Norcold no more

[watchout]

Well, my frustration with my Norcold N8X reefer in our 2018 29mv finally got to be too much and I swapped out the cooling unit for a JC refrigeration 12V cooling unit. After a few weeks of some preliminary testing, I'm so far very pleased with the performance, 0F in the freezer and 33F in the fridge, very steady and that's on a setting of 2 out of 5.

My problem with the Norcold stemmed from the fact that it was VERY sensitive to level. The factory specs are supposed to be +/- 3 deg of level (MH front to back). With my unit, it was more like +/- 1deg. When it was within these specs, it worked reasonably well, although I always had it set on 5 of 5 for adequate cooling. The real problem with this is that when travelling, if we hit any kind of grade for an extended period (say 10-15 minutes), then it would stop cooling. Of course, you wouldn't necessarily know this, because the light stayed green. After being at camp for a few hours, I would notice that the fridge was warming. The only solution I found, after a half dozen of these occurrences, was to power off, then take the MH on a drive, with some up, down and around grades, then let it set for a few hours. I hypothesize that this was effectively a "burp in place" process.

I could also turn the fridge off before travelling and then turn it back on after arriving at (very level) camp and it would always run. But, that meant stocking the fridge with some ice and was an unnecessary complication.

So, I decided to go with a 12v replacement cooling unit from JC Refrigeration. We very seldom are unconnected from shore power for more than half a day, so the 12v system and no worry about level condition seemed like the way to go. I can now run the reefer while parked in my driveway, which has about a 4 deg slope, which makes loading/unloading more convenient. Time will tell, but so far, so good.

[Marcm157]

I have my first trailer with a 12 Volt fridge. I was leary about moving away from the propane option at first. With my stock deep cycle lead acid 80 amp hour battery, the fridge stays running for a little over six hours while we are traveling. That seems to be sufficient at least for how we are using the camper now. I do plan on LifePo4 at some point in the future just for more run time on battery.

[mini4mw]

I have the exact same issue with mine. off level at all and it just doesn't work well. I was looking at putting in an everchill 10.7cu fridge.

were you able to get the n8x out the door or you have do something else?

[watchout]

Originally Posted by mini4mw

I have the exact same issue with mine. off level at all and it just doesn't work well. I was looking at putting in an everchill 10.7cu fridge.

were you able to get the n8x out the door or you have do something else?

Since I was just replacing the cooling unit, I didn't need to remove the fridge from the MH. Just slide it to the inside and laid it on the floor, remove the original cooling unit and replace with the new one. Was able to do everything from inside the MH. All in all, it went fairly smoothly.

[gjkids]

Originally Posted by mini4mw

I have the exact same issue with mine. off level at all and it just doesn't work well. I was looking at putting in an everchill 10.7cu fridge.

were you able to get the n8x out the door or you have do something else?

I have a 2019 Greyhawk 30x and replaced my Norcold N8X. We were able to take it out the door without issue. It’s a bit tight but it will fit.