How well does your Norcold work?

[MakinTime]

I have a 7cu ft Norcold refrigerator/freezer in the galley of my 3607 and I have never been really happy with it since I got my boat a few years ago. It cools, but not very well and it’s probably only 4 years old. I am thinking about putting more ventilation around it to help it out. I have also been reading that there is a fan that blows across the condenser and compressor to help cooling but I have never heard a fan come on. Just curios to hear everyone’s input on their bigger Norcold units.

This winter I put another smaller 110 volt refrigerator on the aft deck and it works unbelievably better than the Norcold and it’s just a cheap Home Depot thing. I have thought about ditching the Norcold downstairs for a home style unit.

[waybomb]

Check the door seals.

Is yours mounted inside a cabinet? They do make an auxiliary fan kit for enclosed spaces. A buddy replaced his with a new one, only to fail in less than one season. Turned out he needed to have aux fan kit with the newer fridge.

[km1125]

I have the exact same boat and probably the exact same fridge. Mine works pretty good, but I'm thinking of making it a little better. My only issue is when we put stuff in the drawers at the very bottom, it won't keep them at ~35f. I can freeze stuff on the top shelf of the fridge if I keep the control too high.

Do make sure your door seals are lined up and closing properly. One year I had taken the doors off to clean and didn't get them just right. I was unknowingly letting just a sliver of air in at the top right of the freezer. The freezer would still freeze and the fridge was cool, but not really cold. I also noticed a lot more frost in the freezer than normal, but wrote it off to higher humidity in the summer. Then I found the mis-alignment and fixed it by adjusting the hinges.

Also, I put an extra fan in the back of the cabinet and cut a hole to exit the hot air at the top of the cabinet. It's on the starboard side of the fridge, as high up and as far back as you can get. This draws the air in from the bottom, across the coils and out the back so warm air doesn't build up in the cabinet.

I've been debating pulling the fridge out and putting a layer of insulation around the inside of the cabinet top and both sides. If I recall correctly, there's about 1/2-3/4 of an inch of clearance there that could be filled with insulation rather than warm air. I'm sure that would help a little too, but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

[MakinTime]

Yes it is in a cabinet. Good idea to put a fan in and extra vent. Yes anything at the bottom of the fridge is a lost cause and does not get very cold at all. I am going to pull the fridge out this week and assess the situation. Extra vents can never hurt that’s for sure I wonder if a fan inside the freezer pushing air down could help?

[gardenargo]

Took mine out and installed a Sub Zero drawers........so nice!

[km1125]

Source of the post Yes it is in a cabinet. Good idea to put a fan in and extra vent. Yes anything at the bottom of the fridge is a lost cause and does not get very cold at all. I am going to pull the fridge out this week and assess the situation. Extra vents can never hurt that’s for sure I wonder if a fan inside the freezer pushing air down could help?

They do make little battery powered fans that you can put in below the freezer to circulate air. You can find them online though RV sites. If your fridge is leaking heat through seals or other method, then all you're going to do is warm the freezer when you cool the fridge. If you don't use the freezer then that wouldn't be a bad idea, as it would still be cold, just not freezing. You can also remove the drip tray below the freezer to increase circulation.

If you do use the freezer (and we do!), then you want to fix the things that help it work better... circulation over the condenser in the back, insulation around the cabinet, and the seals on the doors. Also, since you're in a southern area with lots of sun, consider putting some type of foil above the fridge to block IR from the sun hitting the fridge. Every little bit helps.

[dmunneke]

My 85 3697 has a norcold to start... Long story but it needed replacement.. I found a used newer norcold and installed..
It has the fan.. It cool okay, not great.. The old fridge had two compressors.. The new one .. one.

The freezer seems plenty cold but it just doesnt drizzle down enough cold to the fridge..

[km1125]

Make sure the doors are perfectly aligned. Mine was off by just a smidgen and was letting just a touch of air in to the freezer section and that affected the operation quite a bit.