Fire Hazard Appliance Recalls UPDATED NORCOLD INFO 11-20-2010

[JohnnyT]

For specific information;

NORCOLD RECALLS

11/20/2010

Fire Hazard - Appliance Recalls - Norcold, Samsung and more

Norcold Refrigerators-------

Updated serial number coverage

Norcold Recall Information as of 2/13/2010

Samsung Microwave Ovens


Mr. Heater Heaters

First Alert Smoke & CO Detector Recall

Dometic Refrigerator Recall

New Dometic Recall Initiated March 11, 2008

[MamaGoose]

RayChez wrote:

Move the thermistor up about half an inch and you will see a big difference. I done that to my 1200 LRIM and now I just set it on 6 and it keeps the refrigerator nice and cold. Freezer has always froze everything solid, so I never have had a problem with the two freezers, but I did with the refrigerator. NO More!

What's a thermistor?

[MrDoneIt65]

BennieH...If you family should suddenly start to talk funny, like with a high pitched voice, and they giggle a lot, check for a leak in your fridge. LOL (Just Kidding) They didn't have the helium filled coils when I got mine about 5 years ago. Or the salesman didn't mention them. But my fridge wouldn't freeze ice cream before. Now it does.

[BennieH]

No more recalls for us.
We replaced our cooling unit with the Amish(Dutch Aire)cooling unit. We opted for the unit with the Helium fill gas instead of the Hydrogen that is normally used (extra $200- good piece of mind).
When we bought this rig, I knew the cooling unit was getting close to replacement time since the coils were rusting pretty badly. Had JC Refrigeration in Shipshewana, Indiana do the change out.
At a setting of 5 the Refer is at 35 degrees and the freezer is at -1.
PLUS - No More safety switch to act up, Their unit does not need it.

Edit - Forgot to add, on the way to have the unit replaced we got the Red Light of doom from the stupid recall box. Glad to be rid if it.

[MrDoneIt65]

Make sure your cooling fans are working and wired properly. There is a white and a black wire. If they are backwards they don't work. Our freezer would work but not our fridge until we replaced the coils. I actually put gallon jugs of water in the freezer and then put them in the fridge compartment. Then they did the 2nd recall and the coils blew.

[RayChez]

MamaGoose wrote:
@Williamh:

Water definitely trips the sensor. We have a piece of plastic we just cover the sensor with when we wash the motorhome, but if we forget and water gets in there, the sensor trips.

We've been looking at the Amish unit as well, and I think that's what we'll end up going with. As it is, our fridge has to be set on 9 and it's still not satisfactory. We had a 2 door Norcold refrigerator in our 5th wheel, and we had to keep the setting below 3 or the produce would freeze. With this one, we put a block of ice in the bottom compartment to help the fridge along. Not satisfied with that. The freezer compartments work fine, but I think the cooling method itself in a large fridge such as this one is just inefficient.

Move the thermistor up about half an inch and you will see a big difference. I done that to my 1200 LRIM and now I just set it on 6 and it keeps the refrigerator nice and cold. Freezer has always froze everything solid, so I never have had a problem with the two freezers, but I did with the refrigerator. NO More!

[MamaGoose]

@Williamh:

Water definitely trips the sensor. We have a piece of plastic we just cover the sensor with when we wash the motorhome, but if we forget and water gets in there, the sensor trips.

We've been looking at the Amish unit as well, and I think that's what we'll end up going with. As it is, our fridge has to be set on 9 and it's still not satisfactory. We had a 2 door Norcold refrigerator in our 5th wheel, and we had to keep the setting below 3 or the produce would freeze. With this one, we put a block of ice in the bottom compartment to help the fridge along. Not satisfied with that. The freezer compartments work fine, but I think the cooling method itself in a large fridge such as this one is just inefficient.

[MrDoneIt65]

Plumgrubby, my Norcold 1200 came with an ice maker that never worked. I would hook up the water line, the tray would fill with water and then it would click, click, click, click until I unplugged it.

So when I put the new coils in the fridge I removed the ice maker and replaced it with ice trays that now freeze. But I read in an rv post about putting additional cooling in the compartment. When I looked in the back there didn't seem to be much room for additional cooling fans. I went to Radio Shack and Lowe's. I bought two 4" pancake fans and some threaded rod and nuts. I fastened the two pancake fans together side by side and then used the threaded rod to make legs for them that raised them up off the floor of the cabinet. I placed them in the corner opposite of the heating tube and exhaust and wired them into the 12v wires left from the broken ice maker. They work perfectly and I have a constant flow of air across the coils.

[plumgrubby]

Every single person who had their fridge out has had the same problem with the cooling fans... including me... in that they are hooked up backwards and 12v fans can NOT be hooked up like that. They flat will not work. The first time I had my Norcold looked at the tech took it out of the compartment and noticed that they were hooked up backwards. Even he thought they would reverse like that. I got a spare 12v battery and tried them BOTH ways and they would only worked when they were connected the proper way. So if you have one of the "Never Cold" fridges... check the polarity on the fans.

[MrDoneIt65]

When I did my Norcold recall Amish coils replacement I put electrical tape around the wheels on my motorcycle jack. I pushed the fridge out from the back of the compartment after disconnecting everything. When I got the fridge on the jack I rolled it to the middle of the kitchen, put a piece of cardboard on the top and then jacked it up so it was against the ceiling. Read the instructions. You have to clean all of the old caulking off the fins that are in the back of the fridge. There were 4 bolts in the coils. Note what it says about the cooling fans. Even though they are 12 volt they can be hooked up backwards and will not work if they are. I found out that my cooling fans were hooked up backwards. No one had ever touched the refrigerator except those who originally installed it and the technicians who did the recalls. My original coils blew out at the point where the heating tubes and the recall mechanism were attached. As the other writer said, I run my Norcold on 5 and it will even freeze ice cream now . Which it never would before. I couldn't even keep popsicles for the grandkids because they would melt in the freezer when the fridge was on 9. Do not be afraid to do this real fix. The Amish coils are heavier, they are double coiled and they work a whole lot better. And they are MADE IN THE USA! Good Luck!

[Williamh]

I forgot to add that some of the replies indicated that if water got to this recall part while washing the MH, could cause it to go out. Yesterday, I did have someone detail my MH and I saw one guy spray water over the opening to the back of the ref. I cannot say water got to this part or not, but the way he sprayed the water I suspect it may have. I did not see any water inside the compartment, but just thought I would throw this out for thought.---------------------------------------William

[Williamh]

Thanks Plumgrubby and others for all of your help. Some replies that a magnet would reset the recall part that has been installed on my norcold refrigerator. I bought a magnet from a True Value store and tried it. It did reset and as of a few minutes ago, the ref. was working on both elec. and propane. It may not work another 5 minutes, but since I have reservations for Thursday AM about 150 miles away, I don't have enough time to get much else done. I may regret having reset this part, but this being the 5th time it has been replaced, I am willing to try this trip. In the near future, I may wind up getting the parts from the Amish. Lets hope every thing works out ok. Of those rv'ers who have reset their recall parts, I am wondering how long they worked before going out again. Thanks for everything to everybody for your replies.---------William

[plumgrubby]

I don't know how many posts it takes to get people to realize that you don't want to trust a Six Figure coach, or even less, to a 39 cent half a$$ed repair. Don't any of you realize that it's just a temporary "rig" to try and get you to forget about the fire that could possibly happen to your coach? When Camping World put that piece of garbage on my Norcold and told me that it was free I knew something was amiss. Then I had a certified tech tell me that it could still catch your fridge on fire at the worst but at the least it would continually quit working and leave you without a cold place for your food.
So what did I do? I ordered the Amish kit and installed it 3 or 4 years ago and now ask me if I am having any problems? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! It took about 4 hours or so to install.

It was one of the easiest fixes you could imagine and the only down side was that I had to ask a friend to help me lift it back into the slot. It's considerably heavier but wayyyyyy more solid and reliable than the original. Now I keep it on "2 or 3" and it's really, really, really, cold.

So keep trusting that flimsy repair and get the sticks ready with marshmallows and hot dogs ready so that if your beautiful rig goes up in flames you can cook while you cry. And I hope and pray that never happens to anyone... seriously.

BTW I do NOT have any business relationships with anyone or company that has anything to do with the Amish kit. I just happen to love mine.

[MrDoneIt65]

Williamh. Welcome to the wonderful world of RV Refrigerator recalls. Now do a Google and type in RV Coil replacement. There is an Amish company in Shipshewana, Indiana who will fix your problem and it won't cost you $4,500.00. Get in touch with them.

[Williamh]

Well, in august, 2015, just last month, I had the recall replaced and it worked while at the shop. I drove it home and only left my yard to have a part of the tail pipe relaced, nothing to do with the recall part. I switched on the ref. once in my yard and it came on. Today, getting it ready to go camping this coming thursday and the part will not work. The little red light is burning steady. I have not used the rv and when I switched the ref. on just to see if the lights inside would come on and then immediately turned it off. If I go camping this week, it will be without a ref. Thanks for all of the help above. ------Willliam

[MrDoneIt65]

I just have to ask. What kind of **** would make it acceptable that you have to reset, or cover up a recall device, that was installed to fix a $4,000.00 RV refrigerator. Sorry, but what a bunch of ****!