Carver Owners Forum

My refrigerator has bit the dust, a Norcold DE 561 on my 1997 32' Voyager. The easy replacement a Norcold DE 0061 has less than stellular reviews, anyone have experience with this model in the last 2-3 years? Others like Nova Kool, Isotherm are not readily available in mid-atlantic area and the Vitrifrigo is a slightly different size which never seams to go as planned when I DIY. thoughts?

I have a friend next to me at our marina that had to replace his Norcold fridge. After pricing any option for new replacement unit we came to the conclusion that a simple much cheaper 110 volt apartment size fridge from a big box store was the best option. Yes this cheap unit is only going to run while you are in slip and plugged into shore power but lets face it, that covers 99% of the time... Or turn on you generator and you are still good to go 100% of the time. Just putting this option out there.

Do you know what's wrong with the 561?

After replacing an old Norcold a couple times (with a newer Norcold), my next move would have been to a Ventrifrigo. Knew a few folks with them that really liked them and I've always heard good things. When I did both of the Norcold replacements, neither fit exactly so I had to make modifications anyways. After the last Norcold failed, I got a used apt 7cu ft fridge for $50 and used that for a couple years but then sold the boat before I ever got the permanent replacement.

I have that model. Bought it in 2017. I really like it. Cools fast, minimal frost build up. Use it at mid to lower setting most of the time. Very quiet. Can barely hear it turn on when it cycles. Power consumption is very low, very efficient. No idea what the negative reviews are, but I have had nothing but great service. And it was an easy fit in the space. er

If the vitrifrigo is close to fitting and if possible to resize the opening I would go with it. I'm very pleased with mine

RobGunn wrote:Source of the post I have a friend next to me at our marina that had to replace his Norcold fridge. After pricing any option for new replacement unit we came to the conclusion that a simple much cheaper 110 volt apartment size fridge from a big box store was the best option. Yes this cheap unit is only going to run while you are in slip and plugged into shore power but lets face it, that covers 99% of the time... Or turn on you generator and you are still good to go 100% of the time. Just putting this option out there.

The issue with these refrigerators are they are designed to work with an ambient temp of 85 degrees max with about a 40 degree temp drop.
So, if you keep perishables in your boat without the a/c on, odds are they are going to go bad. Much worse, if your interior of the boat gets into the 90's your beer will be 50 degrees.

One of the things to look for if you're considering an apartment fridge is how the condenser is configured. Usually, the condenser is the coils on the back of the fridge, or in more recent vintages is a compact condenser with a fan. Some of the apartment fridges actually have the condenser just inside the metal case, and use the metal case to get rid of heat. If you don't have a spacing around the fridge then there's no place for that waste heat to go. That's one of the problems with using one of these on a boat, where the fridge is usually incased in cabinetry.

This was the case when I used one of those fridges on my Carver before I sold it. Luckily, there was some airflow around the fridge because it didn't take up the whole opening, but I had to remove some extra insulation I had put in when I had the Norcold in that space.

Just a reminder to anyone considering using appliances on their boats that are designed for home/land use and are not marine certified......they will need to be checked to ensure proper grounding/neutral by a marine electrician.

The white and the green have to be correct for marine regs to guard against leakage into surrounding water etc.....more so in fresh water than salt......be safe....

I replaced ours a few years back with a Nova Kool. I ordered it out of Minnesota and they shipped it to me in West Kentucky. I got it for a very good price including shipping IIRC was around $1600. We really like the freezer portion at the bottom with the fridge up top. Nova Kool uses the same compressor as the Vitrifrigo. Our Santego originally came with a Nocold and the Nova Kool fit perfectly in it place.

megbert wrote:Source of the post My refrigerator has bit the dust, a Norcold DE 561 on my 1997 32' Voyager. The easy replacement a Norcold DE 0061 has less than stellular reviews, anyone have experience with this model in the last 2-3 years? Others like Nova Kool, Isotherm are not readily available in mid-atlantic area and the Vitrifrigo is a slightly different size which never seams to go as planned when I DIY. thoughts?

When The perfect solution comes about, you can count me as number two for the group by. I need a fridge, and the previous owner replaced it with the apartment fridge as mentioned above. It’s too small, and I don’t like the idea of not having 12 V cooling. Especially after reading the detail about my beer temperature if it’s 100° outside