I have a Norcold 7.5 cu.ft. which is in its death throes. I had thought it was a 6.3, and had seen somewhere a larger Norcold (7.5 cu.ft.) would fit the same space.

Actually, I had seen the 9.5 that fits in a 7.5 space. Sadly the N1095 is $2,000, compared to $1,150 for the 7.5 cu.ft.

Rusty, I am a great believer in batteries, inverters and 110V AC refrigerators. For the same money you can buy all of the above and add a Tele View eyepiece or two to you telescope.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

Sadly the N1095 is $2,000, compared to $1,150 for the 7.5 cu.ft.

It's just money.

Nick

I'm in the same boat, only deeper water. We have a side by side Dometic RM7030 that has bit the dust. A new replacement for it is $3000 on sale plus shipping. Now if I could only get them to ship it to Alaska we'd be set. But the company has dug their heels in and refuses to ship to Alaska because of damage claims from rough handling in route. I can't say as I blame them as every machine tool I've shipped to Alaska has been damaged in some form or another. I've finally settled on a local RV repair shop to replace the cooling unit only, roughly $2400 installed.

I relaced the cooling unit in our dometic a couple of years ago for about $3-400. The whole cooling unit comes off the back as one piece. Stuck the rebuilt unit in and we are good to go.

If you do a lot of dry camping a home refer sucks big time. Been there, done it and will never do it again.

Our Newell has a home unit and it great to live in, but terrible with off the grid. With 12 T105s we still have to run the generator 3 hours a day to keep up with the refrig.

Seldom run the genset in the Barth.

Ordered the Norcold 841.3 (3-way); I used to run the old reefer (682) off an inverter but lately, it's been tripping the inverter, which is plenty big to run it (750W).

Some plastic on the old one is getting brittle, and the shelves are corroded, so I decided to get a new one instead of a new cooling unit. The 841s have several contemporary features.

ppl Motor Homes has a sale on Norcolds ending 8/7.

Ordered Thursday, PPL Motor Homes shipped from Sanford, FL and it arrived today. Here it sits on its cart in the workshop, awaiting installation. I have a piece of 1/4" white oak veneer left over from another project that's large enough for the door inserts, and which will match the other cabinetry. The supplier's choices were black or black, at around $60...

The doors needed reversing, and Norcold has a neat trick. The doors' interiors are the same "right side up" or flipped, so the hinge posts don't need to be changed (but the frame hinge fittings do, of course - this was a PITA because the new holes were filled with insulation. Quick work with a couple of hand-held drill bits fixed that). Swap the freezer handle/latch with the refrigerator door's, and it's done.

The old reefer is disconnected and loose. Miscellaneous parts listed in Shop and Swap

Going to have to make a tilt-top cart (think seesaw on a wheeled platform), because the reefers have to go onto their sides and be elevated to clear the sofa. The trusty ATV jack (which has been used a dozen times, but never for an ATV ) will lower the old and lift the new into place.

PPL Motor Homes' sale on Norcolds is extended to 8/14.

I simplified Thing 6 to get the old reefer out and the new one in:



Once Thing 6 was in place, it took about 45 minutes to get the old reefer out and the new one in:



It's not hooked up; the existing LPG line will have to be replaced; when I tried bending it to reach the location of the new fitting, it showed signs of crystallizing (brittleness).

The doors are in the shop, waiting for me to cut, fit, and finish the oak veneer panels.

Since I had to take the TV out to make room, I'm going to replace it with an LCD.

The LCD TV is ordered from NewEgg: LG 22LF10, $90 off to $259.99, mount $30 off, and HDMI cable $6 off, free shipping for all.

As reported in the Chat Room last night, the door panels are cut, fitted, stained, and have the first three finish coats applied.

Today, the 12VDC 10 ga. connection was made, as well as the replacement LPG supply line (an adventure unto itsownself, and due to a recalcitrant tube bracket, I couldn't remove the last 8" of old line).

Tomorrow, I'll leak-test the LPG (after re-doing the reefer-end flare twice because one of my flair tools didn't perform well; fortunately, I have three [don't ask]).

Everything is cool (pun intended) on 12VDC and 120VAC, but I can't fully test until the doors are installed (and those only after the panels are in place).

The new TV and accessories will be here Wednesday, about the time I'll be tired of messing with the reefer...

The leak test failed, mainly because I had thought the furnace supply line was that for the reefer and had cut it out - 10 seconds of no gas pressure gave me a clue. The reefer and furnace supplies come from the main under the coach very close together, then were folded into a trench behind the furnace, so I couldn't tell which was which - especially since they crossed in the trench.

Since the furnace line would have necessitated being cut to replace the furnace (there was a union, out-of reach in the extreme rear of the compartment), I rerouted it (as I had the reefer) to be more accessible, and easier to disconnect if needed.

Once the lines were hooked up, the new reefer fired up on LPG.

Door inserts are done and drying - 3 coats brushed polurethane, 4 coats sprayed. Doors will go in tomorrow for an operational test.

Finis!

Doors installed and adjusted. All the lines and wires secured.

Flashed up the reefer on propane, 120 VAC, and 12 VDC, and at a low-mid temp setting, it got down to -10F in the freezer and 35°F in the fridge on shore power.

All done!