# rv fridge broke replacement?? gas vs house style



## ccash (Apr 18, 2013)

We are looking at replacing our fridge with the $350 Haier small fridge/freezer combo instead of a new $1200 type that runs of gas.. and major repercussions? 
We know it wont cool going down road, but it is plugged in all the time at house so it will be cold.. travel time it should stay cool.. we have generator for roughing it situations, which honestly I can always use a ice chest occasionally. 

Let me know what I am missing!


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

Sounds like a plan for weekend trips. If you have cold and/or frozen items, just put them in a cooler until the fridge has time to get cold after setup.


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## Hookem-Guy81 (Apr 3, 2013)

ccash you did not mention what year model or type of RV you have. Things to think about: If you are just going down the road close by or plan to leave it at the deer camp or fish camp you may be ok. Will the house type fit in the hole after you remove the fridge? Will the electrical hookups be compatible? House type doors are not made to lock, they would probably fly open on the road. Some parks and campsites don't allow generators at night. Ever planning to sell the RV-House type don't have good resale value. You are young-ever plan on doing a long haul out of state to Yellowstone, or Colorado, or Missouri, or even in state to Big Bend or Caddo Lake or Palo Duro Canyon? You will need the Gas. If it was me I would fork out the dough to get the new one. You will be much happier. We spend around the same amount on tires and trolling motors and repair work on our Outboard motors. Just saying, if it was me.


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## Don Smith (Nov 24, 2007)

Residential refers are becoming more common as standard equipment in new RV's. The Samsung 197 is an excellent choice for the replacement for the not so cold gas refers. If you need to run it going down the road or with no ac power available, you can install an inverter and run it off your batteries. The cost for the residential refer and inverter is usually less than the cost of a new gas refer.


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## pitchindad (Oct 14, 2004)

*My .02*

You just said it stopped working but didn't say why. Have you investigated fixing it? 
I have owned a NO Cold 4 door for 7 years and have learned how to repair it myself. There is wealth of info on the net on how to fix them. 
What brand and model do you own?
How old is it?
What was it doing when it quit working, it could be just a fuse or something simple?
If you want some help with it pm me I can offer some help. 
Just trying to be helpful since Uncle Sam laid me off and I haven't got anything better to do.


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## ccash (Apr 18, 2013)

*More details*

It is a 2008 jayco bh model. We bought it from original owners with about 10 trips total on it.. Original tires looked brand new (still had little tread nipples) lack of use I think is what has caused the fridge to quit. It was cooling and intermittently turn on/off then finally quit altogether. No yellow powder anywhere or smell of gas.. just quit. I am under the assumption it is clogged. The unit is $120 to have looked at and determine what is wrong. Cooling unit for rebuilt is $600. New unit is $1200 or Lowes fridge is $349... that is where I am coming into hard times deciding. We may sell down the road but honestly I look for us to pay off and keep it... then by a toyhauler later on down the road..


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## ccash (Apr 18, 2013)

Its a Norcold n611 discontinued model


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## djwag94 (Nov 19, 2009)

ccash said:


> Its a Norcold n611 discontinued model


Please provide a sequence of events, you said it came on & went off. Did you get any codes or flashing light? Was it trying to cycle ac/dc

You said it's dead now, does that mean no power to control panel?

If you don't smell ammonia the cooling unit is probably good.


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## Muleman (Dec 6, 2011)

There is a fuse on the control board. Check that first. A 2008 frig is not old. Unless it is physical damage to the unit it is probably ok.


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## Hookem-Guy81 (Apr 3, 2013)

Ccash, listen to djwag94 and Muleman, don't trash that RV fridge. There has got to be an electrical, relay, fuse or solenoid problem somewhere. I have the number of a mobile repairman out in your area that came to my house to fix my gas problem. Another thing. When a unit is not used much the fluid in the coils settles. I heard this has been done before, and you other guys tell me if I am wrong, but take the unit out, turn it upside down and drive around with it in your truck for a few days then reinstall and the fluid in the coils should be redistributed and it will work if that is problem. I will post the RV repairmans number. I think his name is Carrie Birdwell.


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## Hookem-Guy81 (Apr 3, 2013)

Name of Mobile RV repair is Birdwell's RV Service. Number is 281-734-3111. He is in Magnolia. Not too far from you. He came to my place in Cypress. Fixed my PC board. The other guys have some good info on here. I agree that unit is not that old and probably easy to repair like pitchindad said. By the way we had an old one go bad at the Deer lease once. Amonia smell was so bad it could have killed us. We had to stay in our vehicles overnight while we vented it.


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## djwag94 (Nov 19, 2009)

This may help you,

http://www.thetford.com/HOME/PARTS/NorcoldIncRefrigerators/N61N81Series/tabid/490/Default.aspx

Go to;
Owner's Instructions - Cooling Unit Instructions open with adobe reader

This site below will show you the power board on page 48, first picture N61X. check for loose connections, fuses & dirt.

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/ncoldnnewnseries.pdf

Good luck.


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

The first time mine went out, posted up here and someone in the know suggested I check my battery. It had low water, and that was the problem. The fridge needs 12 volts for it's controller board to work right. Even though my insie 12V lights were still working off of the invertor, the fridge would not until I replaced my dried out battery.

The second time the coooling unit leaked and it was obvious from the yellow brown staining on the coils in back and the smell of ammonia. I replaced it with a 200$ dorm sized fridge that runs on AC power. But, it was not as easy as it seemed because I thought I measured carefully. Well I did, and the fridge fit where the old one went, but it did not fit through the door. I ended up having to remove, and then reseal and replace my door frame to get the new one inside. Hope this helps you either way.


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## mas360 (Nov 21, 2006)

Pocketfisherman said:


> The first time mine went out, posted up here and someone in the know suggested I check my battery. It had low water, and that was the problem. The fridge needs 12 volts for it's controller board to work right. Even though my insie 12V lights were still working off of the invertor, the fridge would not until I replaced my dried out battery.
> 
> The second time the coooling unit leaked and it was obvious from the yellow brown staining on the coils in back and the smell of ammonia. I replaced it with a 200$ dorm sized fridge that runs on AC power. But, it was not as easy as it seemed because I thought I measured carefully. Well I did, and the fridge fit where the old one went, but it did not fit through the door. I ended up having to remove, and then reseal and replace my door frame to get the new one inside. Hope this helps you either way.


I've thought about replacing mine one of these days with a home unit....but never thought about the issue of getting it through the door...:headknock Thanks for the advice.

How difficult was it to take off the door and replace door frame?


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## sqwaby (Aug 4, 2005)

Another option might be to replace the fridge with a 2 way instead of a 3 way fridge. If 120v wasn't avail. you can run on 12v, this would allow you to run the fridge until you arrived at a place with hookups or you could use 12v all weekend with a good size battery bank if remote camping. 2 way fridge only draws about 3.5-4amps and it is mostly an intermittent draw. A 3 way fridge typically draws around 12+ amps constantly. You can probably get a 2 way that will fit in the existing opening and the 2 way is a compressor type unit which will be more efficient in the hotter months.


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## mas360 (Nov 21, 2006)

I looked up the 2-way frig and they seemed to be smaller than the standard RV frig.


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