Death in theNorCold family!

[DHeckrotte]

It appears to me that our NorCold 12v / 110v refrigerator has died. The cooling fan runs, it turns 'on' and 'off', it occasionally gurgles, but I don't hear the relay that starts the compressor, and I don't hear the compressor. What I do hear is the cooling fan starting, running a bit, and stopping.

I don't have the paperwork here at home to report model, sn, or age. But, we've had no problems (save for defrosting) for the five seasons we've had the boat.

So! Is it worth troubleshooting? Are there usual suspects to replace? Or shall we go shopping?

If we go shopping, what are the favored makes?

 

[TJM]

We replaced our 20 yr old Norcold with a new Vitrifrigo last summer. OMG, what an improvement. It is so quite and efficient, love the light inside. It was the full size model, 5 feet high

 

[Comodave]

We also have a Vitrofugo. It was installed by the PO. It worked ok but not great. Then I installed a 12 volt 50 mAmp fan and a vent down low and a vent up high. Now it works great. Freezes ice cream.

 

[Conrad]

We replaced our 20+ year old Norcold a few years back with a Nova Kool, which fit perfectly into the now empty cavity.
However, I'm afraid that the old Norcold was a much better fridge.

 

[O C Diver]

If you have the large Norcold, need to replace it, want a frost free refrigerator / freezer, with miserly power consumption, for half the price of an RV / boat unit, read this:

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s31/my-new-apartment-refrigerator-41392.html

Ted

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

PO replaced ours with a 120v apt sized stainless steel refrig - about 9ft I think. We are an inverter boat so no need for 12v capability. Has worked great for two yrs so far - freezes ice cream, and everything else very well. It's not zero-frost, so have to defrost occasionally. LED interior lights are nice also. And I added a stainless latch to keep it closed in rough weather, or in a Sea Ray's wake

 

[DHeckrotte]

Well! Well! Well! We left the boat in the rain last week. Left the fridge on with a bowl of water in the freezer.

Isaias came through on Tuesday. We came back to the boat yesterday to find that a large part of Ocean County NJ was without power. When power was restored we turned the fridge on... and it seems to be working.

Norcold model DE0061R. I've gotta' read up on its self defensive behaviors. Perhaps it thought it was working too hard with too much frost.

 

[Codger2]

We replaced our 20+ year old Norcold a few years back with a Nova Kool, which fit perfectly into the now empty cavity.
However, I'm afraid that the old Norcold was a much better fridge.

My boat still has a 14 year old Norcold that I absolutely love! yes, the door seal was less than perfect (sagged) but I replaced the bushings in the hinges and now it seals much better. I still have to defrost it about every 2 months but it's no big deal.

 

[rslifkin]

The Novakool RFU9000 I have has so far been a better fridge than the Vitrifrigo and Norcolds that preceded it. Only downside is that it could use a hair more cooling power. Some added insulation and not using it as a drink cooler in super hot weather is enough to keep it in the 35 - 38* range without issue though. Power consumption is not bad, and it's got the biggest interior volume of any fridge that fits in my space. Performance improved a bit after I swapped the condenser fan for a more powerful one and turned it the other way (to pull cold air in and blow it around the condenser area rather than just pulling hot air away from the condenser and allowing it to mostly ventilate naturally).

However, if I'd known the RFU9200 existed when I bought mine, I would have spent the extra couple hundred bucks for it. It's the same fridge, but with dual compressors, so it's more powerful and has separate fridge and freezer temperature control. Both would be nice to have.

The Novakool chassis has all of the equipment underneath, no condensers on the back or anything. So it's very easy to add insulation to the outside up to the limit of the space you're mounting it in, which is not the case of some of the other fridges.

 

[Codger2]

If you have the large Norcold, need to replace it, want a frost free refrigerator / freezer, with miserly power consumption, for half the price of an RV / boat unit, read this:

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s31/my-new-apartment-refrigerator-41392.html

Ted

Excellent post! I'm not in the market (yet) for a change but I'll remember this post when that time comes.