Want to Solve your Dometic & Norcold
Cooling and Safety Issues?
The Fridge Defend® solves the root-cause resulting in the failure of these otherwise great refrigerators.
The Fridge Defend® is the most effective solution for Dometic and Norcold refrigerators,
it solves cooling issues while helping to save lives and property
due to RV fridge fires.
NFPA statistics
(
National Fire Protection Association
)
show that 57 million dollars per year of damage is incurred by RV owners and insurance companies.
Immeasurable Expense is what is felt by the
victim of an RV fire after loosing a loved one or a lifetime of memories.
See Fridge Defend necessary for Dometic and Norcld video to see what happens to your fridge
climbing Mountain Springs Grade I-8, CA.
Worn down by issues with recalls such as 'no co' or fridge shut downs for no apparent reason?
The Fridge Defend is the best solution for keeping your fridge cool in hot weather while avoiding these recall
problems.
When the Fridge Defend is on duty, it not only saves lives and property, it can be the difference
between a fun outing, and a disastrous and troubled vacation.
Dometic and Norcold absorption refrigerators are driven by a
fired boiler.
It is considered good engineering practice to monitor fired boilers for thermal run away conditions with
a safety controller. The patented v5.x Fridge Defend is an accessory IEC type safety controller that uses
standards, including applicable ( and practical ) IEC 60730 automatic electrical control checks,
combined with functional self-tests to provide an economical, yet functional
safety control.
LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP?: ARP wants to help with all your needs for Dometic and Norcold refrigerators.
If you cannot find what you are looking for please use the
Contact Us form.
Who are We? Why our Product is Praiseworthy
Paul and Mao Unmack are practitioners of
engineering science that have committed themselves to RV safety.
We are not sales people, we do not push product you do not need.
We at Fridge Defend hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
This website is presented only in an objective and truthful manner and is based on sharing our extensive RV experience.
Read on to be motivated by the praise from both Dometic and Norcold, top RV advisors,
all combined with customer
testimonials, the foundation of any praiseworthy product that provides value.
WHY CONTROL BOILER TEMPERATURE?
As is apparent by the proofs below,
Dometic & Norcold studied the failure mode of their RV
refrigerators. Start by reading how important controlling
boiler temperature is, then go down in this page and view
the Dometic & Norcold root cause analysis 'Fishbone' diagram.
PROOFS from DOMETIC & NORCOLD
FRIDGE DEFEND is the BEST SOLUTION
Dometic Engineering Document (Page 16 & 55)
"The whole unit [refrigerator] operates by the heat applied to the boiler system and, for a good operation,
it is of paramount importance that this heat is kept within the necessary limits and is properly
applied."
"Preventing the boiler from operating at high temperatures can avoid consumption of sodium chromate ...
the cooling arrangement temperature sensor can be positioned on the boiler tube."
"It is desirable to operate the [boiler] heat sources of the cooling arrangement within an optimum temperature range ...
boiler temperature is believed to be the single most important factor for corrosion."
"This is also a matter of product safety ... [refrigerator] life length is in other words
critical both for customer satisfaction and product safety".
"The corrosion rate is increased when the boiler temperature is increased."
The Fridge Defend not only saves you money and valuable vacation time, while giving you added life and property protection,
it protects the "environment"★!
Best of all, the Fridge Defend re-starts the fridge after a protection cool down period, so that your
food doesn't spoil. All without any effort by you! ★Dometic Engineering Document (Page 17 & 20)
Being a retired fire chief, I know the value of fire prevention and also know firsthand
the destruction, loss of life, pain, and agony that can go along with accidental and unwanted
fire. So I strongly endorse the Fridge Defend by ARP for anyone who has an absorption RV refrigerator.
Mike Burger, Kochville Fire Chief (Ret.)
I am very happy with the Fridge defend and the support Paul & Mao provide.
The ARP improves safety and reliability, and that’s a great gadget!
Mark Nemeth, Escapees RV Club Technical Advisor
Last summer we had a series of flat tires on our 5th wheel.
We never worried about our fridge when the trailer was not level on the side of the road.
The Fridge Defend protected the fridge from overheating damage, which shortens the life of the fridge.
Bob Livingston
RV/MH Hall of Fame & Editor Trailor Life
Magazine
The Fridge Defender is the best aftermarket item sold today, it is truly a value for anyone with a
Dometic or Norcold fridge.
You will sleep better knowing such a quality product is helping protect your cooling unit and your safety.
Phillip Enoch, RV Inspector & Technician
While in OH, we attended an RV Rally.
As usual we leveled our RV, but the leverlers sank into the graound.
The Fridge Defend prevented our referigerator from overheating
due to being off-level. Thanks Paul & Mao for a great product!
JVAndrews, Retired Aeronautical Engineer - USAF
☝
TAP/CLICK any text in above diagram to read cause of boiler overheating.
Above is a 'Fishbone' diagram that Dometic and Norcold use to evaluate problems with their
refrigerators.
Please note that the top portions of the diagram are causes that the RV owner has no control over.
The bottom is within the control of the operator.
Both top and bottom issues are resolved by the Fridge Defend.
At either end of the fishbones are the categories that
engineers, field technicians, insurance underwriters, and customer reports indicate
are sources of refrigerator failure. The categories are RV,
Environment, Driving, and Operator. The bones for each
of the categories lists causes of failure, and the line in the center
(fish backbone) is the effect. To the right of the effect
(fish head) is the failure that is being diagnosed (up = problem). This is a
hybrid diagram because intervention of the failure is
also included in the fish head (down = solution).
OVERHEATING BOILER
• Cause/Effect (fishbone) Objective
The objective of the fishbone diagram is to find the solution to failures once a failure mode is determined.
Dometic and Norcold determined that overheating of the boiler results in failure and subsequent fires.
If Dometic and Norcold documents are not enough proof for you, then read the
science described in US Patent 6,203,718
:
In summery: When the water in the system boils, the steam will not carry the sodium chromate inhibitor.
Thus, high concentrations of inhibitor are within the boiler, and in the weak solution there is none,
thus the failure of the fridge is imminent.
RV
• Recalled & All New Dometic and Norcold Refrigerators
Dometic and Norcold recalls and subsequent fixes on new refrigerators only respond to overheating of the boiler after it has happened.
The Fridge Defend is the only solution which prevents boiler overheating and the damage it causes.
HISTORY: RV refrigerator fires are not new. The industry has done a great job of suppressing
the issue. One may ask why? It is simple, failures sell product, as a result the incentive is to
allow failures to sell product at your risk.
Dometic Patent 1930:
Even this early in Dometic history it is understood that the overheating of the boiler results in failure of the
refrigerator!
Dometic Patent 1965:
"Safe Operating Range" patent document quote "abnormally high elevated [boiler] temperatures tend to shorten the life of the
refrigeration apparatus". Clearly Dometic acknowledges that high boiler temperatures can sell new refrigerators.
Dometic Patent 1980:
"Such abnormally high boiler temperatures involve the risk that corrosion-protecting components,
such as a type of chromates, added to the solution are consumed in a shorter period of time than what is
considered to be normal."
Norcold Recall 2002 & NO CO Patent:
NHTSA issues recall due to fires. Find all of this hard to believe, then
click here to read letter from Norcold to NHTSA
!
Norcold files patent for the NO CO error codes. Rather than Norcold addressing the
root cause, boiler overheating, Norcold addresses the symptom of the problem, fridge not cooling.
Norcold decides that if after 2 hours the fridge does not cool, then turn off the fridge and issue NO CO error.
In 2 hours your fridge can be destroyed if it does not produce refrigerant! But this may be the intention, who wants
to fix a problem if one can profit from it? The Fridge Defend detects a 'no refrigerant' situation immediately, thus
say goodbye to NO CO errors and hello to Fridge Defend!
Dometic Recall/Patent 2007:
NHTSA Recall 06E-076: "containment system", why contain the fire?
Why not deal with the root cause, the boiler overheating?
Dometic Patent 2011:
Dometic's own words to prevent:
"Personal & Property Damage; Further Operation of Fridge; Fires & Explosions.",
In other words, prevent you from using your
refrigerator rather than addressing the root cause like the Fridge Defend does.
This is a classic paradox, when the boiler does not get enough heat, the boiler will overheat because
the boiler pump cannot work. Causes of low heat at the boiler include LP regulator failure, plugged
LP filter, and plugged gas jet. The Fridge Defend protects you from these kinds of failures.
Electric heaters can cause the boiler to overheat in a number of ways. Here are just a few:
One is low power to the heater, this results in low heat to the boiler, just as described for the LP System,
low heat ultimately results in the boiler overheating. Another issue we see often, when the fridge has two heaters
and one fails, this also causes the boiler to overheat. The Fridge Defend is a solution to these issues.
Fridge Defend solves issues such as
Wind Currents around your RV that can prevent air circulation when parked,
especially at the beach.
Hot Weather that stops the cooling cycle, Fridge Defend will make fridge cool better by intervention and restart once cooled.
Our Fridge Defend Kit #3 or #4 Fan Controller,
see Testimonial "Wow - Cooled faster Colder".
The following two testimonies tell the whole story, one does not always know when they are level.
Leveling jacks can sink into the ground or creeping down due to fluid leaks or air in the line,
these are just a few issues that are common, the list goes on with things like binding and relay failures.
As difficult as it is for one to comprehend, the wind blowing in just the right direction will result in what we
coined ‘wind stagnation’ of the cooling unit ventilation.
We feel it best let our customers do the talking, please see this IRV2 testimony:
It is true, in higher humidity the air conducts heat away from your fridge much slower.
At first we could not explain why our fan controller Fridge Defend improved cooling so much in hot
humid weather. It is counter intuitive, my reasoning was that humidity being water, it will conduct
heat better, but this is just not true, use following link to read proof:
• High & Low Ambient Temperatures can Overheat Boiler
Hot Ambient Temperatures:
Is your fridge not performing in hot weather? Do you have a large fridge like a
Dometic RM1350 or Norcold 1210 or 2118? Our customers are satisfied:
Fridge and freezer are working 100% better now.
• Driving, Terrain, & Mountain Pass can Overheat Boiler
Terrain and Mountain Pass are the same failure mode. We combined them into one type of failure cause because
of the many reasons for this type of failure.
Terrain:
One of the common issues that results in overheating is RVs seeking the great camp sites on dirt roads.
Moving slowly in the dirt and climbing steep hills to those great camp sites with the view will overheat
your boiler.
• Ware & Tear -- The Natural Aging Process
Accelerated by Overheating
The Fridge Defend solves the root-cause resulting in the failure of these otherwise great refrigerators.
The primary root-cause of RV fridge failure that leads to fires is the overheating of the boiler.
Dometic and Norcold did the analysis, clearly overheating promotes corrosion and in turn reduces
service life of the fridge.
This video shows a boiler rust pit measured by a Leica Electron Microscope. The microscope calculates
the rust pit as being what caused the failure that lead to a fire in this fridge. Science presents
the facts, no argument here! Cause of fire, just as Dometic and Norcold state in their documents,
damage from overheated boiler.
The cooling unit compartment can have things like insulation fall down and block the circulation needed
for safe operation. Another problem is animals and insects making their home in the cooling unit compartment.
Yet another is leaves and even trash introduced into the cooling unit compartment that prevents circulation
of air, without proper air circulation the boiler overheats.
These categories are really not in the control of the refrigerator operator, even if the RV industry would
like to think so. No one chooses to have a flat tire or a break down that requires towing. Would you choose
to go to the emergency room? Yet, these are come of the most common causes of boiler overheating that result
in fridge failures and eventually fires.
Driving or parked - the wind is the same; the difference is that driving adds a new direction to the wind.
Your vehicle has to separate (displace) the air in order to move through it. The result is that your vehicle produces eddies
and vertices, fluid science calls this turbulent flow. The result is that your cooling unit cannot reject the
heat that is required for proper operation which results in boiler overheating.
Each vehicle is different in the way air flows around it. Our RV, when the wind is at a 45 degree angle to
the front of our vehicle, coming from the drivers side, our boiler overheats.
Unfortunately, Manufacturers' recalls only respond to overheating of the boiler after it has happened,
which is confirmed by the Dometic and Norcold documentation.
The Fridge Defend is the only solution which prevents boiler overheating and the damage it causes.
No other recall or method can make this claim because the Fridge Defend is patented & meets
international safety standards.
Product Description:
We have two models of controller, the Basic Fridge Defend & Fridge Defend + Fan Control.
Both controls protect the cooling unit by monitoring the boiler temperature. The
Fridge Defend + Fan Control has an
an additional fan controller which improves the fridge efficiency. Fridge Defend products range in price
from
$147.50
to
$225.00
Fridge Defend by ARP Improves Safety, Reliability, and Efficiency
Safety
96%
Reliability
94%
Efficiency
79%
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
LaPlatarosa
Winnebago Sightseer 35N - 2006
ARP + Fan Control
Star Rating:
Super great service. Paul went out of his way help me while I installed the
ARP Basic unit in a friends Class A motor home.
I installed an ARP with fan control in my Class A MH.
I just love how the Fan Control has improved the cooling in my Norcold.
So what is up with the bar graphs and the testimony from LaPlatrosa?
Out of the total number of customer ratings, these graphs show how many people that bought
the Fridge Defend by ARP and felt that their family was safer, their fridge was more reliable, and that the
ARP + Fan Control made their fridge more efficient.
Please note that none of the pets that were left alone in the RV reported
, but an independent survey (the dog next door) stated that 100% of pets insist their
master is goofy if they do not purchase a Fridge Defend by ARP Control for safety.
LaPlatrosa left this review of the ARP Control on 9/5/2015, we love Happy Campers!
The ARP Control introduces an improved method for protecting your Norcold or Dometic
fridge while maintaining the original warranty
( Further reading see Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act ).
The Fridge Defend pro-actively protects your fridge rather than responding after a failure
has occurred such as the present recalls do. This is an improvement upon factory control
methods, thus Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act insures that you can improve your safety.
( Also see:
Restore Factory Settings )
.png "Made in Montana USA")
