Journey fridge swap, Norcold to residential

[KirbyRVA]

Can you tell us what type of door latches were used? Make , Model , Part number, etc?

I can't tell you what make or part # but they appear to be similar to those used in other parts of the motorhome to hold doors and drawers closed, just stronger. I would think you could find them in the hardware section of the Stag Parkway catalog which seems to have most anything ever made for the RV industry.

 

[Dr4Film]

Can you tell us what type of door latches were used? Make , Model , Part number, etc?

They are called Southco Latches. They come is 3, 5 and 10 lb sizes. My installer had one each on our two top french doors when he installed our Samsung RF197 in April. I did not like having to deal with the extra pulling and pushing each time I wanted to open or close the doors so I removed them and plugged the holes with tiny black head screws.

I now use one 16 inch rubber Gear Tie for the two upper french doors when driving. The freezer has a different method to lock the drawer which the installer developed. I did not change that as it works great.

See photos.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

 

[gripper-WO]

SMLRanger; I posted, back on 8/31, that I had just purchased a Frigidaire, residential refrigerator, very much like yours. Well, it has finally been installed by Lazy Days, RV Dealership, in Tampa ( can pick it up tomorrow). They told me that the doors needed to be strapped closed, while traveling and they suggested a strap, attached to the top of the frame, connecting to the bottom, thus holding the doors in place. The cost from Fleetwood, would be $85.00 and it would take 4 more days, including shipping time. However, I declined the offer, stating that I would take care of the problem of securing the doors, myself. I looked at your post again and saw what was installed on your fridge, to secure the doors. If you have any information, as to where I might find the same door catches, I would appreciate it very much. Thanks, Gripper

 

[KirbyRVA]

SMLRanger; I posted, back on 8/31, that I had just purchased a Frigidaire, residential refrigerator, very much like yours. Well, it has finally been installed by Lazy Days, RV Dealership, in Tampa ( can pick it up tomorrow). They told me that the doors needed to be strapped closed, while traveling and they suggested a strap, attached to the top of the frame, connecting to the bottom, thus holding the doors in place. The cost from Fleetwood, would be $85.00 and it would take 4 more days, including shipping time. However, I declined the offer, stating that I would take care of the problem of securing the doors, myself. I looked at your post again and saw what was installed on your fridge, to secure the doors. If you have any information, as to where I might find the same door catches, I would appreciate it very much. Thanks, Gripper

I am not sure of the manufacturer, but I believe the latches were from a company called Southco. These look very much like what they put on my doors
C3 - Grabber Catch Latches | Southco

Please post some pics of the install done by Lazy Days.

 

[Dave1330]

Great thread, my 05 journey w/dbl door fridge may need a swap like this someday.

My concern is dry camping. A friend of mine just bought a new journey which has a residential fridge in it from winnebago. they add batteries (5 coach) when you have this fridge. they say that it will last 3 days running just on the inverter.

heck if i leave my inverter on by mistake, my batteries are below 12v in less than a day with no draw, much less a fridge. maybe new inverters are better ?

I dry camp many days a year, and can't take a chance on it not working and don't want to run the generator all the time or even half the time.

Would love to see one of you charge up your batteries and let the inverter run the fridge and see how long it goes.

Thanks, Dave

 

[gripper-WO]

I am not sure of the manufacturer, but I believe the latches were from a company called Southco. These look very much like what they put on my doors

Please post some pics of the install done by Lazy Days.

I did pick up my RV today, from Lazy days. Total cost of installation, was $1860.00 - I provided the refer. But I haven't taken any pictures of the install, yet. You see, to keep the costs down I asked them just to remove the NotCold and secure the RR in the space, as I had no way of doing it, not having a forklift and additional help available. The refers had to go through a side window. If there was any cabinet modifications (and there are), I would do that at my leisure. I will post pictures, after the mods. As to securing the doors, during travel, I purchased some child safety locks, from Walmart today. I think I can make them work, at least until I find something better.

 

[KirbyRVA]

Great thread, my 05 journey w/dbl door fridge may need a swap like this someday.

My concern is dry camping. A friend of mine just bought a new journey which has a residential fridge in it from winnebago. they add batteries (5 coach) when you have this fridge. they say that it will last 3 days running just on the inverter.

heck if i leave my inverter on by mistake, my batteries are below 12v in less than a day with no draw, much less a fridge. maybe new inverters are better ?

I dry camp many days a year, and can't take a chance on it not working and don't want to run the generator all the time or even half the time.

Would love to see one of you charge up your batteries and let the inverter run the fridge and see how long it goes.

Thanks, Dave

Dave, we don't dry camp much at this point (maybe we will when I retire in 3 years). I am going to replace my three 12 volt group 27 batteries with four 6V GC2 golf car batteries soon. I have no illusions that even the GC batteries will run the fridge more than a day or so. I believe KIX stated earlier in this thread that his 4 6volt GC batteries will run his Samsung fridge 24 hours before he needs to charge them.

I do think folks that dry camp a lot with a residential refer generally rely on stout batteries, solar panels and/or at least a daily charge with the genset.