Refrigerator Woes

[Bob Dunlap]

Our 06 Beaver Monterey Ventura !V has the original Norcold 1200 LRIM fridge.  We have never achieved sufficient cooling in the freezer or fridge compartments.  It's had the recall performed by Beaver in Bend. We've had baffles replaced and cooling fans replaced.  Our last trip, we had no cooling is the fridge and 30 in the freezer.   We'd like to keep the original unit because the size is just right for us and we don't want the installation difficulties and electrical requirements of a residential unit.
We recently were told of JC Refrigeration in Shipshewana, Indiana who will upgrade the cooling system with  dual cooling units.  They state they achieve 0 to 10 degrees in the freezer and 30 to 40 in the fridge.  The cost is about 1/3 of a replacement Norcold unit.  I'd like to see if any other members have experience  with this modification before I make the 1400 mile trip to have this done.

[Joel Ashley]

Both of our motorhomes used Dometics, and the only issues I had were caused by me, except that I added a rear vent fan kit to our previous coach’s fridge, and it helped cooling a lot.  Our Beaver is the same model as yours, but we have an original equipment Dometic NDA1402.  It has been great.  Something over 13cf capacity.  It fits in an opening that’s approx. 32 1/8” wide by 63” high, and if that’s about what yours is, consider a similar current Dometic model as an option;  the 1402 is likely not made anymore.  Ours has a handy ice dispenser option in the freezer door;  some may have water in the door as well.

https://www.gas-refrigerators.com/pdf/sidewise-specs.pdf

Otherwise I’ve read that the “Amish” cooling unit is a good replacement, assuming the only issue with yours is cooling and not electronic or something else.

Joel

[Gene Obie]

You might look at the newer 12V compressor fridges as opposed to electric/gas absorption type as a residential alternative. They are putting these in many new pull behinds and i've heard good things but no personal experience. Of course they are also putting 200W solar on these units so you would need to do some power calcs if you off-grid camp a lot.

https://norcold.com/product-category/compressor-refrigerators/

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

I second Gene's comments but if you go the residential route you should have a pure sine wave inverter to avoid control board failures (based on experience with a Samsung unit).
Steve

[Bill Lampkin]

18 cu ft residential fridge fits . Ours is a Fisher paykel. Replaced inverter with pure sine wave unit.  Not hard to do. Go residential, you won't regret it.

[Joel Ashley]

Unless someone replaced it, Bob should have the Magnum MS2012 inverter, which was standard on '06 Montereys;  it is Pure Sine Wave.

[Carl Boger]

Bob,

I can comment on the 12 volt compressor refrigerators.  I have a 10 CF Dometic  compressor unit that I replaced a perfectly functioning Dometic gas/electric model with.  (Old unit was about 24 years old)

The compressor model works best on the performance mode in my opinion, and my freezer temps run between -10 and 0 degrees.  My refrigerator temps run between 34 and up to 40 degrees.  It cools down faster and maintains temps better than the gas electric model.  It also doesn't need to be perfectly level to work correctly. Most importantly my wife loves the new one and wasn't in love with the old one.

My new refrigerator fit in the same space as the old one, but the door will no longer swing fully open as it hits the wall a little past 90 degrees.

I have not had any trouble with the battery bank keeping up, but don't boondock that often, but I can easily go overnight and have power to spare.  Could likely go a couple of days with the 100 watts of solar currently on the roof.  I also ran a charge wire straight to the batteries to power it. It made it a short run and it was fused right at the batteries.

To me it is hands down better than the old unit.  If you search you may be able to find a direct size replacement for your old fridge.  If not the Amish units have 12 volt compressor conversions as well as gas electric.  Your choice, but hopefully this gives you more options to consider what is best for you.   

[Eric Maclean]

Bob
To eliminate a fault with the fridge thermostat or thermistor and identify whether or not the cooling unit in your existing fridge is failing
Disconnect the electrical heating element/s from the control board and connect them to an extension cord feeding them 120 volts
Over night the fridge cooling unit will work at full capacity and should cool the freezer to below 0*F and the fridge below 35* F
If not the cooling unit has a problem
Remember if you change out a cooling unit the controls don't come with the new cooling unit so it's a good idea to know if they are working or not before
Replacing the cooling unit.

ARP fridge defend has a very good web site to help you understand how your fridge works and help you diagnose and repair it.

https://www.arprv.com/norcold-troubleshooting-repair.php

The fridge defend product is designed to shut the fridge down temporarily if the boiler temperature gets too high ( usually caused by being off level )
To avoid damaging the cooling unit . ( Personally have one on my fridge and they work well)
I installed their version which also has a thermostatic fan control and condenser fan to help cool the external fins in hot weather

https://www.arprv.com/purchase.php#number-three

I've not had any experience with the dual cooling circuit units from JC refrigeration but I have install several of their other units and had nothing but good service from them I would not hesitate to use any one of their products.

I added an internal fridge fan unit to the fins in my fridge several years ago which resulted in much better and more even  cooling in the fridge
The best benefit was not only faster cooling but the fridge fins used to ice up requiring defrosting in about a month and a half now I can go for 6 months or more with not ice buildup.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YJ6TLLR?RU=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB072BPYXS8


Hope this helps
Eric

[Bob Dunlap]

Thanks Eric,
We have added additional cooling fans and have tried to "trick" the system to run cooling cycle without stopping by disconnecting the thermister.  We've had no luck with either attempt.  We've made the appointment with JC Refrigeration to install their cooling unit in our fridge.  We'll see how that turns out.
Thanks again for your wisdom.

[Eric Maclean]

Bob
I'm sure you'll be satisfied with JC they're good people.