Norcold refurbish

[luckydog1949]

Our Norcold 1200LRIM had the recall completed a couple of years ago.  The recall unit tripped, and I was able to reset the recall once.  The next time it tripped, it could not be reset.  Further inspection showed clear evidence of leakage from the cooling unit; so, the recall did it's job.

I ordered a Dutch Aire (aka Amish) replacement cooling unit; and began the chore.  After watching a few (every one I could find) YouTube videos, I figured I had it down.  Amazing how much every one of those videos leaves out!  When I ordered the replacement cooling unit, I also ordered an automatically deploying Halon fire extinguisher to mount at the back of the refrigerator.  The Dutch Aire unit is NOT under any recalls, and is, reportedly, better built so as not to present the same hazard; but, the additional safety factor of the fire extinguisher is well worth it.

Getting our refrigerator out was a little more difficult than most, because, when the old one was installed, a sealing flap at one side was caught and wedged the unit in the housing.  A heat gun and staples took care of that, once the fridge was out.

I took off the old, leaky cooling unit and laid it outside.  The new unit arrived surprisingly fast; and, we went to the freight yard, with our Nissan Frontier, and picked it up.  They loaded it with a fork lift.  We cleaned up the back of the fridge, removing old sealant and applying new metallic tape to replace old, failing tape.  We had quite a bit of trouble getting the new unit in and lined up properly, so that it seated as necessary to reinstall the screws and for the back of the insulation panel to come flush with the back of the fridge.  If you do this, I recommend making sure that the condensate drain tube is routed carefully; because it will get in the way.  Of course, it got in our way even when it was routed carefully, just not as much.  I also recommend that you hold off on putting foam insulation in the cavity until you have it lined up and screwed in.  It dries faster than you would think (far less than a minute.)  Our cooling unit replacement may be the only one for which a hunting knife and machete were necessary...

The last picture is with everything in place and the refrigerator is ready to "slide" back into place.  That's "slide" as in I wish I had a block-and-tackle outside.  The bottom didn't want to go in, and took a lot of wrestling to finally get there.  Then, it had to be pulled out three inches to realign the metal brackets on the bottom-outside corners with the brackets in the compartment, so the four mounting bolts could be installed, after wrestling it back in.

All in all, it was well worth it!  We know we are safe in our RV; and, we have a refrigerator that works very well, and with which we can boondock, or just stay those extra few days with limited connections, without worrying about hookups, batteries, cloudy days, or putting up with the smell and noise of our 7.5 KW generator.  It is a Recreational Vehicle, after all...

[wildebill308]

Good job. Thanks for sharing your project.

Bill

[luckydog1949]

1 hour ago, WILDEBILL308 said:

Good job. Thanks for sharing your project.

Bill

Thank you WILDEBILL308.

 

[manholt]

Quote

Norcold 1200 RIM

Think yours is the second unit, I have read about, that's been fixed by the "Dutch Air"!  All others have been replaced by a Residential fridge.  A job well done!  As Bill said..

[obedb]

The reviews that I have read about the Amish conversion have all been positive. Installation of the new cooling unit done at the factory seems to be the best. Most people know that the Amish " never use electricity off of the grid"😎  Or phones 😉 So they need dependable refrigeration that will not burn their houses down.

[BennieH]

2 1/2 years on our Amish unit and it is great! I had ours done in Shipshwana by JC Refrigeration (Owns Dutch Aire). 

[obedb]

Good to hear!