Time to replace defective and potentially dangerous absorption fridge

[gondolaguy]

(07-20-2013 17:01)patticake Wrote:  Corey, one question. How do you determine you have "french" doors? I thought it was built somewhere else? Could it be "American" doors, or "English" doors?

Steve, je ne sais pas pourquoi l'appellent les portes françaises, mais ils le font.

[gondolaguy]

The new fridge is in and secured and functioning as advertised. Here is a quick walk through of how I installed it. I ran into a bit of a snag when I remeasured and realized I needed to remove the bottom drawer for proper height clearance. Normally this is quite easy, but because I had installed a central vac in the same are, I had to remove some of the piping for rework due to space constraints.
Step one was to disassemble the new fridge doors. This was easy enough and the Samsung came with clear instructions on how to remove them, taking any guesswork out.
I had already removed both captain chairs in the Lodge, this is a must really. I also removed the door striker as it is a real hazard to scraping up the fridge. The fridge must then be carefully sent through the door opening with the guy on the bottom lifting it up to almost horizontal until it is in the rig. Remember, I'd already removed the old fridge and got the hole in the wall prepared.
We then just lifted the fridge up and into the front of the hole where it easily wheels in and out. I was lucky at this point that I had made a large access hole at the bottom of the dinette side (for the central vac) as it allowed me to plug in the fridge and shim the floor without needing to pull the fridge out each time.
Once it was close to level (or better stated as parallel), I needed to be secured. The following pics show how I secured the bottom by using the existing leveler brackets , removing the plastic foot, then screwing a "thingee" that is half lag bolt and half machine threaded bolt. By placing a nut on both sides, I could adjust height and secure. The factory cover hides everything nicely! Finally, the tops are secured with a simply angle bracket with a hole drilled to use one of the fridge hinge bolts. It feels very secure now. I then needed to assemble the fridge. here it is in all its glory. Final steps will include rebuilding the vacuum and electric dust pan. Fitting what was the bottom drawer over the fridge with a hinged door rather than the pull out drawer.

[patticake]

Really looks good.

[gondolaguy]

(07-22-2013 20:28)patticake Wrote:  Really looks good.

Thanks Steve,
It's so quiet, I simply can't hear it running.

[al perna]

great job Corey , I cant wait have a cold beer from your new Samsung lol

[gondolaguy]

(07-22-2013 22:01)al perna Wrote:  great job Corey , I cant wait have a cold beer from your new Samsung lol

And we'll even know the exact temp of that beer Al, there is a digital readout of the interior temps of fridge and freezer.

[al perna]

well , no need for Coors then . can you take a pic with the doors open , I want to drool over the space ha ha ha

[davidbrady]

Looks really great Corey. Thanks for sharing the installation with us. I'm still in Harrisburg Pa and I just knew you'd take delivery of the unit while I'm out of town. :-( I would've loved nothing more than to help you get it thru the door. The sound volume of the compressor is something that concerned me a great deal so I'm thrilled that it's very quiet. Nicely done!

[pgchin]

Beautiful job Corey! Thanks for sharing the installation pics, tips, and technique with us! Extremely helpful!!!It works very well with your interior!!!

[gondolaguy]

Some finishing touches: Moved the bottom drawer to above the fridge, now with a swing out door. Needs a minor bit of trim to make it look totally factory. Changed out ostentatious gold handles for reefer matching stainless design.