Norcold DE-461 is Down!! And out!!

2001 Norcold DE-461 finally died. Been dreading/looking forward to replacing this thing. I've been researching replacements, but looking at Isotherm CR-195 (dual compressor) Vitrifrigo DP2600 single compressor and a Nova Kool RFU9200 (dual compressor). All have their pros and cons...capacity, price, fit in existing cabinet, performance etc.

But for now the, old one is dead, and I removed it today. Easy enough to pull out out of the cabinet.



To get it out of the boat, I striped all the hardware off the unit. The mounting flange came off the front, and the cooling hardware came off the back. Once off, the box was easily hauled out of the boat single handed.





Next, I removed the cabinet, so I have room to get the new unit down into the cabin.









The cabinet needs some laminate work, as the old Vitricore has delaminated and has some sharp edges.



The cabinet is 27" wide over all, and I think If I rebuilt the cabinet, there would be some other and better options for new fridge/freezer combos, but the limiting factor seems to be the 52"-53" height of the cabinet.

More to come...

 

A couple other projects while I'm at it...

1. Rewire/clean up boats ethernet network
2. Clean up the coax wiring
3. Replace front head Poop hose
4. Replace plastic thru hulls with SS (at least the stuff behind the fridge).

 

It definitely runs behind the fridge and up behind the lower galley cabinets to the head. Looks to be wire tied about every 18". Pulling the fridge IMHO would at least make job easier, if mandatory to get to things.

Edit - I haven't looked, but there might be a few more access plates in that area to help get to the hose.

 

It was just screwed in with about 25 screws. Some are inside the fridge cabinet some are in the adjacent cabinets.

Finding them all was the had part. Once all found and removed, slid right out.

Now to figure out a new laminate. A full sheet of cherry Vitricore is $650+ shipping.

 

Agreed. I'm going to bite the bullet, but I'm going to at least try some cheaper alternatives. It looks like this cabinet has been repaired before. Looks like they got away with a 24" section, so maybe not as bad at $200.



If I'm spending that much $$$, I'm wondering if I cant get a bigger/better fridge in that space and build a custom cabinet. I started looking at the various drawer fridges, but no matter how I slice and dice, to get something a little bigger/nicer, the 53" tall cabinet severely limits the fridge choice. Almost all of the next step up are about 58" tall.

 

Some of the other areas, I would consider, and there were a couple good threads a while back on this subject.

I think if I can get away with a smaller section of laminate, I'll just go that direction. This is probably the most prominently visible area of the cabin, so it would be very obvious and drive my OCD wild. I'm going to bring the cabinet home, and clean it up here where I have the all the right tools and make it look right.

I'll dry fit the fridge as well, as I suspect that some trimming or shimming will be necessary depending on which fridge I choose.

 

If you strip the old fridge (takes about 30-40 minutes with a set of nut drivers) of the old mount flange and Cooling unit, nothing needs to come out. I left door and seat back in place. We'll see if that has to come out to get new fridge in.

The box itself is pretty light, the weight is in the flange and compressor.

 

Nova Kool RFU9200 shipped from Seattle this afternoon!!! That was a lot quicker than I thought!!

I guess I'd better get that cabinet fixed!!

 

I think there was a thread on this a long time ago, and remember that material being discussed. However, for this project, I think the Vitricore is the right choice. Expensive, but to make a hodge podge of the finishes would be more than my OCD could take.