36RE Fridge Fire Danger

[Bill36re]

I just had our service center in California complete our one year annual service on our 2012 Redwood 36RE that we purchase in August of 2011. The tech discovered that the service access panel for the fridge was designed for a fridge having the propane burner on the right side (looking in from the outside) which I'm told was how previous models of this fridge were manufactured. My unit however has the propane burner on the left side and there is not enough clearance apace around it resulting in fire danger when operating the fridge on propane.

To date we only used the fridge on propane for one six hour trip. The burner area got so hot that our wall insulation melted in the area adjacent to the burner, the attached paper safety instructions partially burned and a couple of wires started to melt.

I would suggest other owners have a qualified tech take a look inside your access panels or eyeball it yourself to make sure your burner area is not to the left of the access panel almost touching the slide wall instead of being inline with the access panel opening. Our selling dealer, George Sutton in Oregon missed this important detail in PDI and I consider us lucky we didn't loose our trailer or worse.

I'm waiting to here back from Brian Emmons at Redwood, who has been responsive in the past to our warranty issues.

[Grandpa]

Thank you for the heads up on this potentially dangerous situation! Wouldn't it beappropriate for the factory to issue a bulletin to their dealers about this issue?

[Bill36re]

I would have thought a recall would be needed for sure on any units installed this way!

I forgot one other detail. They way this fridge was installed there is no access to clean and service the burner without first removing the fridge, for which I was quoted three hours of labor. The metal access panel for the burner outside is buried behind my slide wall to the left of the outside access panel where the insulation melted. And that's a good way to spot the issue, if you can't access the burner for service from the outside you likely have this same issue.

I'll try to get some photos up in the coming days.

[RollsRoyce]

Bill36re
What all did they do on your annual inspection, who did it and was the charge for this service reasonable? Also what brand and size refridgerator did you get Thanks RollsRoyce

[Campers]

The annual inspection is stated very clearly in the owners manual, what must be competed every year and a record must be sent to Redwood that it has been completed

[Campers]

Sorry. Off topic here. Won't let it happen again. It would be nice to know if the FL has the same problem. I will check out ours tomorrow. Thanks

[Grandpa]

Your question is worth starting another topic. All Redwood owners would appreciate a preview of what that yearly inspection will cost and what it entails.

[Campers]

Ok. I will post on Friday. Going out ona trip.

[Bill36re]

Here's the latest on my fridge issue. If you, as I do, have a fridge in your Redwood and you cannot fully access (open) the propane burner from the outside access panel you likely have the wrong fridge installed as do I.

Brian at the factory has attempted to be helpful but the Thor people are telling him to simply move and remount my fridge into the trailer by one inch to give the propane burner more air space. I won't consider that since the fridge won't look right and we still would not be able to service or inspect the propane burner without removing the fridge!

We are leaving on a four day drive in high temps in the morning and we'll see if our trailer and or fridge makes the trip OK. This is turning into a major hassle as we've already lost on full fridge of food.

I'm going to have Jerry's RV in Bend inspect the unit (a Dometic Service Center) and give me his expert advice. My thinking at this point is we will need a new fridge with the burner on the left instead of the right (outside looking in).

[Adamsvr]

Please keep us posted on this!

[Tall-Pines]

I pulled off the lower exterior cover plate and took a look-see on our 36RL with Norcold 12 cu/ft w/ice maker.

Burner is clearly on the right hand side in our setup ... thankfully!

Might be useful if you can let us know the make/model of your fridge as
that might be helpful in narrowing down the possible suspect units.

I'll edit this post and add my model number and a photo when I get a chance.

Ian

[John/Carol]

We've checked also on our 2012 36RE with the same Norcold 12 cu ft w/ice maker. Ours is fine also!

[Russ]

I just checked my 2013 RL and the burner is in the right side looking in.

[Russ]

I would be interested in knowing this also. First I have heard of an annual inspection. Seems to me if that has to be done to maintain the warranty then it should be part of the warranty. Otherwise it almost seems to be an annual premium to have the warranty.

[5th_Time]

We were dry camping last weekend andthe Norcoldwas runningin LP mode for several days.

I haven't verified yet, but believe that ours is also on the right side because the kitchen wall and wall cabinet adjoining the refrigeratorget so hot that you cannot store food in there.



Anyone else notice this issue? Edited by: 5th_Time

[lillyputz]

After 55 days in the shop. we pick it up today. I'll check the refer. maybe if I'm lucky, it'll be on the left

Lillyputz

[5th_Time]

LP: 55 days??? Maybe your dealer fixed it, then was renting it out as a stylish vacation rental. .

[TravelinAnderson]

Originally Posted by 5th_Time

LP: 55 days??? Maybe your dealer fixed it, then was renting it out as a stylish vacation rental. .

No kidding... I think you could have ordered a new and taken delivery in less time.

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by lillyputz

After 55 days in the shop. we pick it up today. I'll check the refer. maybe if I'm lucky, it'll be on the left

Lillyputz

Lillyputz............WOW! I thought the 40 days in shop for a brake recall at my dealer was bad.



I checked my 2012 36RL refrigerator which is a Dometic model number RM1350MX. It is a 4 door unit without icemaker. The propane burner unit is on the left as you are observing through the service point outside.

[KR2011]

The factory was installing Dometic fridges when they started building and then switched to Norcold. Chances are they built your trailer for a Norcold but the assembly line had some Dometic fridges left over and they installed the Dometic not knowing any better. Just a guess.