Another Residential Fridge Install Experience

rxbristol

Well-known member
Very nice. I take my landmark in for an extended warranty claim tomorrow on the beautiful high end superior quality 4 door norcold! ROLOL. So now I'm considering a residential frig. With that being said how do you feel about your residential frig over the norcold

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Night and Day difference. I will never own another RV without a residential fridge. I would compare the Norcold's ability to keep items cold in hot weather to an old fashioned ice box.
 

sjandbj

Well-known member
After exchanging the Norcold with a residential unit it was not as big of job as I thought it would be. I am glad I made the decision to change it out since the Norcold died.

Steve
 

MIKEGELLO

Active Member
Great job! I was under the assumption that there was I built in inverter in the coach? I'm thinking it's not big enough. Thanks again for sharing your install!!
Mike
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Great job! I was under the assumption that there was I built in inverter in the coach? I'm thinking it's not big enough. Thanks again for sharing your install!!
Mike

No built-in inverter (12V DC to 120V AC) comes standard and I don't think it's optional. It only comes with the Residential Refrigerator when shipped from the factory, and is typically dedicated to the refrigerator operation, although I think a few models may have a nearby outlet on the same circuit as the refrigerator.
 

rxbristol

Well-known member
Great job! I was under the assumption that there was I built in inverter in the coach? I'm thinking it's not big enough. Thanks again for sharing your install!!
Mike

I still have not installed an inverter. When I travel, I use the generator keep the fridge operating and maybe an air conditioner running if there's hot weather. Since we will be traveling about once per month, it's a good time to exercise the generator anyway.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
If you're using an on-board Onan 5500 LP generator, keep in mind the cost of propane. If you're only traveling a few hours a month, it won't matter much. But on the other hand, if you're towing for three six-hour days in a row, you could find yourself spending a lot of money on propane. And if you're planning using propane for the furnace, you'll have to manage the propane tanks pretty closely.
 

SNOKING

Well-known member
Wish I would have come here earlier in the Bighorn purchase sequence, as I would have gotten a residential refer from the get go. Now the first time the Norcold hiccups it is gone. Maybe sooner if we go to Arizona in October and it can not keep up.

Looking around I do not see one without an ice maker. Someone have a list of units being used for converting from the Norcold 2118 to residential?

Chris
 

MIKEGELLO

Active Member
Hi danemayer
I'm thinking of a Yamaha ef3000iseb generator mounted on the trailer hitch, I have twin Honda eu 2000s but it's a pain being they don't hold a lot of fuel and I'm not a big fan of the external fuel system. I opted out of the onboard generator for the exact reason of propane consumption as well as extra weight. Thanks for the advice as always. You guys are great!!
 

MIKEGELLO

Active Member
Almost done with my conversion to Samsung residential fridge in my key largo if any one has any questions.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Almost done with my conversion to Samsung residential fridge in my key largo if any one has any questions.

Post some pics, we'd love to see them, and if you have any along the process!


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How did you anchor it in place? Ours arrives the 28th of this month.
And was the Norcold hard to get out? I only see a few screws in the back of ours
 

Mike-n-Justina

Well-known member
We have a 2014 Key Largo also and we're just talking about putting the residential fridge in. Please post pics, process and if you ran into any problems please. Where did you buy the new refrigerator and what model did you get? Thanks.
 

lynndiwagoner

Well-known member
How did you anchor it in place? Ours arrives the 28th of this month.
And was the Norcold hard to get out? I only see a few screws in the back of ours

When you put the floor down for the new fridge glue/screw a couple of 3/4" by 2" wide pieces of plywood to the floor and have them extend out past the opening so that the new fridge front leveling legs are centered over them. Unscrew the leveling legs and drill holes through the plywood directly under the leveling leg holes. Get some long bolts and screw the up through the plywood into the leveling leg holes. On my Samsung the leveling legs were metric and I had to go to Lowes and buy some metric bolts. This will hold the fridge in really well but I added some small screws at the back that screwed into the plywood floor.
 

LBR

Well-known member
How did you anchor it in place?

We ordered our 2017 CY with the resi fridge and arrived with the factory installed Hisense. It was secured by only 2 screws into the platform thru the 2 forward mounting feet, but since the fridge is on wheels, that didn't last long when the fridge got fully loaded....first trip and the Hisense became a walking zombie on every road corner after pulling up the screws.

The real problem was it couldn't just be shoved all the way towards the back as the doors wouldn't open, so a simple wooden block chock in front of the front 2 casters was out of the question.. what to do without removing fridge from platform?

I set the fridge where it needed to be, measured, then built a metal plate with tabs...these tabs have a hole in each one that line up with the front legs....unscrewed the feet, attached the plate below the entire width of the fridge, then screwed the 2 feet back on.

The fridge is now 100% secured and what little bit of that securing plate is seen, look great as I finished it off with Hammered Black paint ....nice contrast against the surrounding wood IMO.
 

MIKEGELLO

Active Member
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MIKEGELLO

Active Member
So far so good. As you can see I took the lower draw out and screwed down 3/4 plywood for a new base. I cut and reused draw face up top to cover left over space keeping it 1 inch ubove fridge for venting. I used the cut off piece of the draw face down below and screwed it in front of the wheels as well as running 2 screws right through the plastic wheels into the floor. I also bought a outdoor rv screw type step stabilizer and wedged it from the ceiling to the top of fridge just for added support ( probably not needed ) I currently do not have a inverter as I run my Honda eu3000 for both the fridge and 1 of the a/c units. It's currently baking in the sun in South Carolina and couldn't be happier with the fridge temps. As a matter a fact I had to raise the temps because things were to cold. Well worth the switch. Any questions feel free to ask and I'll try to guide you through it! Was a fairly painless job!!


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