Camco 42153 Norcold Fridge Vent Insect Screen 3-Pack

If you own an RV with a Norcold absorption refrigerator, you already know the vents on the side of your coach are basically an open invitation to wasps and mud daubers. Camco's 42153 flying insect screen is the simple fix. It's a heavy-duty stainless steel mesh screen, sold three to a pack, sized for Norcold side vents with a 27-1/2 inch louver opening. You slip it in behind the vent louvers and it keeps the bugs out while your fridge keeps breathing.

Here's why this little screen matters more than it looks. A gas absorption fridge doesn't cool with a compressor. It runs on a heat source and a chimney-style flue that has to draw air freely to work right. Mud daubers love that warm, sheltered flue. They'll pack it with mud nests over a single season, and once the airflow is choked the fridge cools poorly, runs hot, or quits on gas altogether. Cleaning a nest out of the burner assembly is a miserable afternoon. A few dollars of screen up front saves you that headache, and it saves the food in your fridge on a hot travel day.

The screen itself is heavy-duty stainless steel mesh. Stainless matters out here. It won't leave rust streaks down your sidewall the way a cheap plated screen will, and it stands up to sun, rain, and road spray year after year. The mesh is fine enough to stop flying insects from crawling through the louvers but open enough to let the vent do its job. That balance is the whole point. You want the bugs out and the air moving. And because it's a real screen and not a sticky spray or a plug, it keeps working season after season without any maintenance from you.

Fitment is the thing to get right. This 3-pack is cut for Norcold side vents with a 27-1/2 inch long louver opening, and each screen measures 27-1/2 inches long by 1-5/16 inches wide. Norcold builds vents in more than one size, so measure your louver opening before you order. If your opening is a different length, this isn't the screen for it. Most Norcold-equipped coaches have both an upper and a lower side vent, and plenty also have a roof vent, so a 3-pack usually covers a full refrigerator installation with one to spare.

Installing them is about as easy as RV projects get. The screens sit behind the vent louvers, and the pack includes the mounting hardware to hold them in place. Pop the vent door, set the screen, secure it, and you're done. You don't need to pull the fridge or touch any gas fittings. Most folks knock out all three in a few minutes with the vent doors open and a cold drink nearby.

When should you put these in? Before wasp season, ideally. Spring, right when you're de-winterizing and getting the rig ready for the year, is the perfect time. If you store your coach outdoors or park under a tree, screens like these earn their keep every single season. It's also worth pulling the vent door once a year to check that the screens are clean and clear of debris, since leaves and pollen can build up on any mesh over time. And if you've already fought a nest out of your flue once, you know you don't ever want to do it twice.

The 42153 ships as a 3-pack with an English and French language package, which is handy if you camp across the border. It's model RS700, part of Camco's long line of RV appliance and maintenance gear, and it carries the full manufacturer warranty when you buy it from an authorized dealer. It's a simple part with a real payoff. Keep your fridge cooling, keep your burner clean, and keep the bugs where they belong, outside.