. When running it is pulling 80 watts, and I have seen other post of different residential models pulling about the same amount.
As others have posted do what you like and what fits your situation.
I posted the information on the LG 14.7 because the diagram Spec sheet at Home Depot and Lowes and internet sites all give the same information on depth with door open. If you don't have our configuration it will work fine but if you have the DGFE model
I would not recommend this unit.
Chris
Remove the doorway railings and the fridge doors . All of the units in my thread are 24 wide.
Carl, to lighten the old fridge and better slip it out through door, it comes apart with rear cooling unit unbolting. This is the same way if replacing just the backside with a new propane absorption unit or compressor unit.
Of course, the new fridge comes apart by removing door and hinges.
Attached is our fridge's electric usage as measured over a long time period.
Used Kill-o-watt meter on a dedicated fridge electric cable.
Fridge uses electricity to run compressor to cool box based on fridge compartment thermostat. And electricity to run electric heating element behind freezer back wall turned on by a fridge run cycle relay. Heating element turns off by a high temp thermostat on heating element. Heater melts any ice accumulated on evaporator coil located behind freezer back wall.
Cool freezer air gravity flows down back center airway to cool fridge box. Air flow can be dampered closed to increase fridge temps.
Nice data set Barry. Very helpful in deciding as we keep going back and forth. Hoping to see an install of the smaller fridge in Quartzite.
Boondocking choices:
Residential fridges draw from .6 to 1.4KWh per day. On worst-case solar days: winter, cloudy, trees and/or snow my 1.9KW solar system would only generate about 200 watts for five hours, or only 1KWh. The fridge would consume all generated power. So, there are two options:
1. NON-GREEN TECHNIQUE - RUN GENNY
This means the stinky generator must be run for an hour or so if the inverter is run 24x7.
2. GREEN TECHNIQUE - SHUT OFF INVERTER
However, if the inverter is shut off, 1KWh may be enough to run all key RV systems like the propane fridge, furnace and hot water heater.
This is a choice we all must make. Place your bet, spend your money and live your dream. The sun will eventually shine and the solar system could handle both the fridge, RV systems AND the inverter.
Do they make a dual refrigeration system: freon or propane?
Do they make a dual refrigeration system: freon or propane?
Really good idea, R U working on it ?????
Should I start a Kickstarter campaign. It should only cost $1M to create a few prototypes.
Good idea as long as it will be patent protected. I will kick in $25k. Do you have PayPal?
JohnH
Fridge can live in barn. Many do not work if temps get below 4o or 45 Fahrenheit New residential fridge often come in via taking out a window and taking the doors off the new fridge - then it will fit through window. Service facilities do this with a guy operating a fork lift on the outside with the refrigerator on its back on a pallet, and two guys on the inside to slide it in and lift it up.
Width of the current cabinet space determines the fridge that will fit, height is usually taller than the RV ref ridge, usually accommodated by sacrificing the cabinet under the current refrigerator and building a new floor lower towards the floor (usually have to leave about 4" for some existing plumbing that is routed down there.
If you full time and are almost always plugged in, a new residential is the way to go.
You can get a new cooling unit to replace the one in the current refrigerator - not a typical DIY job, but if you are handy it can be done - more suitable if you want to have propane because you boon dock a lot. Cost wont be enough different either way to make a difference. Everyone here on the forum that has residential all say they wouldn't go back. Many that have Propane and never had residential say no way they will give up propane. You get to make that call, but if 90% of the time you are plugged in somewhere, I would go fore the residential for sure.
Lots of threads on the forum re residential conversions, pretty common upgrade. A counter depth refrigerator that fits in the width of the current opening, and modify the cabinet by moving down the shelf the refrigerator sits on is the easy way to put in a residential.
Let me know who I might help.
They rent hand crank fork lifts. Fits in pickup bed. Flat platform, goes way up. I use them to take air conditioners on and off coaches.
Cheap to rent.
Also, if you need a windshield replaced, that is the best method, through the front. Have done many that way.
Cheers
Chris