Evanne Schmarder: Well, the inevitable finally happened. I came home from the grocery store, of course, and was greeted with a strong ammonia smell coming from my fridge. I went outside to look at the back of it, and found a dripping green liquid. Back inside, I immediately turned the appliance off and called my pal, Jim Hargrove, San Diego’s mobile RV expert. Jim was here in a flash to remove the ‘fridge and advise me on options. 

Since I’d had such a great experience with my Norcold, I set out to find a replacement unit that would have a similar look and feel, as well as fit in the former ‘fridge’s space. It turns out that Norcold has a new generation of my model, an N841, that was ideal. We ordered it and in no time it was ready to be picked up. Out of the truck and unboxed, my husband and my RV expert easily manhandled the ‘fridge up the steps and into place. Heave ho into the hole and a gentle push is all it took to get it where it needed to be. Jim zipped the screws in, secured it in place, added the trim, and headed out to connect the power and the propane. Inside, on it went and it immediately began cooling. 

Now, I mentioned how much I loved my old ‘fridge. Just like my previous unit, the new one has a roomy inside, adjustable shelves and door pockets, a two-drawer crisper, and a sleek simple control panel. But from the outside, I’ve always loved the gorgeous wood panels that made it look so elegant. This model doesn’t come with standard panels. You can get those separately, but fortunately for me, my old ones fit like a glove. I slid them in and added the new magnetized panels great for lists, photos, those cool magnetized words that you can make poems with, and bam, I was in business. This model allows you to have the hinges on either side, though they come standard on the right. Our rig configuration allows enough space for either, but if that’s not your case, your RV expert can swap sides in about 60 minutes. In less than 24 hours, my ‘fridge was cold enough to transfer my things into it, and it’s been performing like a real champ ever since. The coldest place in the unit, perfect for ice cream or ice cubes, continues to be the bottom left of the separate freezer compartment. Hey, life happens. Thank goodness Norcold, a made-in-America product, came to my rescue. I’m looking forward to another dozen-plus years of faithful Norcold service from my favorite RV refrigerator.