Norcold 2118X Refrigerator Self Destructed

'Lil Guy'

'Lil Guy'

Well-known member
On last day of trip home form an extended road trip, Debbie smelled something burning and the refer wouldn't kick off on propane. Pulled the outside vent cover to see all of the wires burnt to a crisp. Is there a wiring harness replacement of is this to be another expensive replacement? Haven't heard of any recalls on the unit. Guess I'll chalk it up to the Baker's luck. Has anyone else had this issue? Can't imagine what could have caused it. Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
danemayer

danemayer

Well-known member
Re: Dometic Refridgerator Self Destructed

Frank,

Sorry to hear this, but I'm glad it didn't go any further.

I thought Heartland had moved to Norcold refrigerators, so I'm surprised you have a Dometic. What model?

You may need to call Dometic about this. Burned up wires suggest a safety issue they need to investigate. Perhaps they'll provide you with a new refrigerator so they can get yours back for investigation.

You might also want to take pictures, and along with model # and serial #, file a report on the NHTSA website.
 
'Lil Guy'

'Lil Guy'

Well-known member
Re: Dometic Refridgerator Self Destructed

Feeling a little dumb here. It is a Norcold 2118X series. Have any of these had an issue?
 
travelin2

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
Sorry to hear of your issue but our 2118 has worked satisfactorily for the past 2 yrs. we have the same rig as you guys


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
wdk450

wdk450

Well-known member
I don't know what your deductible is, but you might want to call your insurance company and have them send out a professional adjuster/investigator to inspect the damage.
 
boatto5er

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
Now would be a good time to consider switching to a residential model.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
RoadJunkie

RoadJunkie

Well-known member
We have the same refrigerator from norcold and absolutely love it. We have not had any troubles to this point. The unit has been extremely effective and does not add heat to the inside of the coach.
 
'Lil Guy'

'Lil Guy'

Well-known member
Up till now we loved the unit. Don't know what caused the wiring to burn up but will get it fixed or replaced. We purchased a service policy with our unit that covers it thru 2022. Hope they deliver. Haven't had any other issues with our rig other than self induced.lol The only thing I don't like about our rig is the bathroom shower size, hence another upgrade to a bigger unit in the near future. Moving up 1 foot at a time is really getting expensive. Made the mistake of looking at a front bath model and really like it.
 
wdk450

wdk450

Well-known member
I would wonder from what you described if you had a hydrogen flash fire. The chemical cooling mixture in RV refrigerators is both ammonia and hydrogen. Ammonia is just slightly flammable, but hydrogen is highly flammable - Remember the Nazi Zeppelin the Hindenberg??? I would expect a hydrogen fire to leave no residue other than water, but it could light other stuff off - wood, plastics, propane, that are in the external refrigerator compartment. That is why a self-deploying Halon fire extinguisher like Mac The Fire Guy, or RVCoolingUnitWarehouse.com sells is so important.

I think you dodged a major bullet. I have seen 1 RV refrigerator fire happening, and the burned-to-the-ground results of a suspected RV refrigerator fire in an expensive Class A coach. That coach hadn't moved in about 4 years, and was just being used for housing.

I spent the money and have a self deploying halon extinguisher in my external refrigerator compartment.
 
Chainsaw

Chainsaw

Saskatchewan Chapter Leader
hey man, sorry to hear about the burning wires. We have the same unit works good except when switching from propane to 110. We had a power otage the other night from midhight to 6am. At 7 am I got up, power was on but refer was still on propane. Had to manually switch it. when the power went out the refer switched to propane.
 
'Lil Guy'

'Lil Guy'

Well-known member
Talked to Norcold and they gave me a fire claim # and told me to take it to a service center in Tyler. Scheduled for the 13th of July. Want service tech to take the pics for them. I think Norcold is aware of a fire issue and is stepping up/(so far). If not, I still have the service policy that covers it. Was I seeing things? I googled up the 18' RV refer and it showed $6K for it. That was on Amazon. Certainly I'm missing something here.
 
cookie

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Frank, your not missing a thing. These RV refrigerators are no cheap date which is why when mine dies I will replace it with a residential model.

Peace
Dave
 
wdk450

wdk450

Well-known member
'Lil Guy' said:
Talked to Norcold and they gave me a fire claim # and told me to take it to a service center in Tyler. Scheduled for the 13th of July. Want service tech to take the pics for them. I think Norcold is aware of a fire issue and is stepping up/(so far). If not, I still have the service policy that covers it. Was I seeing things? I googled up the 18' RV refer and it showed $6K for it. That was on Amazon. Certainly I'm missing something here.
Click to expand...

I think that the 18 cu ft is the biggest RV refrigerator made. Camping World shows $4999 for it.
 
R

rhodies1

Well-known member
My cousin had the condenser go on the Norcold 1210 model and it was $3200 to replace parts and labor.
Not cheap".....
 
travelin2

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
'Lil Guy' said:
If you go residential, how hard is it to install an invertor?
Click to expand...

It’s not! I installed one last year for some 110 applications when we boondock.
Toughest part is running the wire through the coach to its termination point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
'Lil Guy'

'Lil Guy'

Well-known member
Awaiting response from Norcold. I didn't notice the small aluminum propane line on the back had broke at the compression fitting. I didn't look past all of the burnt wires and ash. See if this throws a wrench in the claim.
 
'Lil Guy'

'Lil Guy'

Well-known member
Just curious if they charge more for the residential upgrade from HL. Since the price of the res. is about 1/4 the price of the Norcold, does HL reduce the cost of the rig?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top