Norcold Fire

[Riwright]

Recently my Norcold frig caught fire. Luckily we were in the trailer and awake when it went up. I smelled something and went outside to check on it. There was black smoke coming out of the upper frig vent. I turned off the propane and got the fire extinguisher. I opened the upper vent and it flared up. The wife dumped the fire extinguisher into the compartment and put it out. All of the ammonia vented.

Nobody hurt and damage to the trailer was limited.

Coulda been a lot worse...

We're dealing with the insurance company now. I plan to install a new frig (NOT a Norcold).

There is a small Halon entinguisher with a heat-activated sprinkler head on it that you install in the frig compartment permanently. I think I might get one.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Wow, that is scary. Any indication as to how it started? Did something fall down the flue or into the combustion chamber?

Would love to see some details on that Halon fire extinguisher/sprinkler head if you have them handy.

I presume this means your beer got warm.....

Alternatively, since you are in the southwest, you might consider getting solar panels if you don't already have them and installing a DC compressor fridge (like an Engel, but in an upright fridge style instead of a cooler style). These things consume considerably less power than the heater-style fridges, and they are installed on other outback-type trailers that camp for weeks with no more than 2 deep-cycle batteries (and maybe only one). Granted, they don't have many other electronics to consume power, but it very well could be a viable option.

For units roughly the size of what would replace the Norcold, I've seen specs that state an hourly 1.5-2.0 Ah consumption when the ambient temp is 75-80 F. So even if you don't consider lower night temps, that's 48 Ah/day, which I think you can feasibly make up with solar in the southwest.

Dave

[tentcamper]

There was a recall on the Norcold fridg for catching fire. I think it was back in the late 90's. I would check with norcold and see if you are covered by the recall. It looks like they may be extending the recall.

I googled recall see attached site: http://www.pjrider.com/NorcoldRecall.htm

Let us know what you find out.

[Padgett]

Might also try http://www.norcoldrecall.com/ it is dated 2010.

My '06 has a N300R with a much higher serial number.

Wow Robert. Glad you are all safe. John

[trailbiker]

This sounds like a good reason not run the fridge while towing. We have run the fridge on 12 volt with the fan on while towing, but now I'll worry.

[scrubjaysnest]

We've had Norcold's for years without problems. You do have to clean the flue and burner area regularly. Especially at higher altitudes. There can be a lot of carbon build up. I think the manual recommends about yearly.

[Riwright]

Not sure how it started. It was running on propane. It doesn't look like anything fell into the frig. There is a lot of information out there on Norcold frig fires. I don't understand how the fires start. This probably has to do with the fact that I don't understand how anything gets cold using a propane flame and ammonia.

This is the halon extinguisher:

http://rvcoolingunit.com/SS-30-Halon...-P1872453.aspx

About $200 bucks.

There is a dry chemical version of it called "Flame Defender." Apparently it's very popular with the pot farmers. These go for about 50 bucks. However they are designed to be mounted with the spray head down. Not sure I have any room for that type of mount. The halon extinguiser mounts horizontally.