2001 Sundance 340 cabin fridge only works on DC

Dave-Ziff

Dave-Ziff

New Member
May 3, 2023
28
Boat Info
2001 Sea Ray Sundancer 340
Engines
8.1L Horizons
Good evening all,

Just bought a 2001 Sundancer 340 and noticed the fridge (Norcold DE/EV 0041) not working while on AC shore power but it runs nicely on DC power.

While on AC shore power, the green power light next to the thermostat above the door flickers, the compressor barely runs and the interior light doesn't work.

While on DC power, the compressor works perfectly, the interior light comes on and green power light is steady illuminated.

All accessories on AC Line 1 work perfectly and include water heater, ice maker, stove and outlets. The only AC item not working is the fridge.

I have checked shore power at the box... Checked good. Green lights on line 1 and 2 in the circuit panel showing good power. I also swapped power cables with known good and still no AC working fridge.

Any thoughts on this would be great
 
You'll probably need a new power module. They have become pricey as they are now hard to find. You might take the old module out when you won't be using the fridge and bring it to a good electronics store if you have any nearby as the repair is often a transistor or resistor on the board that went bad. I fixed mine years ago with a $3 part on the board and some resoldering.
 
Thanks Gerry! Did you notice the green power light on the fridge flickering as well?

I'll take a look back there and see what's going on. Difficult at the start of the season to bring down the fridge.

Can I limp it along by just using the DC power and rely on shore power charger to keep house battery charged?
 
Following this thread as I have a 2001 340 that has this exact problem that just showed up!
The only difference is the fridge green light is steady on shore power with no compressor power.
Wondering if it would be just as cost effective to replace the whole unit? Not sure how much more to expect from a 22 year old refrigerator. Also, wondering where that power module is located?
 
Here's where the diagram says the power units (AC and DC) are located.

I was hoping to replace the ice maker in the cockpit with a fridge, but... If I have to replace this thing (anywhere from $800-$1,300 from various manufacturers) I'm going to hope this cabin fridge can limp along.
 

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There is no harm at all running it on 12v all the time. Just ensure your converter/charger is on and turn off the 110v breaker for the fridge. If it was me I would get it fixed though. Broken things of any kind on my boat drive me crazy and I can’t just leave it broken.
 
Creekwood,

Thank you for the reply and I'll switch it over today for DC operations.

I'm like you...I can't stand when something isn't fixed
 
Thanks for the photo Dave. I'm going after that AC power supply first. Also looking at new units that will fit thru the cabin door!
 
You're welcome. If you don't mind, can you share what/how much the power source is and the fridge you might get to replace it?
 
Strangely enough, my fridge started working on AC power and had functioned perfectly for over a week.
 
And now it's not working on AC power again... Ugh. Looks like some work at end of the season
 
I should also mention that the fridge still ran fine on DC while the AC Power Module was off getting fixed. So your beverages will remain cold.
 
White Shadow, thanks! I'm going to give this a try. Much appreciated
 
That repair service seems like a good deal. I just can't see paint almost 500 for a power supply when a new fridge would be another 3-4 hundred.

Ugh
 
I might have a working supply, but you'd have to get the numbers off the current one so I could match it up. I have a few different supplies that I took off fridges a few years ago when the fridges had other issues (loss of freon or compressor failed). Let me know if you're interested. I have a bunch of other Norcold parts too, like the door bins and shelves.
 
Well, after 3 weeks my Norcold started to work again on AC power so I'm in the same boat as Dave, the original author of this thread. I'm not sure what sort of electronic Gremlin exists that would allow the AC part of it to work intermittently? All I did was pull it out of the cabinet part way to look for serial numbers. I'm thinking it will go out again just as in Dave's case.
Km1125 the AC supply part number is 160113911 if you have one of those? The model of my fridge is a Norcold DE-441.
 
Scotyp said:
Well, after 3 weeks my Norcold started to work again on AC power so I'm in the same boat as Dave, the original author of this thread. I'm not sure what sort of electronic Gremlin exists that would allow the AC part of it to work intermittently? All I did was pull it out of the cabinet part way to look for serial numbers. I'm thinking it will go out again just as in Dave's case.
Km1125 the AC supply part number is 160113911 if you have one of those? The model of my fridge is a Norcold DE-441.
Click to expand...
I have a busy weekend so I probably won't get into it until that's over, but I'll dig through the garage and find and test what I have and see if it matches up with that.

Some background (if you're interested)....
Norcolds use two different types of compressors. The newest ones use a small Danfoss compressor which looks like a small oblong soccer ball. All the older ones used a Sawafugi compressor, which looks like a cylinder about 4" in diameter and 11" long. The Sawafugi's use an AC waveform to run the compressor, as it's actually just a slug that vibrates back and forth inside to compress the freon... it's not a motor that spins like the Danfoss. The very old Norcolds just had a transformer to reduce the A.C. voltage down to about 28VAC and ran right into the compressor, so the A.C. side was VERY reliable. The D.C. side had to run through an inverter circuit to make 28VAC, so it was usually the side that failed. Later models (likely the ones we're discussing in this thread), the A.C. circuit goes into a power supply to create 12VDC, which is switched with the D.C. incoming power depending on what's available, then the output goes into an inverter circuit to create the 28VAC. On these the D.C. input is less complicated so it's usually more reliable. Then there's a third type, where the incoming D.C. goes through a DC-to-DC converter to step the voltage up to 28VDC and the A.C. side goes into a power supply to create 28VDC. Both of them go into a relay (to select which source - it defaults to D.C. if no A.C. is present) and the output goes to a 28VDC to 28 VAC converter to run the compressor. On these, anything can fail.

While the basic functions of all the different power supplies are nearly identical (power in, 28VAC out), the most frustrating thing is that Norcold used all different kinds of connectors to connect the supply to the fridge. Sometimes they just reversed which side was male and which side was female, so you couldn't just plug a different model supply to any fridge, even though functionally it would work perfectly.
 
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