OLD DIARY, RV-LIVING

A Sudden Infusion of Chilly Air


It wasn’t the coldest temp we had all summer but somehow it seemed like it.  A paltry 47º has reminded us that Summer is on her last legs, Autumn soon to be followed by Winter are on their way.  During the coming week we head back into the 70’s and 80’s but a brisk shock once in a while does a body good!

If only I hadn’t awakened in the middle of the night pondering my refrigerator.  Having made up our mind and being ready to place the order I was shocked out of sleep by a ponder about the power outlet to the Norcold.  Where does that outlet get it’s power:  is it in the inverter circuit or not?

man with headache

I’ll be glad when we’re done with this Norcold!

As I write this I haven’t yet been outside or into the access panel to test it but let me explain my concern.  There are outlets in the coach that do not receive power from the inverter! There are also outlets in the coach that are relay controlled.  One relay controlled outlet is the power to the TV — safety requires that the driver cannot watch TV while the coach is in motion — so there’s an ignition interlock relay that turns off power to the TV as soon as you crank up the engine. Whether there are other relay controlled circuits we haven’t yet determined.

I know that the Norcold:

  • switches from AC to LP when we disconnect from shore power.
  • switches from LP to AC when we run the generator
  • will it stay switched on with the genset OFF and the Inverter turned ON?  With the Norcold set on AUTO we’ve never had opportunity to find out.

Later this morning I need to get out there and check it out.

[Later this morning came and went,  what I learned is that if I set the Norcold on manual (forcing it to run on AC) and turn on the inverter it does indeed operate!  That outlet IS powered by the inverter and we can go ahead and place our order.
WHEW!
But better to have worried about it in the middle of the night and then verified it’s function than to have ordered and paid for it only to be sorry.]

cable clipsGoing to Home Depot to place the order, instead of ordering online, is a good idea because I need a replacement cord clip to replace the one I lost during the microwave install.  One really nice part about being in Milwaukee is that on the weekends we get to see our daughter on most of the weekends for a good part of the day and that is the plan for Sunday morning.   A nice BRISK walk along the lake.  Then she’ll go home and spend the afternoon with Mike and the football game.  We’ll head over to Home Depot, pick up our power cord clips and get the fridge ordered.  Unless something changes because they sell too many of these refrigerators we’ll have it next Saturday.

WRT111SFDB 2

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WRT111SFDB 3We’ve been ditzing around with this decision for a long while — I probably started thinking about replacing the Norcold when we were still in Galveston last year but there was no ‘need’ to act at that time.  And, until this last failure I was willing to give the existing fridge ‘a chance’ — we’re still relatively new at RV’ing —  It is almost exactly 4 years since we bought our first RV — the 2002 Winnebago Journey DL.

You can see from this shot -- the day we picked up Journey -- that the door opens without hold-open and ... right into the mirror!

Our first coach

There are a tremendous number of RV’s out there still using Norcold refrigerators and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that part of me didn’t want to be a quitter.  It’s “just” a piece of machinery.  How can you be ‘beaten’ by a piece of machinery?  So, I let it go and eventually I decided:  “ENOUGH”!

The Whirlpool  10.7 cu ft fridge is larger than we had in the Journey.  It’s narrow enough that the doors will be able to open all the way into the aisle — some of the larger fridges RV’ers have installed were unable to open all the way.  I didn’t really want double doors up top like the larger three door refrigerators have and we were having a hard time finding one that would fit in a smaller space than the opening we’ll have when we remove the Norcold.

AND…

We should be able to get the fridge into the coach without removing windows, and just removing four bolts that secure the screen door.  I did not want to be taking the coach apart to get the new refrigerator into the coach.

So, in one week we’ll have the new unit.  Sometime after that Mike and I will change it out.  And thereafter life might be less uncertain.

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll talk with you tomorrow!

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7 thoughts on “A Sudden Infusion of Chilly Air”

  1. I have been brainstorming the subject of residential refrigerators as a result of your posts, Peter. When you are parked, keep some ‘blue ice’ packs in the freezer. When you unplug and head down the road, transfer some of the packs to the fridge to help keep it cool. Just a thought….

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    • Jim — That’s a possible good idea. We do have solar on the roof and I believe that by purchasing the smaller size fridge that we did we should be able — most of the time — to keep that thing running without problem. Of course extended clouds and extended boondocking my prove me a liar but I’m hopeful.

      This 10.7 cu ft Whirlpool is rated at 38.5 watts. The Samsung 18 (RF18HFENBSR) which replaces the Samsung 19 that a lot of RV’ers have used as conversions is rated for 67.7 watts The Magic Chef (MCBM920S1) which is only 9 cu ft and is bigger in SIZE than the one we are getting is rated at 42.6 watts. The Vitrifrigo marine unit draws 65 watts.

      So, I think we have done a good job of limiting our current needs — what we hope is an effective compromise.

      But time will tell.

      > >

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  3. Linda Sand says:

    I hate making decisions so am always relieved once they are firmly made. The picture looks like you can get an extra shelf for the freezer; I would be ordering that too. OH NO–another decision to make!

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    • As you can tell — I’m like you about decisions. I mull over them and mull over them — and I don’t really mind if I take my time. — You’re right about the shelf but (at the moment) Peggy says she doesnt’ want another shelf — so I’ll let her see how it works with the 1/2 shelf and go from there. Not like that’s a HUGE decision.
      Another RV’er I found used the same fridge and they bought a wire shelf from Home Depot and cut it to size and prefer that to the Whirlpool version. That would be easy enough and might be a stronger shelf — the one that comes with it is sort of flimsy — really made to keep things OUT OF THE ice maker (which we aren’t buying)

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  4. Ah yes, I am way too familiar with those middle of the night dilemmas. Best of luck changing it out and finally having a fridge you can count on. Enjoy that time with your daughter 🙂

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