General Boards > General Discussion
Fridge Replacement
Jerry Emert:
The old Norcold finally quit! Has anyone any recent replacement experience that can advise a replacement residential that will fit through the front door or a side window? I really don't want to go down the windshield removal route! Thanks.
Bill Lampkin:
Jerry, I just replaced our 4 door Norcold (still working fine) with a Fisher Paykel 170RF three door counter depth model. Others go with a 17 cu ft Samsung, but i'm not sure how long the Samsung will last.
Our entry is wide enough to remove and replace the fridge. (28" I think). I had to remove the door strut so the entry door will swing open beyond 90 degrees to get the old fridge out and new one in. Be sure to remove the lower rear mounting bracket from your norcold if your model has one.
I also replaced our inverter with a pure sine wave inverter (Xantrex Sw 2012) as that is what F&P said the new fridge required.
I also removed the 5 bolts that mount the co pilot seat to the floor. That way I could swing the seat out of the way for fridge removal and reinstallation.
I was able to get the appliance store guys to make two trips: one to remove the old norcold and then they came back when I had the space ready for the new fridge and they got it up the steps and into the fridge space without a scratch (ahh to be 20 again!)
If your coach is like mine, the constraints are entry door width (28") and height of opening for fridge (68" or so). I found I could remove the wood trim from the top of the fridge space and once removed, I had more height that I needed. Most 17-19 cu ft counter depth fridges are about 70" tall. Oh, and the inside width of my mounting space required a fridge no wider than 31". So fridge height and width are your most important dimensions.
It takes longer to write it all out than to do the work (well, not quite) but its well worth the effort. send me a PM if you want more details. Good luck!
Bill Lampkin:
And I had to remove the two deep pot storage drawers below the fridge to gain enough height for the fridge to fit. DW loves the new fridge but she does miss the pot drawers. I could have cut them down a couple of inches and all would still fit, but the fridge now sits closer to the floor and DW is a bit height-challenged so I think it works better this way.
Roy Warren Co-Admin:
We replaced our refrigerator with a 17 cf Samsung. It was brought in thru the entry door, but the passenger chair was removed and the entry door stop at the top was removed to allow it to swing all the open and clear the entry space. The refrigerator was never totally parallel to the floor, but we waited 24 hours after standing it vertical to allow the refrigerant to properly relocate in the system. This was recommended by our installer.
Roy Warren
Laurence Mitchell:
We replaced our old unit with a Samsung R18 about a year ago. The installed went through a window on the passenger side.
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