Replacing fridge

[Linda B]

We would like to replace our Norcold 1200 with a residential refrigerator. Has anyone done this? We have a 2013 38GK. Would like suggestions or advice. If you replaced your fridge did you lose the drawer under or cabinet over? What refrigerator did you use? Thank you in advance.
Linda

[Jim & Mary]

We replaced our Norcold with a Samsung RF18 series, two door fridge, bottom door freezer. Our dealer did the work. You also need an inverter to power it from batteries when not hooked up to shore power. I installed ours, but I was an electrician for 40 years. Some have not installed the inverter because they travel from park to park and the fridge is not powered up for less than 8 hours or so. Your choice.

[Linda B]

Originally Posted by Jim & Mary

We replaced our Norcold with a Samsung RF18 series, two door fridge, bottom door freezer. Our dealer did the work. You also need an inverter to power it from batteries when not hooked up to shore power. I installed ours, but I was an electrician for 40 years. Some have not installed the inverter because they travel from park to park and the fridge is not powered up for less than 8 hours or so. Your choice.

Did you lose the bottom drawer or top cabinet? We do not move this RV.

[gflynn]

Just replaced my Norcold last week with a used Samsung RF197ACRS.

Yes you'll lose the bottom drawer. The fridges front leveling adjusters will sit on top of the trim on the floor. The causes the fridge to tilt more than I'd like so installed a additional piece of plywood under the back rollers. This leveled the fridge from front to back.

It's a tight fit with 1/2 each side of the fridge.

Used the hardwood face of the shelf that the fridge sat on less 1/4" to fill in the top. Just siliconed this to the top trim removed to remove the Norcold.

Careful removing the Norcold as it's very heavy and the trim along the bottom is lower than the bottom of the fridge and can easily destroy the flooring. I never removed the doors but would suggest it as it gives you that much more room. The heavy part is the cooling unit which is steel.

Picture enclosed if I did it correctly

Regards, Gerard

[Jim & Mary]

As Gerard said, yes we lost the bottom drawer, which held the Dirt Devil in house vacuum, which we no longer use, due to it's horrible inconvenience. Top cabinet remains unchanged.

[skipperr]

we have a 2013 RE and the perfect replacement is the Samsung 18CF French door. Same measurements so it makes it easier. If yours has the drawer underneath take it out. Open the outside vents Ns use foam or whatever close them off. You might also have to move the electric socket from the side wall to the floor. Ant questions email me at skipperr53@gmail.com. best of luck. I did mine 2 yrs ago.

[Karen]

We are original owners of 2012 Redwood 36FB. We've had good luck with rig so far but envy people with real/residential refrigerators. Did the dealer have to remove slide or island to install new refrigerator? Will you give a ball-park estimate for the upgrade? The picture really showed off the perfection of it. Thanks for posting.

[piper guy]

On our 2013 36RL we replaced the Nevercold about 4 years ago with a Samsung RF18. As said above by Skipperr, it’s an easy swap. I did the same thing he did. Remove the doors of both the old frig and the new frig and they will go out the door and the new one in. Just make sure you’ve got some strong people. In our case, the clearance to the island was fine. The frig doors miss it by about an inch and the freezer drawer is about an inch and a half away and we use a 3” block of foam to keep it closed when on the road.

Love this frig.

[jvohland]

How many batteries are you running? Did you locate inverter at battery location and run separate feed to spare on panel for breaker and then to frig? or

[rob_fla]

We installed a Haier HRQ16N3BGS in place of our NorCold unit in our 2014 Redwood 38FL.
We were put on the Haier refrigerator model from another Redwood owner that had installed a Haier and liked it.
Prices have gone up a little but when we ordered our Haier a couple of years ago from Amazon, it was $900, free shipping and no sales tax, they delivered it right to our door.
The Haier is a 4 Door Refrigerator with two top Refrigerator doors and two bottom freezer doors. It does not come with a Ice Maker but we hardly ever use ice anyway so it was not big deal for us, plus less problems or stuff to go wrong and more space in the freezer.
It fits tight and works great, but you are right either you have to remove the bottom drawer or some have removed the top drawer and left the bottom drawer, either way works fine (wife did not want the refrigerator sitting higher making stuff harder to reach)

Refig before removal.jpeg

Refig Removed.jpeg

Refrig area prep.jpeg

Residential Refig installed.jpeg

[proteus]

i am in the same boat just removed non working norcold 1210 IM frig from slide out last night and looking for replacement options.

4 door frig with ice maker maybe does LG make one to fit this opening?

2012 36RE redwood

please advise

[proteus]

Originally Posted by gflynn

Just replaced my Norcold last week with a used Samsung RF197ACRS.

Yes you'll lose the bottom drawer. The fridges front leveling adjusters will sit on top of the trim on the floor. The causes the fridge to tilt more than I'd like so installed a additional piece of plywood under the back rollers. This leveled the fridge from front to back.

It's a tight fit with 1/2 each side of the fridge.

Used the hardwood face of the shelf that the fridge sat on less 1/4" to fill in the top. Just siliconed this to the top trim removed to remove the Norcold.

Careful removing the Norcold as it's very heavy and the trim along the bottom is lower than the bottom of the fridge and can easily destroy the flooring. I never removed the doors but would suggest it as it gives you that much more room. The heavy part is the cooling unit which is steel.

Picture enclosed if I did it correctly

Regards, Gerard

my camper is the same model:

2012 36 RE

norcold 1210 im frig cooling unit failure,

so i am looking for my options

Samsung RF197ACRS correct?

Samsung RF18A5101SR new model

33 Inch Counter Depth French Door Smart Refrigerator with 17.5 Cu. Ft. Capacity, Power Cool & Freeze, Twin Cooling Plus, Adjustable Shelving, Wi-Fi, Internal Ice Maker, ENERGY STAR Certified, Star-K Certified, and ADA Compliant: Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel

quick specs
Sabbath Mode: Yes
Refrigerator Capacity: 11.7 Cu. Ft.
Freezer Capacity: 5.8 Cu. Ft.
Total Capacity: 17.5 Cu. Ft.
Width: 32 1/8 Inch
Depth: 28 1/8 Inch will this stick out to far?
Height: 70 Inch is this to tall ?
WiFi: Yes
Fingerprint Resistant: Yes
No. of Shelves: 3
Gallon Door Storage: Yes
ADA Compliant: Yes
Water Dispenser: No
Ice Maker: Yes


i am in the the same boat just removed the frig from slideout it is sitting inside with doors removed a residential fridge looks like the best option samsung looks like a nice clean replacement install.

any other issues with this installation? relocate power plug?

remove lower drawer for height clearance,
replacing icemaker water line now. braided stainless hose
screw a piece 1/2" plywood for floor shim under new frig for leveling, is this the correct thickness?

doors clear island cabinet correct? is there a travel latch kit for this?

what r the new Redwoods equipped with as far as fridges? Just wondering ?

Your install looks perfect

please advise

karl b.
Austin tx

[mhs4771]

If it were me, I'd stay away from Samsung. Montana has been using them and lots of problems reported.
We have a 7 plus year old Whirlpool that has traveled 50 plus miles and has never missed a beat and is on 24/7/365.

[proteus]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

If it were me, I'd stay away from Samsung. Montana has been using them and lots of problems reported.
We have a 7 plus year old Whirlpool that has traveled 50 plus miles and has never missed a beat and is on 24/7/365.

so far it looks like Frigidaire. stainless or haier 2nd choice

black stainless would match the black whirlpool micro well no go on that

Frigidaire 17.6-cu ft Counter-depth French Door Refrigerator with Ice Maker (Brushed Steel) ENERGY STAR
Item #4142878 Lowes has these, this will fit opening

Frigidaire - 17.6 Cu. Ft. Counter-Depth French Door Refrigerator
Model:
FRFG1723AV best buy /1799.99
|
SKU:
6486389

The Haier HRQ16N3BGS is a 16 cubic ft residential refrigerator. While it doesn’t include an ice maker; this model is perfect for most larger RVs. The handles on this unit are recessed which results in a shallower profile. If energy efficiency is more important than larger capacity refrigerators, than this 1227 watt per day unit is going to keep your family happy and your generator quiet. Your pocket book won’t be too upset either at just north of $1,000.



will a lowes extended warranty be voided due to it being installed in a RV? 5 years


Model #FRFG1723AV


or Haur are the only choices other than the samsung which seems to be very problematic .

are there any other likes or dislikes for these other 3 brands to bad no ice maker.
but if it has more storage and less problems that is a better choice, icemaker is nice but not a must have.

i see hinge caps do they fit under or into the cab or stick out in front, do i have to remove lower wood platform all the way to the floor as pictured for it to fit?

i measured the cabinet opening and it is exactly 70 inches to the bottom of the cabinet lower drawer frame board.
i am guessing that i will have door clearance with the island also think i measured 52 inches overall from the outside slide wall in cabinet cavity forward.

will i need to add a piece of 1/4" or 3/8" plywood to be even with floor piece of slide out trim so frig will have a level surface for the wheels, i read that the front wheel sat on top of the the trim piece and kinda knocked it out of level.

Also what brand frig is installed in the Brand new models, if its not the samsung its got to be one of the other 2 models, frigidaire then Haur


Good article for this topic on rv fridge exchanges/renew.

https://rvexodus.com/2019/01/replaci...rigerator.html


to bad LG does make one of these with the craft ice maker

[proteus]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

If it were me, I'd stay away from Samsung. Montana has been using them and lots of problems reported.
We have a 7 plus year old Whirlpool that has traveled 50 plus miles and has never missed a beat and is on 24/7/365.

ordered a frigidaire from lowes gave me a price match of 200.00 off from bestbuy price as they are both out of stock, 538 on order coming in 2 weeks with icemaker 17.6 cu ft in stainless

looking to put plywood base back over wires and stuff or have to take it down all the way to the linoleum.
specs say it is 67.3 inches tall i have 71" to top of lower cabinet 1x2" board , drawer has been removed, running new ice maker line also

not seeing a whirlpool i looked looking to reinsulate cabinet area seems a vent would be better than none at all
k

[proteus]

Originally Posted by proteus

ordered a frigidaire from lowes gave me a price match of 200.00 off from bestbuy price as they are both out of stock, 538 on order coming in 2 weeks with icemaker 17.6 cu ft in stainless

looking to put plywood base back over wires and stuff or have to take it down all the way to the linoleum.
specs say it is 67.3 inches tall i have 71" to top of lower cabinet 1x2" board , drawer has been removed, running new ice maker line also

not seeing a whirlpool i looked looking to reinsulate cabinet area seems a vent would be better than none at all
k

Asked lowes frig guy about samsung reliability, he said icemaker and defrost issues,
Frigidaire counterdepth ,17.6 cu ft. has icemaker and correct measurements for opening ,5 year extended warranty replacement, price match in stainless,
Coming in 2 weeks backordered,
32 3/4" wide opening by 71 tall ,25 1/2" deep lower drawer removed ,reinstall plywood even lower cherry 1x2 = 71tall overall frig is 67.3 tall

Frig 31.3 wide , 26 deep,without doors, 67.3 tall

Reinsulate opening with foil faced f foam board aluminum tape, seal vent sills with butyl foil protecto tape leave vents open for compressor cooling, floor deck will be flush 1/2" primed plywood paint that was removed reinstall then caulk. All I got so far

[r time soon]

Please check your extended warranty from Lowes. In our stick and brick house after a fire rebuild we bought at Lowes and thought it was an extended warranty. Truth is it starts the day of purchase or delivery and NOT after manufactures warranty expires. Ask how we know.

[Barb]

Yes, we did with a shallow depth Haier. 4 door and like it. Except the outside vents bring in hot air from outside. We also had to have a plywood floor put in to support it.
I have slid aluminum sheets in the sides, top and bottom for insulation. I’m wondering about rear insulation.
Full timers Nettles Island Florida. 2012 36RL

[Barb]

Our Haier is nice. We pushed it all the way into the space and it clears the slide out with space left over. I am concerned about compressor cooling and hot in summer cold in winter air coming it through the outside back vents.

[proteus]

Originally Posted by Barb

Our Haier is nice. We pushed it all the way into the space and it clears the slide out with space left over. I am concerned about compressor cooling and hot in summer cold in winter air coming it through the outside back vents.

I have the,fridge fans in a kit that I never installed I can mount thermo controls up front ,I have 12v power also and 110v, seems air circulation would help new fridge work better also.imo