Fridge: How Level is "enough"?

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Thanks Jeff. My only personal experience with motion damaging a fridge is with the "apartment" or "dorm" style fridges.  In my experience, they don't hold up very well over time when being moved around.  Of course that could be attributed to many things, like cheapness of construction.  In general, though, I don't expect a residential appliance is designed to constantly be moved around.  As stated, it's just a concern I have.

Given the state of the RV industry, where so often corners are cut left and right in the name of profit, I can't imagine that manufacturers really caring if the residential models hold up or not.  It's what people want, so they install it.  Maybe I'm just pessimistic.  :eek:

 
I'd have no issue putting a residential refrigerator in our coach.

We have separate residential fridge and freezer in the galley on our boat that haven't been bothered by movement. When we bought the boat, Chris had me remove a standalone ice maker from the bridge, and replace it with a $49 small Magic Chef fridge for soft drinks. The fridge hasn't been turned off in 13 years, except when the boat has been hauled, and still works just fine.
 
It is the luck of the draw in many cases. Hopefully everyone gets lucky.

In my old Rv, sold in 2009, had an LP Norcold fridge which was 14 years old..not one hiccup.
 
Well this thread has me thinking.  I've always started our fridge the day before a trip and left it on when traveling.  Since we often have 6% grades in the first 2 hours, one of which is a 5-6 minute climb, I am thinking I may turn it off until we reach more level country.  Hopefuly, our food will stay cool for that long.
 
Phil Hyde said:
My main concern with that, aside from the installation, is that a residential fridge probably isn't designed to be moved around constantly.
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My 2007 Beaver has a Jenn Air that is original equipment, and it runs fine. Of course I don't do washboard roads, but...
 
For seventy bucks I'll bet Norcold or Dometic should be negotiating with Paul for rights to use his patent right now!
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You would think so, but Paul says neither one has shown any interest. Just the opposite, in fact... I suspect "Not Invented Here" applies.  Of course, they don't seem to think they need to do anything like that either.

It would not be expensive at all to include the logic on the fridge control board - just need a reliable temperature sensor mounted on the boiler tube.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
You would think so, but Paul says neither one has shown any interest. Just the opposite, in fact... I suspect "Not Invented Here" applies.  Of course, they don't seem to think they need to do anything like that either.

It would not be expensive at all to include the logic on the fridge control board - just need a reliable temperature sensor mounted on the boiler tube.
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Tell him to talk to their lawyers, not the engineers. They are the ones whi will be defending all the lawsuits. ???
 
It's the lawyers that are fending off any fruitful discussion. I can understand that - Norcold has to be really gunshy these days, so doesn't want to admit that any design improvement is possible. It might be construed as an admission.

I don't want to say much here - it could prejudice future negotiations.  I have agreed with Paul to hold some things confidential.
 
Could you post a picture of the insulation you added to you unit.
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Sure, but there isn't much to see. Basically we re-wrapped the boiler & tube with some 800 degree fiberglass pipe insulation I got at Grainger Supply, and covered the whole area with foil tape.  When the Norcold 1200 recall sensor module is installed, they have to cut that area open and typically some of the insulation is lost, either then or as time goes on. Some install techs do a better job than others in re-sealing that area.

We also added a sheet of aluminum flashing along one side where the wood frame that supports the fridge is adjacent to the boiler tube. Figured that the wood was vulnerable to fire if a leak happened in that area, so may as well give it a bit more protection. Not a big thing, but easy enough to do while working on the insulation. I just slipped the flashing into place and it is held against the side by the insulation.

The dangling wires are the leads to the ARP temperature sensor.
 

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Gary just seeing all that rusted metal reminds me why we have a Samsung. ::)
 
Not difficult at all, but requires a level of comfort with 12v wiring. You have to find a 12v power source behind the fridge and tap into it, and also splice into the 12v supply to the fridge (so the ARP relay can turn it off). Details vary by fridge model and RV brand/model, so install instructions are a bit generic, at least for now. Paul is trying to gather tips and photos for various fridge models, but the differences among RV brands make detailed instructions impossible.

Basically you snap a temperature sensor on the boiler tube and connect its wires to the ARP controller. You have to find a convenient place to mount the little ARP controller/display, either inside the RV or in the rear fridge access. Then mount a relay in the rear access area and wire that to the controller and the fridge power circuit.

There are some photos and tips on the ARP web site.
https://sites.google.com/site/arprvsafer/home
 
Gary just seeing all that rusted metal reminds me why we have a Samsung.
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Well, having had a 5.5 year old Samsung fridge go belly up in our stick house, I am not as sanguine as you are.

Besides, cooling units pit from the inside out due to internal corrosion. Surface rust doesn't much concern me. This fridge is 10 years old and the rust is superficial. I'm confident that it will see another 10 years if external rust is the only factor.
 
Gary,
I had been considering a fire suppressor add on and ran across this thread. Based on your recommendation and the information from their web site, I ordered a unit and expect delivery in a few days. This seems a better alternative than putting out a fire, but preventing a fire. Will post back my impression/results when I receive the unit and install it.
I plan on placing the controller/readout on the interior wall so I can see what is going on with the Norcols 1210.

Thanks for the information,
 
The ARP should extend the usable life of the fridge as well as preventing fires. There may be other causes of cooling unit failures than boiler over-temp, but managing the temperature better has got to help.
 
On my Nocold 1200 it usually will keep the inside temperature in the 34-38 degree range if ambient temps aren't above 85 degrees or so.  I have one of the little flat 12V fans mounted in the outside frig compartment but even with that last July coming across I-70 in Kansas outside temps were approaching 105 degrees and the inside frig temps were above 45 degrees.

Has anyone ever tried removing the outside access frig door while traveling to get more air circulation or is there some reason this shouldn't be done?  I know it definitely helps in high temperatures to place a 6" 120V fan in the outside compartment also while in a campground, and that's even when I can hear the fans mounted in the vent tube running.

The ARP unit really sounds great but with so little room in that outside compartment I'm not sure I'd have the ability to hook it up there.  It was really tight in there re-wiring the Norcold recall box after the RV dealer's tech screwed it up so bad the box was making a clicking noise all the time and my fans in the vent tube weren't running.  (A fellow RVer e-mailed me his wiring instructions since I didn't think to ask for mine at installation time.)
 
Not to cast aspersions, but the device appears to be the same thing NoCold provides with a simple difference; it triggers at a lower temperature and resets after a delay. The difference is a couple of dollars worth of components!

I can readily understand why NoCold decided on their version. Imagine the liability if, after detecting a fault, you reset and the next fault causes a fire! :( :( :(

Hopefully, I'm missing something, but somehow I don't think so.

Ernie
 
I suggest you go to the site that Gary referenced and read all of the information available there to see why the ARP is very different from the NorCold and Dometic one shot "fixes".  There really is no comparison.
 
Ned,

Sorry but it appears to be a simple bang bang controller. I can't get his slide show to work correctly, but it basically says " if temperature exceeds nnn degrees, turn off the heat!". His extensive explanation is interesting,  but adds nothing to the facts. I'll conceed he may turn it back on at a lower temperature rather than use a timer, but the timer would accomplish the same thing!

I don't doubt it may extend the life of the unit and may well be worthwhile on that basis. Otherwise, it does the same thing as the existing device, but at lower temperature and without shutting off the heat source permantlyl

What do you think I'm missing?

Ernie
 
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