Hi All,
Next year I was planning on getting a new larger fridge but not sure which brand to go with. I have a Norcold now. What is your preference and why. Thanks
I hate when no one responds.... I have the smallest Norcold out there, only been using it for a few days now, so my input is almost useless, but its run good so far and gets things pretty cold, seems to run more than expected but it is summer time, and i am in Virginia.
We have the big Norcold four door unit, we got a lemon from the factory, months in the shop waiting for parts in 05. Once I got their attention (FedEx letter to the CEO of the parent company) They sent a factory rep from Valencia to San Diego to fix the problems. We were trouble free for about a year and it failed again, this time parts only under warr. Norcold, stepped up without any pushback at all, in fact I never contacted them, my service writer took care of it. They replaced the unit with a new unit and paid for the labor.
I had a problem with a Norcold several years ago and was in a service center that serviced both brands. I was upset about reoccurring problems that the sealer had not fixed and voiced the opinion that I had not had problems with my previous dometic and wished I had it back. The tech said "you are a whole lot better off with what you have" He said they see far fewer problems with Norcold. That was about 3 years ago and I have never had a problem with a Norcold refer again.
Retired and loving it
Living in the Land of Enchantment
Traveling in 2007 Newmar KSDP
towing a Jeep Liberty
with a Blue Ox tow bar
I have only owned 2 RV refridgerators over the years. The first was a Dometic but it was a late 80's version. It took about 2 days to get down to temperature and it had problems blowing out if it was windy outside.
Now I have a Norcold in our TT and it is amazingly good. It makes ice in the freezer in just a few hours after turning it on and works great on LP or electric. 3 1/2 seasons, many trips, over 20,000 miles and it is perfect. It has digital temp control as well as auto and manual settings.
Our friends just got a new Starcraft Antigua and it has a Dometic. It has no temp control, except for moving the sensor and does not have nearly the same features. It also is not as large inside, but takes the same space (including overall depth) as our Norcold.
We just had the recall work done on our Dometic. While I waited (took only about 1/2 hour) I talked to the service manager. I asked if they had many problems with the Dometic line. He said that the Dometics are much more reliable than the Norcold's. He showed me a clipboard with one recall after another for the Norcold's over the last 10 years.
This was at an RV repair facility, they don't sell anything so weren't trying to convince me of the reliability of one manufacturer over another to make a sale. It seems that the recent recall on the Dometic's are giving that manufacturer a bad name. I saw the proof, a whole clipboard full of Norcold repair/recall notices.
Frank, Martha & Ryan
2007 Ford F-250 SD Crew Cab
2006 Cougar 289EFS
If you consider the recalls, I suggest you look in the recall threads and see members comments on the two manufacturers actions to correct the reefer problem.
I will recommend that you look closely at the dimensions of whatever unit you choose. Manuals for current production units are available on the manufacturers website, and you need to be sure that you meet the spacing requirements around the sides, back and top or you will probably have poor performance. Of course, you can also modify the installation area to meet those requirements, but you may want to take that work into account when choosing the new unit.
Mel & Mary Ann; Mo'Be (More Behave...) and Bella
"If you have an RV, you don't need another hobby." Comment from a friend...
73 Kountry Aire 31.5 ft (semi-retired) TT
90 Champion LaSalle MH 29 ft P30 (89 Chassis)
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