Residential Refrigerator

[BobRay]

The Norcold 1200 recently died in my 2006 Bounder 35E. This was my second cooling unit failure, this time on of the expensive Amish cooling units.

I've wanted to go with a residential fridge for a long time, but the only one that fit was the Samsung that has serious problems according to the reviews.

While shopping, I discovered this GE model. I got the slate no-fingerprint version and really like the color.

It's 18.6 cubic ft compared to the Norcold's 12 and it weighs less. It's 32 3/4 inches wide so it fits exactly in the 33" opening. Best of all, with the doors off, it fit through the 24" door of my rig! No need to pop out a window.

I removed a few bolts and covers from the rear of the fridge before bringing it in, but I'm not sure I needed to. The delivery guys would not bring the fridge into an RV, even after I offered them extra cash to do so. I had them take the doors off (not that big a job) and leave it sideways in front of the door. I tipped it into the doorway, picked up the bottom end, and slid it in. It's on wheels so it was pretty easy to move it into place. I did everything all by myself.

I took the screws out of the platform under the old fridge (nothing under there but the ice maker water line), cut straight down at the left and right edge of the bottom front with a hand saw (10 minutes), and rolled the fridge into place (after mounting a couple of 2 x 4 blocks on the back wall to maintain a 2" gap back there and installing 4 small eye bolts in the frame 2 at 15" above the floor and 2 a 32.5" so I can bungee the doors when traveling. I also trimmed the faceplate of the electric outlet at the back to make it 2" wide, but I'm not sure that was necessary.

I added a treated 1 x 2 on each side on top of the existing pine framing (about a foot off the floor) to keep it in place side-to-side. I also removed the pine strip at that height across the back to improve the air flow.

If you pull out the bottom drawer (even after replacing its door) and pull out the bins, you can screw down two 3/4" thick wood blocks in front of the feet to keep it from coming out as you drive. Another set of blocks at the upper rear against the ceiling locks it in place.

I bought a thin foil windshield cover at Ace hardware and cut it in half to put behind the outside vents. I wrapped the back side of the vents with it, pushed the vents into place, and trimmed the excess with a box cutter.

It's fairly quiet and *way* less expensive than a replacement Norcold or Dometic.

The fridge does have one problem. In its stock form, it doesn't get very cold. They recommend setting it at 37 degrees, but when I did that it got up to 43 or 44 inside. Even when set to the minimum (34 degrees), it still didn't get my beer cold enough, but I found a solution in the reviews at Amazon. There are two rectangular vents at the back of the top shelf where the cold air comes in. I think the thermister is just above them (behind the wall), so with the turbulence around those vents, cold air blows on the thermister and it thinks it's colder than it is. I taped a 3 x 5 index card to the back wall just above the vents. Then I taped a half of an index card vertically between the vents to keep the other one straight out (it will sag otherwise and slow down the air flow). Now the temp in there averages around 37 on the top shelf and 34 on the bottom.

I used this great little remote thermometer. It has two sensors and records a min and max temp which can be reset anytime. It also has magnets on the back so you can actually mount it on the fridge. It's very handy when traveling. If it gets too warm, I can fire up the generator.

I'm going to do an article on the conversion at some point, but it probably won't be for a while.

[bbewick50]

Thanks Bob. This gives lots of hope we can replace our Dometic. I noticed the GE is listed at 240 volts. How did you convert the circuit from 110 volts?

[BobRay]

That must be a European model. The ones at Home Depot and Best Buy are 110 for sure. FYI, I don't recommend getting one from Best Buy. I had a very bad experience with them. I cancelled the order and got one from Home Depot, then spent 3 weeks trying to get my refund from Best Buy -- I finally had to drive to the store to get it.

[bbewick50]

Thanks!
We will check them out ASAP.

[jjohnsonjo]

Hi Bob, my original fridge is still working, but looking down the road in case it dies. I have been trying to find the true current specs. Did you ever actually measure the current while this thing is running. I have hard wired a 2200 watt inverter that I installed years ago. Anyway the the GE specs states 15 amps which seems high. Best Buy Q&A says 5 amps. The Samsung say 10 amps for theirs.

Thanks

J.O. Johnson 03 36D workhorse

[BobRay]

I haven't measured it. I don't have an inverter, so I need to run the generator on the road.

I might be able to get it from the Progressive Dynamics pendant, but right now I've got the Splendide washer and two ACs running (it's close to 90 degrees outside).

It continues to run fairly warm in the fridge section, especially on the top shelf, even with my index card deflector. I have it set as cold as possible and it runs about 38-41 on the top shelf and 36-39 on the third shelf. The drawers at the bottom are always 35 or 36. On the other hand, nothing has spoiled and the freezer is always 0 or less.

All that said, the fact that it fits through the door (it's 23 & 3/4" with the doors off) and fits the cabinet almost perfectly are pretty big pluses.

[jjohnsonjo]

Thanks, I'll keep looking around and post if find a number.


J.O. Johnson 03 36D

[BobRay]

That model is sold by both Best Buy and Home Depot. I think they both have specs on it. You could also call GE.

One more piece of information. Don't believe them when they tell you they have it in stock. Neither place stocks it in their warehouse because they don't sell very many of them. When you buy it, they order it from GE and I don't think GE keeps it in stock either. Best Buy promised it in a week, and at the end of the week, they told me it would be two more weeks. At that point, I cancelled with Best Buy and got it in a week from Home Depot.

It took about a month, 8 phone calls and a trip to the store to get a refund from Best Buy. YMMV.

[BobRay]

I was able to check last night. 5 amps is correct, though it may use a little more when the compressor starts.

[jjohnsonjo]

Thanks, BTW Bob,I have one of theses https://www.ebay.com/i/113167710181?ul_noapp=true. I use it in the house and RV, neat toy for the price. Beside the washing machine I also replaced the never used oven with a compact dishwasher, one more load. We don't like paper plate or washing dishes.


J.O. Johnson 03 36D workhorse.