Ask Dave: Update on RV refrigerator baffle – Dave is half right

This is a follow-up from Ray on the baffle issue of the Norcold refrigerator mounted in a slide room.

Dear Dave,
As it turned out, you were half right on the Norcold baffle!

The baffle is supposed to be present but it’s only supposed to be on the bottom half of the top opening, just tall enough to channel the rising air to the bottom of the condenser.

Forest River was screwing up the install of the Norcold 1210 in a slide on our model, a Georgetown GT5 34H5. Ours went back to the factory for a multitude of fixes and the fridge install was one of them. See this forum post.

Errors in the installation

Originally that vertical baffle went halfway up the condenser and Norcold told them to cut it down.

Another critical install error was that the rear of the fridge was not sealed from the front at all. We had 110+ F on the inside trim above the fridge because the area above the fridge was a complete dead air space and venting to the interior. I also measured 79 PPM of CO on the inside above the fridge when running it on propane.

Another critical install error is that here is supposed to be a full-width slanted baffle above the condenser to channel the rising air out the top vent. The baffle was completely missing on ours and about every one I checked for other owners.

If the baffle is properly installed, you should be able to curve your fingers around the top edge of the top vent and your fingers should go upward inside only 1/4″. I’ve seen some where it was 5″ of dead air space due to the missing baffle.

I helped an owner with another brand fix a fridge-in-a-slide performance problem. He posted a pic of his fridge, and like your pic, the baffle was completely blocking the upper vent.

As it turned out, he was unaware that the dealer had removed the fridge for some reason and when the tech reinstalled it, the fridge caught on the edge of the slanted baffle and bent it downward so it completely blocked the top vent. And, of course, the tech never checked anything. And the dealer told him the performance was normal. —Ray

My response

As I have stated many times, I never say never and never say always when it comes to the RV industry. This one did not make any sense. Why block 75% of the hot air exhaust through a vent? Thanks for the information, Ray.

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Replaced RV’s absorption refrigerator with a 12-volt; remove vents?

Dear Dave,
I last wrote you about replacing my old Norcold fridge. I went with your suggestion of a simple 12V DC option from Norcold for two main reasons. First, it fits. 🙂 Second, I have eight 200-amp wet batteries, a good solar charger, and two huge 4×8 solar panels—so I have the power. I replaced my hot water tank system with a tankless one and now I am wondering about the roof vent which was for the fridge (and maybe the hot water, not sure) when running on propane.

So, my question is: Now that I have tankless hot water and soon a 12V DC fridge, what about the huge vent on top of the roof? Should I just leave it? Should I cover it over? Or do you have a suggestion? As always, thanks Dave. —Larry, 1996 Winnebago Luxor

Read Dave’s answer.

Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”

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