Norcold 1200 conversion to Amish Cooling?

[BucknJeff]

Greetings all,

We are headed West to use our camper, which we keep in Indio in the Winter time, moving it to the Napa Valley for the summer.

We have not been able to get the parts pre-sent for the Norcold recall, and don't feel safe using the fridge until it's updated. Honestly, I'm not convinced this recall adequately addresses the issue. After long and exhaustive reading here and on other online resources, we are convinced that the fire issue is only partially addressed by the latest version "D" update, and the thin high-pressure tube weld area remains a concern of ours.

We still do a considerable amount of dry camping, so we don't want to go with a residential electric refrigerator (at least not yet!), but I'm so uncomfortable with the Norcold cooling units propensity for fire that I find myself investigating other options.

While a few have added automatic fire suppression equipment, it's not a sure bet. The only other options I see are changing to a Dometic or converting to an aftermarket cooling system for the existing Norcold box.

Dometic appears to be experiencing some issues of it's own with fires, and at over $3700 installed, it's spendy to be sure.

There isn't anything wrong with the Norcold box itself (that we are aware of) so the most cost-effective method seems to be a new cooling unit. Reading about the Amish made cooling unit, I'm initially impressed, but a little skeptical as well. I am not able to find anything but resellers online, and not the manufacturer themselves.

Does anyone have any further information about this company, it's location and contact information, and any facts not provided by a third party?

I'm grateful for any information you all can share.

Meanwhile, we are going to go to a small electric fridge/freezer, just larger than a dorm fridge, and live within those limits until we get this worked out.

Thanks in advance!

[Jack R]

Buck&Jeff

I read a thread on the Tiffinrvnetwork, by a rv mechanic who bought and installed an amish unit. So far he has nothing but praise about the unit. He changed his unit after had the last recall completed. Just didn't feel comfortable with the norcold unit.

jack

[two gone rvn]

I installed one in mine 1200 norcold a year ago and it is perfect. Look on ebay and you will see a listing. Call the gentleman and have a talk with him. He is one honest salesman. I did the work myself and it was pretty easy. If you can change spark plugs then you can do this.

[Airtool]

Buck n Jeff, Been fallowing this issue for over 2 years. The fixes are all related to fires when on Shore Power(AC) I have not come across any information on there being a fire while on LP.
We have been keeping ours on LP and it has worked very well to date,things are always cold. It goes to AC as the default so we have to keep changing it back to LP whenever connecting to AC.
The larger units are more pron to fires from what I have been reading. Note that the smaller units have failed due poor quality in some of the connections and other issues over the years.
I have the feeling that the Electrical heater is operating outside its parameters. An electrical ark can puncture the coolant lines and releases the vapor into the ark, an lights the torch.
Its like lighting the spray from a spray can of anything with a lighter.
Just my opinion and I do not want to get a first hand test with my refrigerator.
I still try to remind anyone I meet to keep a fire extinguisher in the bed room and check the emergency Exits frequently to make sure they are working properly.
Think the Winny windows are the only emergency Exits you can not open with out damaging hinges upon opening.

Dick.

[AFChap]

The fixes are all related to fires when on Shore Power(AC) I have not come across any information on there being a fire while on LP.

In all the history of this problem, I have not seen anything to indicate that, in fact, many people have assumed that as long as you run on electric you are safe, which I know is not the case. The Norcold "fixes" are both ways to cut the 12v power to the refrigerator, which shuts it down (the difference between the two recall "fixes" is the heat related trigger for the kill switch). You have to have 12v power to run on LP just as you do to run on 120v.

Think the Winny windows are the only emergency Exits you can not open with out damaging hinges upon opening.

Never heard that before ...are Winnebago windows totally unique to them?

I have seen the "I'll switch to a non-Norcold cooling unit and I'll be safe" theory before. I don't know if that is a guarantee or not. I know many people believe the Amish cooling units are better built, but are they guaranteed to never leak? I would guess the possibility is still there since they are basically the same technology/structure. And yes, Dometic has has similar issues ...which tells you that it is related to the gas adsorption technology rather than specific brand/design. There is always that risk with a gas adsorption refrigerator. So if I were to go to an Amish cooling unit, I would ALSO want the Norcold "fix" in place as a final safety "kill switch" so the heaters cannot get beyond a "safe" temperature.

I have read a report on one refrigerator fire that occured in spite of a fire extinguisher being installed in the compartment. It was believed that the sensor/trigger was too low and was against the vent where cooler air was rushing in, so it did not get hot enough for the heat to trip it until it was too late.

["007"]

Buck n Jeff, here is a good thread for installation of the Amish cooling unit on 1200 by FreeByrd, it has follow up questions also with additional links.
Fire extinguishers may not be needed with Amish unit unless you feel you want them.
The Amish unit does not need Norcold recalls because of the way its build if Norcold would just redesign their cooling units they wouldn't need their recalls either.
The Amish unit is a better for cooling and dry camping should work out better.
I have the 1200 and its worked for seven years without a problem the box is excellent its Norcolds cooling coils that will give us the problem over time. Plan on changing out coils to Amish in future.

[southland]

Your contact for info would be Dave Force at RV Cooling Unit Warehouse in Memphis. He may the main distributor for the Amish made cooling units (not sure on that). I do not know him but did know his father who was in the RV sales/service business for years. According to the person that did my 1200 recall, Dave is a straight up person. My thoughts on the Norcold are that they are not correcting the problem, just putting a band-aid on it.
As bad as I hate to spent the money, it beats possibly being burned to a crisp.
Jerry

[wagonmaster2]

Originally Posted by two gone rvn

I installed one in mine 1200 norcold a year ago and it is perfect. Look on ebay and you will see a listing. Call the gentleman and have a talk with him. He is one honest salesman. I did the work myself and it was pretty easy. If you can change spark plugs then you can do this.

Can it possibly be that easy to change the cooling unit? I've been changing spark plugs since back in the 50's but I can't imagine being able to do this change without at least one other person to help slide the frig out and either rotate it or lay it on the floor (which I'm told is how the shop will do it). Getting rid of this crappy Norcold cooling unit is high on my "to do list". Really too bad we don't have more selection on what brand of frig will be in our RV when we purchase it. As long as the manufacturers keep installing these sorry built frigs in the new RVs we'll keep suffering and paying the consequences.

Wagonmaster2

[POPPASMURF]

There are other options. Most from the marine industry. Many times they have to make a refrigerator out of odd locations in the sail boats. The owners will insulate a box and then buy an accessory cooling system- Danfoss makes a system. Some of these people installing them are just handymen types. These fridge units are quite high efficiency and can run off 12 volts. i remember an article in Pacific Yachting magazine about a retro fit. Might be worth checking out. As to the gas absorption technology-it is not unique to RV fridges. Years ago I worked on a unit that chilled a whole shopping centre -it was heated with a steam boiler. The reliability has more to do with quality of materials and workmanship, that commercial unt was finally taken out when 35 years old.

[two2go]

Just to refute a previous statement. My 1200 worked flawlessly on 120v AC for 2 months after the recall fix. The first time I ran it on propane, the relay module tripped and no more worky. I bypassed the 12v lead back directly to the fridge so we could get home.

["007"]

Wagonmaster2 if you change out you cooling unit by all means have some help when needed.
My old body will require it that fridge is heavy and clumsy, like I.

[maybesoon]

The window hinges being damaged are probably the last thing I'd worry about if the refer caught fire and I had to use the emergency window to escape.

There will be plenty of other things to occupy my mind.

[bonzocfi]

What is the difference between the Norcold and Amish cooling units?

["007"]

bonzocfi read the link, their units are doubled wall in the heating areas and they have added more cooling coil area to their coils.

[bonzocfi]

Thank you for the link.

[Airtool]

Originally Posted by maybesoon

The window hinges being damaged are probably the last thing I'd worry about if the refer caught fire and I had to use the emergency window to escape.

There will be plenty of other things to occupy my mind.

Maybesoon, The only reason I mentioned the hinge damage was, we practiced getting out of the Exit windows with the kids when they where young and now with the grand kids. The unit we have allows us to open the windows with out doing any damage. Now I must admit to removing the screen before the drill,but we just put things back in place and all is well.
Trying this with some units and you have to replace parts.
Getting older and that fact makes getting out even harder, Have you practiced an Exit drill? and do you keep a fire extinguisher in the bedroom area?
If you have the dry chemical type extinguishers,turn them upside down and shack them every 30 days or so, this little trick keeps then ready to use when needed,Red tag even month and Green tag odd month 12 times a year, do this with the one(s) in your home also.
Reason the chemicals settle to the bottom over time,not good when you need a working extinguisher.

[rammer]

I have had the recall done 4 times since Dec.This will be my last Norcold.No support from company.

[AFChap]

I have had the recall done 4 times since Dec.

. Why four times?

[rammer]

Fridge keeps going down due to recall parts not working.They keep sending the dealer parts to put on.We fulltime with the unit and its getting old dealing with Norcold.Fridge worked fine for 3 years before the recall in Dec.

[snowsurfer56]

Here is a how to video that I made during my Norcold cooling unit change out, with a new Amish unit from RV cooling unit warehouse. The job was very easy, and I am very happy with the new cooling unit.

Hope this helps.

YouTube - ‪How to replace RV cooling unit‬‏