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Old 10-19-2014, 04:44 PM   #1
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Norcold or other?

Looks like my fridge gave up on me. This month is costing me more than a used van. So price wise, anybody know how much a 4cf Norcold is costing these days. I searched and saw like 1200.00 bucks! Really? One thing I must have is one that auto switches to AC when shore power or AC is present. Sorry but as much as folks like chest types I probably will go back with what I have. I do love the Isotherm but am not sure if it switches to AC when present. Truck fridge looked good but does it work on AC?

Funny, the time the Norcold quit was when I shut it down for over a month... I haven't been out for months and every time I want to go something is holding me back.

This fridge failure is just one more reason to purchase a smaller chest fridge backup when I get my bank account back up.

Thanks... dave

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Old 10-19-2014, 05:05 PM   #2
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Re: Norcold or other?

Looking behind our Isotherm, I don't see anything plugged into the 120v outlet behind it.
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Old 10-19-2014, 05:25 PM   #3
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Re: Norcold or other?

Truckfridge does have an AC/DC model. I still recommend them even though I recently had that shutoff with mine. In fact, I think I like it even more knowing it can handle a little abuse and is really well supported.

http://truckfridge.com/tf130acdc.html



Dave, if you go this route, when I ordered mine I told him I wasn't sure if I needed the $50 flange and he threw it in regardless. I have mine unused. If you call to order ask if he'll throw it in. If he doesn't let me know and I can send you mine. It's 3 pieces of louvered trim, not worth $50 but that's what they get for them.

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Old 10-25-2014, 06:44 AM   #4
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Re: Norcold or other?

Howdy fellas, first post on this forum..

Looking at fridge upgrade/replacement ourselves, we have a Norcold DE441 that cools down below freezing if I let it run, but the compressor won't shut off. About to yank it out so I can set it on blocks and get to it easy. Haven't tried to "fix" it yet, but I will turn it upside down and then back, and probably use the orbital sander trick and if I can get to the board with the relay on it, check the relay.

There is a .pdf from Bryant for this model, which shows a molex connector and gives readings for the thermistor but I cannot find that connector on our Norcold. Not that any replacement parts are available even if I do find it and it is out of spec.

Not quite ready yet to click on "buy now" for a new fridge but it may be coming. I don't see where the dual voltage model of Truck Fridge would be a plus, being our SMB has the marine battery and a 12v converter, couldn't we just run it off 12 volts? Even when the SMB is plugged up at a campsite, if the fridge runs off 110v the built-in converter in the fridge still kicks it down to 12v for the compressor to run. Seems redundant to me.
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Old 10-25-2014, 11:13 AM   #5
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Re: Norcold or other?

Yeah, I was considering adding a converter and going with an Isotherm but time was an issue as well as the price. I will say I'm surprised how quiet the new Norcold is. I can barely hear it run... a complete opposite from the old one. God I hope it's working Time to test it I guess.
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Old 10-25-2014, 11:51 AM   #6
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Re: Norcold or other?

Dave,
PPL rv current price on de 0041 is $983, with 12v fan, uses 2.8amps.
I have the ve 0061 in my Eagle Cap 1160 Truck camper, only use 12v and it is very quiet
and cools down very quick. Better than previous Dometic models i have had.
i have ordered a ve 0041(220v/12v) on my new Sportsmobile now being built at SMB West.
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Old 10-25-2014, 12:06 PM   #7
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Re: Norcold or other?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DougGuy
I don't see where the dual voltage model of Truck Fridge would be a plus, being our SMB has the marine battery and a 12v converter, couldn't we just run it off 12 volts? Even when the SMB is plugged up at a campsite, if the fridge runs off 110v the built-in converter in the fridge still kicks it down to 12v for the compressor to run. Seems redundant to me.
You are correct in that it is redundant. Our SMB has a 120v to 12v converter as well so went with the 12v TruckFridge. Have no regrets. The fridge stays cool and the freezer section is nice and cold.
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Old 10-25-2014, 02:18 PM   #8
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Re: Norcold or other?

Took the fridge out of the van, set it in my shop, cleaned the potentiometer on the control board with some deoxit, measured the thermistor (finally found it YAY!) to read 2.75k @55° which is within specs. The thermistor is properly mounted on the bottom of the freezer coil, took a rockwell pad sander to the back coils and plugged it in. Compressor running, let's see what happens.

At what point do you decide one of these is broken? It cooled last time it ran, wondering now why if the thermistor is within specs does it not cycle the compressor?
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Old 10-25-2014, 07:05 PM   #9
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Re: Norcold or other?

After running the fridge for a number of hours, it is cooled down to 30° and the compressor seems to be cycling normally. Still too cold inside to use as a fridge, but it's a start.

The thermistor reads 2.75k? @55° and the specs say 2.8k? @60° and 3.6k? @50° the allowable range @60° is 2.5k - 3.1k, and @50° it is 3.2k - 4.0k then the thermistor is falling a little below the acceptable range.

After running it and letting it cool to 30° the thermistor reads 6.35k? where it should read 5.3k? with an allowable range from 4.8k to 5.7k

The switch on the control board is also the temperature control knob, it is a 10k? potentiometer. If I can figure out how to change the resistance of the circuit board, and cause the potentiometer to measure differently throughout it's sweep, I may be able to recalibrate the control board to work with the out of spec thermistor since it don't look like I can get replacement parts.

Does anyone know about the thermistor as being replaceable or cross reference to one that will work? I don't think there is anything wrong with this fridge except the thermistor is out of spec.

I found the Norcold part number for the thermistor is 605505420.
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Old 10-25-2014, 07:18 PM   #10
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Re: Norcold or other?

Found this, looks interesting, and looks like it might work to replace the Norcold thermistor with one that acts like a thermostat. If you think about it, from what I have typed, all this fridge needs is a thermistor that works within the acceptable range, and if I add this adjustable thermostat in place of the thermistor, then there is where I can change the resistance that will cause the compressor to cycle normally and run the fridge a bit warmer, in the 37° - 42° range.

Has anyone used one of these?

http://www.snip-the-tip.com/NorcoldThermistor.htm
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