Refrigerator Replacement Opinions

srosa707 · August 05, 2017, 02:26 PM

HI all. A previous owner put a house fridge (no LP) in our D20 and I was wondering if anyone had advice on a good AC/DC/LP fridge that I can put in my rig? Im new to the RV world but have seen the Norcold as a popular option. Thoughts?

Froggy1936 · August 05, 2017, 05:53 PM

My 1977 Mini Wini, Has a Norcold I replaced the cooling unit. Due to a rusted thru pipe in the freezer area .But all the rest is still original and all works ! I have no experience with other brands. Frank

Rickf1985 · August 05, 2017, 06:05 PM

I think Norcold and Dometic are about the only companies out there still making the gas RV fridges. Look for a modern one that uses helium as the gas instead of Hydrogen for safety in case of a catastrophic tube failure. I don't know about the new fridges but the old ones generally lasted 40-50 years if used correctly. Keep in mind that with a gas (absorption) fridge they need to be level (or real close to it) or they will be ruined quite quickly.

WrigleysBraveWin · August 05, 2017, 07:15 PM

Perhaps find a good replacement at a Bone Yard or look into a Norcold, which seems to be industry leader. I'm sure a good RV Store will have your solution.

srosa707 · August 06, 2017, 01:49 PM

So yesterday I hunted for a used refrigerator for my rig but did not find anything local. Since we have two trips coming up in the next few weeks I bit the bullet and grabbed a Norcold N512. Pricey, yes, but this Brave is a keeper so it will get plenty of use. Ill post up pictures when I get it installed.

Rickf1985 · August 06, 2017, 06:32 PM

You only have the single door fridge freezer? I thought all the class A's had a fridge with separate freezer.

Froggy1936 · August 06, 2017, 07:10 PM

Current Camping world has one listed for $1200.00. Frank

Rickf1985 · August 06, 2017, 07:41 PM

When I Googled it to see what it was they were in the 950- 1050 range from various sources. Camping World is always very high. Kind of moot since he already bought one.

tmsnyder · August 07, 2017, 08:31 AM

Our has a $100 120V dorm fridge and a 1100w invertor running off the coach batteries, and a 100W solar panel on the roof to charge the coach batteries. It goes a few days without needing a boost from the generator or alternator. If I add another panel it would probably make it totally self-sufficient.

I mounted the invertor in the battery compartment and ran an extension cord along the frame, back to the shore power cord compartment. If shore power is available, it's plugged into that, otherwise I plug the shore power cord into the invertor cord. While on the road, if it's hot and we want to run the roof A/C, we start the generator and it automatically switches over to the generator from the invertor/shore power cord. It's pretty handy.

For the solar, I mounted the panel on the roof and ran direct burial 10-2 wire down the fridge roof vent into the access door outside the fridge. There, I grounded the ground to the coach frame and repurposed the 12v supply wires from the original 3-way fridge to carry the solar power to the battery compartment. In the battery compartment I moved the 12v wire from its 30amp supply breaker to feed the charge controller.

It can't run the A/C but it works great for the fridge and oscillating fans to help cool. We have 3 Fantastic Fans in ours, so keeping air moving isn't an issue. I couldn't see spending over $1000 for a new gas fridge. My experience with those is that they don't cool very well. And not being able to run them while driving is another tick in the con column. The dorm fridge runs fine while driving.

Rickf1985 · August 07, 2017, 10:15 AM

I run my fridge while driving all the time. I have a DC option but I once forgot to change it over and killed the chassis battery so for the most part I run the gas all the time and shut it off when I need to refuel the coach.

Froggy1936 · August 07, 2017, 10:45 AM

Dead Battery/batterys are a minor problem , Compared to a 3 way refrigerator cooling syestem leak (more likely wile moveing from vibration ) The hydrogen gas and the flame will destroy the whole rig before you can get stopped and attempt to put out the fire , The other problem is if you forget to turn off the flame when refueling , A disaster can happen ! Also it is illeagal when driveing thru any tunnel ! Drive useing the propane flame at your own risk . Also it is highly reccomended the propane tank main valve be closed when moveing in case of roll over or accident . Frank

tmsnyder · August 07, 2017, 11:10 AM

Just looked it up, it is a ammonia / hydrogen mixture

There's no flame when running in the DC mode, you'll just get a blast of ammonia and a small amount of hydrogen.

Quote from: Froggy1936 on August 07, 2017, 10:45 AM
Dead Battery/batterys are a minor problem , Compared to a 3 way refrigerator cooling syestem leak (more likely wile moveing from vibration ) The hydrogen gas and the flame will destroy the whole rig before you can get stopped and attempt to put out the fire , The other problem is if you forget to turn off the flame when refueling , A disaster can happen ! Also it is illeagal when driveing thru any tunnel ! Drive useing the propane flame at your own risk . Also it is highly reccomended the propane tank main valve be closed when moveing in case of roll over or accident . Frank

srosa707 · August 07, 2017, 11:47 AM

Actually, camping world had the taupe Norcold N510 on sale for $897. A 110v only dorm fridge wont cut it for our purposes. I picked up the black N512 for $1,050 from another website so I will update on temp and ease of use when I have it installed.

Rickf1985 · August 07, 2017, 04:40 PM

Good deal.

Frank, with the amount of air moving around in that compartment while driving you would never get the A/F ratio need for the hydrogen to light even if it possibly could find it's way to the burner. Plus, there is such a small amount of hydrogen in that system that all you get is a "whoosh" and it is out. It is the other stuff in there like dried out wood pieces and cobwebs and dust and mouse houses that lights off and gets going. But again, for any kind of gaseous flame you need the proper air t fuel ration and driving down the road there is just to much airflow through there. I don't forget at gas stations but let me ask you this, what do people do that do not have the DC option and they are taking a ten hour drive? There is not a RV fridge out there that will come close to keeping food cold that long, it would be lukewarm in 6 hours. You are going to have to run it or have spoiled food. I agree that the tunnels prohibit it but how many people turn off their tanks? In any accident the very first thing emergency services does with RVs and Reefers is shut off the fuel and propane so I again do not worry about that. Most modern RV's have detectors that shut off the propane in a loss of power or whiff of gas. Come to think of it, with tunnels, I never was required to shut down the propane on a reefer if I was hauling one. That could set off all kinds of alarms that would have cost the trucking company a lot of money.

joanfenn · August 07, 2017, 06:06 PM

The propane is off in our rig until we are parked at camp. We can't guarantee the the road vibrations won't loosen anything along the propane systems which include the four major appliances in the RV. The fridge, hot water heater, furnace and stove and oven could be sources of fire in these units. It isn't worth it to try and have the beer freezing cold when we arrive at camp. Freeze water bottles and put them around your food in the fridge to keep things cool until you set up camp. At least you will live to enjoy it. I would rather have cool beer than barbecued camper. And would your insurance policy cover it?

TerryH · August 07, 2017, 08:48 PM

Quote from: joanfenn on August 07, 2017, 06:06 PM
The propane is off in our rig until we are parked at camp. We can't guarantee the the road vibrations won't loosen anything along the propane systems which include the four major appliances in the RV. The fridge, hot water heater, furnace and stove and oven could be sources of fire in these units. It isn't worth it to try and have the beer freezing cold when we arrive at camp. Freeze water bottles and put them around your food in the fridge to keep things cool until you set up camp. At least you will live to enjoy it. I would rather have cool beer than barbecued camper. And would your insurance policy cover it?

I go with Joan here. I am dual fuel with a very large (comparably) dedicated engine fuel tank. No, I will not shut that off while travelling. Would you shut off your gas tank?
My separate appliance feed tank is always off while travelling, and always will be. Open flame, propane, air movement at 60? MPH? No thanks.
I do the same as Joan - three water bottles frozen in the freezer compartment and 3 -4 in the fridge compartment. Turns it into a 'cooler'.

Once you stop and need propane for the fridge, it is not struggling to cool a warm appliance. Basically it is either maintaining an ambient temperature or slightly lowering it. Not starting from scratch.

Caveats posted re hydrogen/ammonia - do your due diligence. An ammonia leak MAY be deadly.

I recently have replaced my Norcold 462 with a used but much newer Norcold N611LT as a result of an ammonia leak. Fortunately I noticed the leak very early - opening the fridge door and was able to get out to fresh air.
Had I been asleep who knows.
One thing I found while airing out the fridge and RV was that apparently the ammonia set off the Propane detector. I had to, with a respirator, pull the fuse to shut it off.

Bottom line - breathing the concentration of ammonia contained in an absorption fridge can kill you and yours.
Propane requires a source of ignition.

Will be posting re the fridge replacement.

Sorry for the length.
As always, my opinions only. There are many out there with far more knowledge on this subject than I have.

Brave Sole · August 08, 2017, 02:38 AM

I just installed a new Dometic in my 76. It was larger than the original and needed some custom cabinetry! I was already replacing the older lower cabinets so this was the time. The original had the heater below the fridge which came out. I custom made a drawer below the fridge and a reinforced shelf for it to sit on. Now i needed to re-wire the DC & AC to reach the lower connections. All new wires went in as a new outdoor protected receptacle. Now the base of the fridge was well below the existing outside vent door, so I found a new one that resembled the original and installed it just below. Inside the compartment I lined all the walls and the roof with a thick 6mil metal adhesive tape. This roll I had was 24" wide and worked perfectly. I covered all the wood and any cracks, crevices and corners so any heat would be directed up to the roof vent. I strongly suggest when replacing any fridge to cover the inside walls with some sort of metal. If you cant find this tape use thin galvanized metal and at least cover the walls next to the heating tube. (L/H Side) Make sure all your wiring is on the other side. Once installed you MUST seal off the fridge from the cabin. You can use foam strips and push it in snuggly. ( another reason my metal tape helped with ) The carbon monoxide from the constant flame could find its way into the cabin. There is a slight odor, so if you smell anything on your test run, re-seal! I share the same fears about propane fires so I removed all the 40 year old propane lines from the rig. Our camper only runs to our campground and back ( 2 hr drive). We dont use a heater, or water heater, and never use the stove, so it all came out. We have a small counter cooktop if we cook inside. So for the fridge operation, I simply open the vent door, pull out the propane line and attach the tank outside. The tank sits on the piknik table and feeds our outside grill too! I eliminated any chance of fire when driving, there is no propane hooked up anywhere.

Oz · October 05, 2017, 09:06 PM

I removed the original, dead fridge from my '74 Indian and installed a much larger Norcold which was about 10 years old I removed from a complete wreck of a 69 D22. I paid $500 for the entire RV. The fridge cost @ $900 new and we salvaged a decent amount of other, usable parts so, it came out a good deal. The Norcold was fantastic and it was very easy to cut the opening and refit the braces, etc. Which was great, since I am anything but a carpenter!