Norcold DE-0061 Refrigerator

Rebel112r · Oct 8, 2014

The unit I have is 7 years old. It is very noisey, works well as far as keeping things cold. It cycles on and off every 4 or 5 minutes. That said I removed unit, got to the back side, checked for problems. Pancake fan found to be inop. It is a 24 volt fan on a 12 volt system, don't know why they did it that way. Other than that, a couple of slightly loose screws, all seems good. Any ideas on quieting this unit. New fan on the way. Thanks DS

kchace · Oct 8, 2014

I believe the power supply on those units ups the 12V - the fan may run on that internally generated voltage.

Ken

dwhatty · Oct 8, 2014

We quieted our noisy, inefficient Nevercold by giving it the deep six and replaced it with a very quiet Vitrifrigo double drawer unit.

Edelweiss · Oct 8, 2014

Rebel112r said:
The unit I have is 7 years old. It is very noisey, works well as far as keeping things cold. It cycles on and off every 4 or 5 minutes. Any ideas on quieting this unit. New fan on the way. Thanks DS

I just replaced my old Not So Cold with a new DE0061 this summer. The old Norcold was much louder, lots of compressor noise and vibration. I wouldn't have bought another Norcold, except mine is built into a cabinet and nothing else would fit the hole.

I don't know if they changed the design over the last 7 years. . . But the new fridge is very quiet, the fan is the only sound you can hear and you have to listen closely to hear it and so far I'm very happy with the unit.

Like you say, when set at 4 or 5 it does run at 5 minute intervals. Maybe the new fan will be quieter than your old one??

Larry B

Poach · Oct 8, 2014

We have a very old Norcold on Poach--it could even be the original. It keeps food and beverage cold, the freezer keeps frozen things frozen and it is very quiet. That said, I thought Vetrifrigo or maybe it was Dometic made its box the same size as the NC.

healhustler · Oct 8, 2014

dwhatty said:
We quieted our noisy, inefficient Nevercold by giving it the deep six and replaced it with a very quiet Vitrifrigo double drawer unit.

Same here. Like David, we found that the best sound insulation was millions of cubic feet of salt water.

dwhatty · Oct 8, 2014

healhustler said:
Same here. Like David, we found that the best sound insulation was millions of cubic feet of salt water.

Requiescat in pacem.

FF · Oct 9, 2014

The Norcold steps the DC up to about 32V , and the house current down to abbout 32V.

Hence the 24V fan , which doesnt mind the extra voltage.

Rebel112r · Oct 9, 2014

With reefer running, my meter shows house voltage, 13 volts or so on the circuit that feeds the fan... That is why I wondered about the 24 volt fan. I figured that it might just be to have a slower fan, for less noise. The replacement that,is coming is a 12 volt. When this finally dies, I will be looking at NovaKool. DS

River Cruiser · Oct 9, 2014

Just installed a new DE 0061, it has the Danfoss compressor and is nearly silent in operation. I also have a cabinet that it goes in and the Norcold was the only unit I could find that would fit. So far I'am very pleased with it.

FF · Oct 10, 2014

>it has the Danfoss compressor and is nearly silent in operation.<

These are the best , far better than the old Norcold unit.

Should be in ANY fridge chosen.

Of course when the 25 year old unit is still chugging away , its hard to scrap...

TROLL · Jun 19, 2018

Hello, just found this thread -- its difficult to find info on the fan for the DE0061, so I'm hoping you guys are still seeing replies and can answer.

Is it true that the original fan is a 24v fan? I see conflicting info online and even a tech on the phone said its just a normal 12v fan, but I'm not so sure what is right, and what will work.

A multimeter showed me 11.7v when the compressor kicked on and it dropped to 10.5v when it kicked back off (or when I turned the fridge to "off".The fan didn't spin in any condition.

I currently have a 12v fan in my DE0061 (Sunon part number EEC0251B3-000U-AA9) but it is not working and I just removed it. It seems original but I don't know for sure as I bought an RV with a fair number of modifications and this fridge already installed.

I have a DE0061 refrigerator with serial number 20768639. It has a Danfoss compressor assembly on the rear. I am trying to replace a failed fan but am coming up with conflicting information in the Norcold documents and am hoping for some help.

The parts list references a fan with part number 160929310 -- when you search this part number it shows a fan with label that says 24v (see photo below).
However, in the service manual it references a 12v fan in multiple places.

I ordered the part number 160929310 based on the parts list, but I am unsure if this is correct or not.

Am I on the right path here? Really anxious have a working fridge again and get this project wrapped up as it has dragged on and on.

Edelweiss · Jun 19, 2018

https://www.thetford.com/customer-support/dealer-and-service-center-locator/

You didn't say which state you are in, but go to their website (above), look up the nearest service center to you and call them with your question. Different applications and models may be different and have your serial number available.

TROLL · Jun 19, 2018

To update this, I realized there is a serial number split for early/late models -- I ordered the 24v fan intended for the early models, when in fact I have the 12v fan on the later model design. The images I posted above referencing the 24v fan are for the early version. Woops.

Hopefully that solves the mystery even though I burned $60 on the OEM fan from eBay. The 12v fan is discontinued but DigiKey was able to identify a substitute for $23 shipped so I have that on the way now.

In other news, it was frustratingly difficult to remove the old fan -- they obviously don't intend to have them serviced. The nuts holding the fan on are definitely secured with threadlocker so the bolt just spun with it. It required careful drilling of rivets to peel back the fan shroud from the condensor, pain in the butt on something that should have been very simple.

FF · Jun 20, 2018

"Is it true that the original fan is a 24v fan? I see conflicting info online and even a tech on the phone said its just a normal 12v fan, but I'm not so sure what is right, and what will work."

With these small fans a 24V unit is used on 12vV to make the fan operation almost silent.

"A multimeter showed me 11.7v when the compressor kicked on and it dropped to 10.5v when it kicked back off (or when I turned the fridge to "off".The fan didn't spin in any condition. "

For many reefers 10.5 V is the shut off point --to save the batterys from going to zero.

Sounds like the unit is getting too low voltage to live well and prosper.

First check the voltage at the battery , if it drops to 10.5 its time for replacement.

Second check would be a fat HD set of wires and a fresh battery close by, connected to see if everything does work at 12V.

Good hunting .

stubones99 · Jun 20, 2018

TROLL said:
Hello, just found this thread -- its difficult to find info on the fan for the DE0061, so I'm hoping you guys are still seeing replies and can answer.

Is it true that the original fan is a 24v fan? I see conflicting info online and even a tech on the phone said its just a normal 12v fan, but I'm not so sure what is right, and what will work.

A multimeter showed me 11.7v when the compressor kicked on and it dropped to 10.5v when it kicked back off (or when I turned the fridge to "off".The fan didn't spin in any condition.

I agree with FF that a 24vdc fan will be quiet if run on 12vdc since it will be turning half speed or less.

I currently have a 12v fan in my DE0061 (Sunon part number EEC0251B3-000U-AA9) but it is not working and I just removed it. It seems original but I don't know for sure as I bought an RV with a fair number of modifications and this fridge already installed.

I have a DE0061 refrigerator with serial number 20768639. It has a Danfoss compressor assembly on the rear. I am trying to replace a failed fan but am coming up with conflicting information in the Norcold documents and am hoping for some help.

The parts list references a fan with part number 160929310 -- when you search this part number it shows a fan with label that says 24v (see photo below).
However, in the service manual it references a 12v fan in multiple places.

I ordered the part number 160929310 based on the parts list, but I am unsure if this is correct or not.

Am I on the right path here? Really anxious have a working fridge again and get this project wrapped up as it has dragged on and on.

Did you see where it showed 24vdc and 50 cycles? DC doesn't have cycles.

TROLL · Jun 20, 2018

hey guys, check post 14 -- I updated there and figured out my question.

They made a design change at some point so earlier serial numbers use a 24v fan and later serial numbers us a 12v fan. Mine is the 12v version and there is documentation on that which I had missed previously (they don't make it very clear).

thanks for the replies, appreciate it!

TROLL · Jun 25, 2018

ok shoot, if someone has this unit, can you confirm if the fan is supposed to push the air up or down? I had thought it is designed to push air up (draw air in through bottom vent, fan pushed air through condenser, and out through top vent).

I just installed my new fan just like the old one and it works! But... its pushing the air down instead of up. Now I'm confused. Do I need to flip the fan over (which would look different visually than the original)?

Just want to make sure I do it right before I fully assemble since it was such a pain... thanks for the help!

TROLL · Jun 25, 2018

ok, going out to flip the fan after confirming that the manual says:

"Ventilation allows the natural air flow that is necessary for good refrigeration. Cooler air comes in through a lower intake vent, goes around the refrigerator coils where it removes the excess heat from the refrigerator components, and goes out through an upper exhaust vent. If this air flow is blocked or decreased, the refrigerator will not cool correctly. Do not install the vents into completely enclosed areas such as closets or cabinets."

Somebody shout if this is wrong, going to run it for a couple days before I install it back into the cabinet just to make she's working better.

koliver · Jun 25, 2018

TROLL said:
ok, going out to flip the fan after confirming that the manual says:

"Ventilation allows the natural air flow that is necessary for good refrigeration. Cooler air comes in through a lower intake vent, goes around the refrigerator coils where it removes the excess heat from the refrigerator components, and goes out through an upper exhaust vent. If this air flow is blocked or decreased, the refrigerator will not cool correctly. Do not install the vents into completely enclosed areas such as closets or cabinets."

Somebody shout if this is wrong, going to run it for a couple days before I install it back into the cabinet just to make she's working better.

Best to pull the air in from under the fridge and push it up past the coils and out.
In my DE 828, the fan is just a 12v computer fan that I have mounted at the top corner of the cabinet, on the inside of a hole that blows the cooling air out into the rest of the galley. I recently replaced the fan, due to its bearing failure and consequent noisy operation. Before the replacement I felt the direction of flow, so as not to mount the new one backwards, just as you fear doing.

TROLL · Jun 26, 2018

Thank you, I went ahead and flipped the fan over last night -- its the opposite physical orientation of how I found the original but I did confirm that it is blowing the air up through the condenser now so it would be drawing cool air in from the bottom and pushing warm air out the top.

Everything is up and running and seems good so far -- monitoring freezer temps over the next few days and hoping for decent consistency. Then I'll move the thermometer to the fridge and check the temps there as well.
Fingers crossed that this long drawn out project is coming to a close.

Johnfrmcal · May 28, 2019

I know this is a really old thread, but I have the "old" style Norcold fridge with the fan that is the subject of this thread. My fan problems started with a broken plastic housing (I wine bottle fell behind the fridge and broke it) and I could straighten it out so it didn't rub, but eventually the fan just completely failed. I went through great research to find the OEM fan, which is not easy to find, and not only are they very expensive but they are not in plentiful supply it seems. Anyways, to make a long story short, there's no magic sauce here. This is a 4" computer fan, plain and simple. The fact that it is 24v is a little different, but they are easy to find. I bought this replacement fan for $12.99 on Amazon, and I didn't even pull the fridge out to replace it. I have access to the top of the fridge because above our fridge is a cabinet that is open in the back, so I can basically lay on the top of the fridge and using a cheap 90 degree screwdriver set from Harbor Freight, I could loosen the two screws, pull the fan out, splice the old connector onto it, and bolt it back on. Easy peasy. And yes, airflow should be "up", blowing toward the compressor. There are even cheaper fans than this one but I wanted a brushless, ball-bearing fan, so this is the one I chose. It works great and was an easy fix.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MCSDCB3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Norcold DE-0061 Refrigerator

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