Huffy Puff. And now the rest of the story - and, yes, I am a newbie but I think I have something worthwhile to contribute. And I have never sued anyone in my life. I have to agree with Leadfield that the folks at Norcold are indeed hostile and no help at all. I won't bore you with all the details, but after numerous problems with my 1200 unit since it was new in 2008, suffering through the tedious recalls and finally experiencing total blowout of the cooling unit last year, I decided to replace it with a residential unit. Here is my experience keyed to your list of concerns:
1. Modification of the cavity was limited to installation of two small trim strips and plugging the propane line. And the new unit had a much larger internal capacity since the box could go nearly to the outside wall (no need for space for the Norcold burners/heaters/flue and coils - the cooling coils are on the bottom of the new unit)
2. Yes, the driver's window was removed and replaced, easy job for knowledgeable techs. No fork lift though, although it took 6 techs to muscle the old 1200 carefully out the window. Interestingly, it took only three of them to load the new unit through the window - what a weight savings! And this procedure would be necessary even if the replacement unit had been another Norcold so the point seems mute.
3. My original inverter and four coach batteries have handled the load just fine. Although I admit we do not dry camp for extended periods.
4. My generator can be programmed to auto-start but I have not found that to be necessary.
5. True, but I don't think they will be much help after 9 PM.
6. After nearly two years and 30k miles, the door has never opened once en route. The dealer installed a simple friction lock that is very effective. I did invest in two spring-loaded bars ($2 each) to place in front of the shelves to keep items from tilting against the door.
7. ?? I think this would be true no matter what kind of refrigerator was added.
8. My total cost was $1900.
9. True, replacements are available but they are certainly not cheap.
10. True, if you are willing to deal with that hassle and cost.
11. True, about time. And Norcold was so concerned about the fire hazard that the recall notice instructed users to immediately shut down the unit and not use it until the recall repair was made. Talk about inconvenience - Norcold would not ship parts until a serviceman had confirmed that the unit was on the recall list. It took more than a month to get mine fixed.
12. No doubt there are more fires associated with residential refrigerators than RV units, probably because there are many more thousands of residential units in use compared to RV units.
I am truly glad you have had good experience with your unit and hope you have many more trouble-free days. However, my choice was one of the best decisions I ever made, primarily because my wife loves the new unit with all the extra room and the much better cooling and especially the excellent freezing. When mama is happy, we are all happy!
