Motor Home Project: Install a Residential Refrigerator

Part 2 - Out with the Old

Bushnell, FL - Events of Friday, Jan. 27 to Saturday, Jan 28, 2012

The morning after the Samsung arrived, Paul began the process of removing the Norcold. The first step was to remove the doors. Not only did this make the refrigerator lighter, but it was necessary so the Norcold would fit out the door of the motor home.

It was raining earlier in the morning, but fortunately it let up enough so Paul could go outside and unhook the water, gas and electric from the back of the refrigerator. Not only did Paul disconnect the LP gas line from the refrigerator, he disconnected the hose from the manifold in the outside storage bay below the refrigerator. He plugged the outlet and tested for leaks with a solution of dish detergent. The disconnected hose was later removed entirely.

There were also a couple of screws in back of the Norcold holding it down. After taking those out, Paul removed the trim and retaining screws from the top and bottom of the refrigerator on the inside. Watching the technician remove the refrigerator last year to replace our cooling unit was a big help.

With the Norcold unhooked and all the screws out, Paul was then able to begin prying the old refrigerator out. He checked the weather online, and since there were no more showers on the radar, he continued sliding the Norcold forward. Once it was sticking out several inches from the wall, it was time to look for some help. We rounded up Mike, Ken and Drew.

The work had to be done in tight quarters, especially with the new refrigerator sitting right nearby.

But we managed to wrestle the Norcold to the door and maneuver it down the steps. The fit was tight, but not as bad as the Samsung was going in. The Norcold is only 24" deep without the doors, and our motor home door opening is 24 5/8".

We are going to try to sell the Norcold. After all, it is a working RV refrigerator with a cooling unit that is less than a year old. The cooling unit alone costs about $1300 just for the part itself.

Rather than clutter up our site with a refrigerator wrapped in a tarp, we decided to rent a small storage unit down the road from the campground for a month to store the Norcold while we try to sell it. Mike had volunteered his truck to haul the Norcold to storage. We hoisted the Norcold into the bed, tied it down and hauled it away.

When we got back, Paul got to work. The next photo shows the empty space.

There was foam weatherstripping on the sides and a baffle at the back that was used to direct the air flow over the Norcold's coils that had to be removed. The false floor that the Norcold sat on had to be removed in order to lower it to accommodate the taller Samsung. Tiffin used a very tough sealant all around the floor. This had to be cut before the floor could be removed.

After the screws holding the false floor in place were gone, Paul could begin to pry the floor out.

Removing the floor revealed the tangle of wiring and plumbing that runs through this compartment behind the drawer that was below the refrigerator.

One option for installing the Samsung was to eliminate the drawer below the refrigerator entirely, sit the Samsung on the floor, and install a filler strip above. While this would have been easier, the presence of all that wiring and plumbing precluded sitting the Samsung on the floor. Besides, we need all the storage space we can get, so Paul will lower the false floor and build a new drawer that is lower and wider.

The next step was to remove the wood strips from the side walls that supported the false floor and to remove the old drawer supports. Then Paul removed the face frame around the cabinet opening. It was screwed to wooden frames inside the walls from the inside out. In other words, the face frame was installed before the wall panels were attached, and the heads for the screws that held the face frame were inside the walls. That meant Paul had to pry the face frame off and rip the screws out. Since he was going to replace the entire face frame anyway, it didn't matter if the face frame got damaged, which it did. Fortunately, he managed to get the face frame off without damaging the side walls. The next photo shows one of the screws that held the face frame in place...

...and the next photo shows the refrigerator opening with the face frame and everything inside the opening removed that has to be removed.

Pulling out the old Norcold and the demo work on the cabinet took two days. From here, things will slow down a bit as Paul measures, plans and builds all the new parts required to finish the cabinet and get the new Samsung installed. We'll update the progress in our next post.

Comments

[Marilyn]

WOW, that is a lot of work! But, it will be worth it when it is complete! I bet Paul is sleeping good at night:)

[Marsha]

Oh...you bring back sooooo many memories. Looks like you had a ton of help...wonderful! Awaiting Part 3. Great job!