Refrigerator challenge

Rivertender

Member
Nov 7, 2006
123
Tampa Bay
Boat Info
370 aft cabin S Ray 1997
Engines
Twin 454
Inboard
Our Nova Cool OEM fridge is getting tired and needs replacement.

We want something better (marine refrigerators are profoundly poor quality/engineering), but are struggling with finding something to fit. Spoke to an outfit in Ca. and they build custom sizes and have a good quality, but the price is staggering (I know, welcome to boating).

Would be grateful for any thoughts on any marine fridge refits that have worked for you.

Our 1997 370 aft cabin has an under the counter fridge with the freezer on one side, refrigerator on the other side.

I plan on putting an inverter in so that we can escape the 12 volt trap and open up lots more options, but we are still wrestling with the odd size.

Thanks for any thoughts.
 
You must mean Norcold OEM (aka "Nevercold"). Nova Kool is not an OEM supplier,but they have decent replacement units that retrofit Norcold and other brands. Other choices are Vitrifigo, Tundra and Isotherm.
 
I have just completed my search and the challenge is finding one to fit your cutout as stated. I searched and searched....Dometic, Isotherm, Vitrifrigo, NorCold, and NovaKool. Finally found a NovaKool. 5-6 week lead time and $200 to ship.

Bennett
 
You must mean Norcold OEM (aka "Nevercold"). Nova Kool is not an OEM supplier,but they have decent replacement units that retrofit Norcold and other brands. Other choices are Vitrifigo, Tundra and Isotherm.

We have never had any problems in ten years with our Norcold fridge. We cannot have it turned up past 4 as things just get too cold.
 
My 30 year old norcold is great as far as temps go sane as another poster I have to be careful where I have the settings because it can easily freeze everything. My fridge difnt workwhen i took over this boat i teaced it to a faulty thermistor board and ended up making a bew setip for it eith a rheostat and spare switch i had kicking around. The boards on these are finicky thoughvabd lately mine stopped working on the 120 side but since my charger is always connected when at dock I just leave it on 12v and am happy if the beer is cold and the worms too
 
My Norcold just bit the dust. 15 years. Not finding anything reasonably priced to replace it. Why aren’t these sold on line anywhere?
 
Engel sell exact drop in replacements for norcold, about half the price.

Other than that, there are plenty of other fridges about that are far better than the norcold, and cheaper.... but not always same size and shape - may require surgery to the cabinetry, also, be sure you can get it through the companionway.... I iAd to disassemble my norcold to get it out, had to disassemble the replacement to get it inside...
 
Engel sell exact drop in replacements for norcold, about half the price.

Other than that, there are plenty of other fridges about that are far better than the norcold, and cheaper.... but not always same size and shape - may require surgery to the cabinetry, also, be sure you can get it through the companionway.... I iAd to disassemble my norcold to get it out, had to disassemble the replacement to get it inside...

Thanks. I looked. The ENGEL that appears to be a drop in for my Norcold is the same price as equivalent Isotherms, Vitrifrigos, etc. I could save $100 if I went to a DC only. But I'm not doing that.
 
Just thought I’d report back. Replaced the Norcold with a Vitrifrigo this weekend. Not too hard. Did have to enlarge the hole vertically, however.
 
I kind of wish either the marine industry or the marine fridge industry would have established sizing standards about 30 years ago, and stuck with them. Or if Searay had decided that the best thing was a generic cutout for a "dorm" fridge with an automatic switching dc/ac inverter so you could just plug in a fridge.

When I replaced the Notcold in my 2007 310DA galley, the only one that I could find that would fit easily was another Notcold. And of course, it lived up to the name and went Notcold about 2 weeks later. The replacement thankfully has held up. Unfortunately, it was also about 2" deeper than the cutout and I had to trim out the opening so the fridge didn't look like it was just sticking out. It also cleared the cabin door by millimeters.

The original Notcold in the cockpit seems to keep kicking, and in theory that one should be worse off since it sees more heat and many more open/close cycles.
 
IMG_2098.JPG
We have owned both Norcold and Isotherm. Both have worked to perfection for our time of ownership. That was ten years for the Norcolds. I do think the Isotherm is a better product because of its cold plate technology. It is 12v which we like, and the cold plate is always being charged whenever the engines are running (assuming you have it turned on). This means there is very little battery drain when you are anchored.
 
How much for the Isotherm? My dealer wanted $900.00 for a Not So Cold plus $300.00 for the install.
 
IMG_2098.JPG
How much for the Isotherm? My dealer wanted $900.00 for a Not So Cold plus $300.00 for the install.
Don't know how much for an Isotherm since it is original to the boat. Tiara goes with higher end products in their original builds. Our boat is 14 years old and everything still works as it originally did. All we have done replace batteries once and updated the electronics. The fridge shows no signs of reduced performance. I would buy another without reservation.
300 for the install sounds like a lot of work to make it fit. If the openings are the same, it could be a 15 minute job. If not, maybe three hours of labor for carpentry work.
 
View attachment 62250
Don't know how much for an Isotherm since it is original to the boat. Tiara goes with higher end products in their original builds. Our boat is 14 years old and everything still works as it originally did. All we have done replace batteries once and updated the electronics. The fridge shows no signs of reduced performance. I would buy another without reservation.
300 for the install sounds like a lot of work to make it fit. If the openings are the same, it could be a 15 minute job. If not, maybe three hours of labor for carpentry work.
That was just to take my old OEM out and put the new one in. they charged me three hours labor
 
View attachment 62250
Don't know how much for an Isotherm since it is original to the boat. Tiara goes with higher end products in their original builds. Our boat is 14 years old and everything still works as it originally did. All we have done replace batteries once and updated the electronics. The fridge shows no signs of reduced performance. I would buy another without reservation.
300 for the install sounds like a lot of work to make it fit. If the openings are the same, it could be a 15 minute job. If not, maybe three hours of labor for carpentry work.

You have a great track record. We have had similar experiences. Hope it continues...

MM
 
IMG_2098.JPG
That was just to take my old OEM out and put the new one in. they charged me three hours labor
You could take the old one out in ten minutes. It is just a matter of removing the screws through the flang and sliding it out. Should be a duplex for the plug in the back. You need to see how things fit through the salon door. These things get installed before the deck goes on the boat.
 
I read somewhere that home fridges may not be up to the task of bouncing around on a boat, however, if you can find one that will fit the opening that can be slightly modified to work, I would highly recommend it. My norcold took a crap on my RV this summer. Similar scenario... They run over $2k new, they don't do a 'great' job in my opinion because ice cream is rarely hard, and they typically have a bad rap for increased failure rates. With that said, I installed a home fridge that gave me 50% more capacity, cost 1/4 of the price, looks a ton better, and it keeps ice cream cold. It will even run off my inverter where it draws about 0.5-1A. The new Danfoss compressors are awesome! And the bit about them not being up to the task on a boat seems like a myth to me... My Class A RV bounces around just as bad as my boat.
 
I read somewhere that home fridges may not be up to the task of bouncing around on a boat, however, if you can find one that will fit the opening that can be slightly modified to work, I would highly recommend it. My norcold took a crap on my RV this summer. Similar scenario... They run over $2k new, they don't do a 'great' job in my opinion because ice cream is rarely hard, and they typically have a bad rap for increased failure rates. With that said, I installed a home fridge that gave me 50% more capacity, cost 1/4 of the price, looks a ton better, and it keeps ice cream cold. It will even run off my inverter where it draws about 0.5-1A. The new Danfoss compressors are awesome! And the bit about them not being up to the task on a boat seems like a myth to me... My Class A RV bounces around just as bad as my boat.

You amps draw Sounds like you are talking about at the 110 side, not the 12v side. The draw from the 12 side by the inverter to push 1 amp at 110v AC would be quite a bit more. Someone that really knows can do the calculation, and factor in amp loss from the inverter inefficiency and wiring and the consumption willl be more than a 12 fridge runnning direct.

But if it works for your purposes. Then that’s great.
 

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