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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Freezing Machine

Last April when we were in Tucson, our Norcold refrigerator died.  Like dead as a door nail.  No more cooling or refrigerating…it was gonzo.

So we 'made do' with a small type refrigerator that is like one college students might use in their dormitory.  But we used it in the Roadrunner.  It worked fine and since we knew we were going to get a new one, we lived with it.
We made a reservation with Brannon at Custom RV in Vina, AL (about 5 miles from Red Bay) and showed up promptly at 7:00 AM.
We pulled into the bay and they jumped into action
The Whirlpool refrigerator had been in the warehouse for a few weeks along with the six AGM Lifeline batteries and the Magnum 2800 pure sine wave inverter that all go together.
Brannon and John got working on the batteries and inverter.  They also cut the seal around the DS window and took off the back panel of the refrigerator to disconnect the propane line and get the electrical wires ready.
Meanwhile, the window had to come out and the fuse box panel door below the refrigerator space came off.  Then the refrigerator was unhooked and disconnected and it came right out.
The new one was put on the pallet and hoisted through the window.
It was pretty amazing.  With a little encouragement it fit right in.  Then the back wires were all hooked up and it purred like a kitten.
The window and window coverings were all put back in and we were in business!
That is 22 cu. ft of pure refrigerator!  We can't wait to fill it up.  We are thankful we were able to save up and get this done.  I think it will be worth every bit of the $6706 (in case you were wondering).

It was a big day and we love our new frig.

I am curious, how many of you all have a residential refrigerator?

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Until next time...

15 comments:

  1. I had my No-Cold traded out last January. One of my best decisions! :)

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  2. I live in an apartment and my fridge is half the size of yours. Yikes, I can see now why you lived with that little fridge for a while. That is one expensive, but gorgeous fridge. Bet you are going to enjoy the freedom of having room for stuff and not have to be creative on what you buy and store.

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  3. I would like to have a residential fridge. So far we have not had a prob with our Norcold, but it's prob just a matter of time. WOW, $6000+ but I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run.

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  4. that is a whole lotta $$$..enjoy the new beauty!!!

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  5. Just curious Randy, does the new fridge run on propane at all? Does it keep running when you are moving, when you are boondocking? Our rig is a small one as you know, so we are currently fine with our Dometic. Sure glad it isn't a Norcold with all the problems everyone keeps mentioning.

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  6. Just for the record, when I worked at an RV dealer recently for a couple of summers I noticed that there are just as many complaints with Dometic refrigerators as there are with Norcold. The same way that there are with Chevrolet's vs Fords. Our personal experience with our 15 year old Norcold is great...it keeps on cooling.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  7. We have what appears to be the twin of your fridge. Brannon put it in for us last January. It was one of the best decisions we made!
    We already had a 3000 watt pure sine wave inverter, so our bill wasn't quite as high as yours :)

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  8. Very nice!! I am sure you all will enjoy the new fridge and all the space it offers. No more worries!!

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  9. Our res fridge is a different model, but we love it. Enjoy it!

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  10. I'm assuming that inverter was part of the cost...Our first station wagon was about as much as the tab on that fridge and installation...YIKES!..But, then again, our first house was about 1/2 as much as we spent on our 2003 GMC truck..And so it goes...

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  11. How cool is that? (Sorry.) Thanks for a terrific documentary of the process. Would be interested in seeing more on how the new battery/inverter power system operates the fridge once you get the hang of it.

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  12. We have the same frige as you! What a mixed blessing when the old Norcold died. Expensive to replace but we LOVE our RR.

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  13. Wow, how perfect! I didn't even know that was possible! GREAT!

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  14. I don't even have one that big in my house. Sure wish I did around the holidays.
    It sure is pretty.

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  15. We selected the RR in our rig when purchased new. We had Norcolds and Dometics in previous trailers and fifth wheels, so we were familiar with their operation and cooling efficiency.
    Let me just say, we'll never go back to a regular "RV" fridge again. The RR works great and you'll have no problems running it off of your inverter/battery set up.

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