BAC Forum
General Boards => Redecorating and Updating your Motorhome => Topic started by: John Moore on March 18, 2017, 03:12:39 PM
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Can anyone recommend an installer for the Samsung RF 18 refrigerator in the Phoenix or Arizona area. I am a new member of the BAC and have enjoyed reading the wealth of knowledge on this forum. I have a 2006 36 foot Monterey Ventura IV. Thanks, John
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John,
I would contact Fred Brooks. He is a BAC member who owns a small RV shop in Tucson specializing in this type of work. I have seen several of his residential refrigerator installations, and they looked excellent.
Gerald
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John,
I second Gerald's advice. Fred Brooks did mine and did an excellent job! I ordered the reefer at Home Depot in Tucson and had it shipped to Fred's shop.
Steve
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Thanks I got an email from Fred so I'm going to pursue that, thanks
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Ditto on Fred, he just did mine in Dec and it's a first rate job. If you need any cabinetry work, new TV, and etc now is the time to do it.
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Hi Guys, Thanks for the kind comments, my Joy to do this kind of engineering and fabrication. Getting ready to start on BAC member John Fearnow's '02 Thunder this week. I'll be talking to Mr. Moore tomorrow. Thanks again for the referral.
Regards, Fred
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Another vote of confidence for Fred - he installed a Samsung fridge and a GE Convection oven and we are very happy with th.e work he did a year ago
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GOOD MORNING! We are considering having a residential frig installed in our Olivia Jean 2005 Monterey. Our Xantrex Freedom 2000 inverter has to be replaced. Now we are deciding to go with a Magnam or Xantrex? Ken a t Beaver coach is advising a Magnum, which is about $1,000.00 more due to replacing the brains. LOL. Where would you all recommend having this installation done - I live in Portland Oregon.
THANK YOU. 8)
KC Snellgrove
2005 38 foot Beaver Montery
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GOOD MORNING! We are considering having a residential frig installed in our Olivia Jean 2005 Monterey. Our Xantrex Freedom 2000 inverter has to be replaced. Now we are deciding to go with a Magnam or Xantrex? Ken a t Beaver coach is advising a Magnum, which is about $1,000.00 more due to replacing the brains. LOL. Where would you all recommend having this installation done - I live in Portland Oregon.
THANK YOU. 8)
KC Snellgrove
2005 38 foot Beaver Montery
Has the inverter gone bad ? I would think and have read 2000 watts is plenty to run the fridge and the other needs.
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KC,
I have heard Good reviews for ASE Supply in Portland. ( 7710 NE 17th. )
ASE is on my list of repair stops when we get back to OR. in May.
We have an Xantrex that creates havoc with our Norcold refer when in Inverter mode.
Darrell Terry
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Hi Fred,
We just had the cooling unit go out on our Norcold and unfortunately we are leaving for Tucson Saturday so we really don't have a choice in getting it repaired. We had a full fridge of food and fortunately the lot we are renting has a fridge in the shed.
Can you give me an idea of what it would cost to do the Samsung upgrade?
Thanks,
Dean
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KC, I'd consider Darrell's idea; though I've not used them myself, ASE I think has been around awhile, and now is in a large new building that's relatively easy to get an RV to between Columbia and Argyle off 17th. That's in the area of the Goodyear tire main service facility and where Roadmaster used to be. I have had my coach to both over the years, and access and maneuvering was fairly easy anywhere in that Columbia industrial area.
You could call or take the car over and present your issues, and check them out and maybe get a cost estimate.
Joel
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THANK YO ALL! Yes, my inverter went out last year while at BCS getting other work done. i have a warranty that would only pay for a repair. I drove home and the rig was parked. Sometime after that the batteries were going was losing charge. I called Xantrax and they ran me thorough some motions. No help. After crawling in the cubby hole (LOL) I decided to take off the plate and saw blacken of the wires. YIKES! I took pictures and called BCS. I talked Sean and after he looked at the pictures the part is what got fixed by someone here in Portland. So now I want to purchase the right inverter.
Thank-you all once again. You all are my heroes! By the way Ashley how are you and your delightful wife doing? :)
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Fred has completed my installation of the Samsung refrigerator and did an excellent job, anyone considering a refrigerator I highly recommend Fred Brooks. Also the 20 pound latches Fred stalled really got a good test a few times and worked great, Thank you Fred and all who recommended him.
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we also had a Samsung installed, looks great, only problem is the water leak gathering under the crispers.
any suggestions?
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Orman, we had the same problem. I found this DIY site online http://imgur.com/gallery/otSiW
It worked and haven't had issues since.
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Our home GE I discovered was Samsung built, and this spring developed water pooling under the deli drawer that's under the crisper drawers. The pool would then freeze and stick to the drawer bottom and the deli drawer wouldn't open.
Online I found several approaches to the same fix the previous poster mentioned... replacing or augmenting the metal strip in the evaporator's drain port thats supposed to keep it too warm to freeze and plug up. When the drain freezes the water overflows, runs down inside the wall and to the floor under the drawers. Using the original as a pattern I made my own simple strip out of aluminum sheeting, but with a longer "tail" that goes down into the port further than the factory one, and with fingers that wrap thoroughly around the heater tube. It's worked fine since, so the fix does prevent the drain tube from freezing closed. There was a small amount of gunk that I flushed out of the drain tube, so ice isn't the only possible plugging culprit.
Of course your leak could be from an entirely different source, but this one apparently has been a common malady with Samsung-built units.
Joel
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Of course your leak could be from an entirely different source, but this one apparently has been a common malady with Samsung-built units.
Joel
Seems legit... A malady with the salady..drawer. ;D
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After removing the "snap in" panel on the inside back of the fridge, exposing the evaporator, I poured hot water in the drain port. This took a very long time since the port doesn't hold much, so you have to do it with an unplugged, unloaded fridge. I put the food in ice chests with ice bags, etc. A person that's full timing would need to do the following before inserting a modified drip tube port heater strip, but otherwise you could wait to fix the strip after the Coach was in storage and the tube's ice plug had melted on its own.
You have to put towels around the drain port/funnel under the evaporator to catch and wipe overflow, and sop out cooled water from each previous application, then add hot water every 5-10 minutes until it eventually melts through the ice plug that's way down into the drain tube. As I recall, a turkey baster is handy for squirting in hot water and sucking out cooled water. When it finally gives and clears, you go may need to empty the drip tray under the back of the fridge.
Getting the back panel to align and press back in place evenly was tricky too. There are videos on YouTube that helped me. This may assist getting you started as well: https://www.searspartsdirect.com/article/how-to-get-rid-of-refrigerator-puddles.html
Don't try a hairdryer as it can easily warp plastic panels and mess up their fit and seal.
Joel
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We just had a defrost issue fixed at an in home installation and asked the installer about Samsung fridges for motorhome installation. Almost every fridge made has a "duckbill" rubber valve draining the defrost water from the freezer to the drainpan where it is supposed to evaporate. After a few years they all glue themselves shut as the rubber deteriorates and the water doesn't drain properly, it ends up in the bottom of the freezer as a sheet of ice, which then overflows onto the floor. They all require replacement. The reason for the valve is so moisture doesn't flow from the outside in humid weather to the inside of the fridge creating a hyper-frost condition. The manufacturers found that this valve wasn't necessary and caused too many warranty repairs and they discontinued the valve. Samsung is apparently one of those that did not. The hot ticket is to remove the valve BEFORE INSTALLATION so you avoid this problem. He also disliked the lack of support he got from Samsung on warranty repair, being left twisting in the wind with only a Samsung shrug in response. He recommended Whirlpool, also with the removal of the said valve before installation. YMMV. I'm looking for the Whirlpool equivalent of an RF 18 to replace our old fridge.
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Be also aware that Samsung builds for other brand names, like GE. I think Whirlpool and LG are not among those. When I tried to repair and ultimately replace the icemaker in our GE is when I discovered all the Samsung parts. Then while shopping units in stores, you can tell which makes are actually Samsung by the similar icemaker designs. Whirlpool, LG, and perhaps others have different and probably better designs.
I had to replace a capacitor on the circuit board in a faulty TV converter box a few years ago. Guess who made the bad capacitors. Better quality ones were available as replacements, thank goodness. You can tell that with time and experience I've migrated away from anything made by Samsung; but ferreting out who made any other brand's internal parts can involve some effort.
Joel
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Hi Bruce,
Found your E-mail in my spam folder, not sure why. Whirlpool makes a 20.5 French door but it was discontinued at Lowes and Home Depot. It was available at other locations for 2000.00 bucks. Model # WRF540CWBM. Let me know.
Fred
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If there is anyone considering replacing their Norcold refrigerator, I would highly recommend Fred Brooks in Tucson, AZ. He removed our Norcold 1200 and installed a new Samsung RF18 residental refrigerator in our coach last month. He did an excellent job! We are very pleased with wood trim he installed around the refrigerator. The trim matches the rest of the cherry wood in our coach. Now I don't have to worry about the potential of the Norcold catching on fire and being one of those guys who have to say "Could Have" -"Should Have"!