Norcold... Is it really any better?

[1621]

I'm not that familiar with the Norcold refridgerators, and the search here didn't produce too much. For those of you who have made the change, is the Norcold much different from the stock Dometic? Also, which model did you use and what has the maintenance been like? Thanks for your replies in advance.

Lundy

[tds3pete]

I have the Norcold Model 3163 in my '95 Eurovan camper. It works like a champ.

The car has 120k and the PO used it to camp a lot, and never had a problem. I just returned from a one month cross country trip using it every day.

It will run a month steadily on one tank of propane, and it is so cold you have to watch out to avoid freezing the food.

I recommend it highly. I did have the factory 12v cooler in my '79 bay window which was not much of a unit ....big amp draw and not much poop.

Good luck
_________________
'58 Westy camper-come and gone
'73 Westy-bought new in Holland,now gone
'86 Syncro weekender-come and gone
'79 Westy...Oscar
'95 Eurovan Camper/5 spd...Marsha Mellow

[gears]

I too am curious how the Norcold compares with the standard Westy 3-way (which normally keeps things about 40 degrees colder than ambient temperature).

[Terry Kay]

I don't have a Norcold in my Westy, but I do in my Sportsmobile, and can say this.
The difference in keeping food / drinks ice cold is like night and day.

The Norcold actually has a refrigerant compressor, which in turn will make ice and keep ice cream rock hard in the freezer compartment.

The smaller model for the Westfalia is also just an AC /DC unit.

I haven't ever seen or heard of a 3 way Norcold including gas running.

In my opinion the Norcold is a much more efficiant refrigerator than the ammonia heat transfer Dometic 3 way unit.
It actually works just as your household unit would, and very well at that.

I'll have to do some research on which model fit's into the Vanagon Westy--I do know there is one--
_________________
T.K.

[Terry Kay]

The Norcold Model that will fit into a Westfalia is a DC0040

It's a two way--AC/DC box.
_________________
T.K.

[1621]

I'll check them out later. So do I understand you correctly that there are no 3-way versions to fit the Westy?

Lundy

[wolfej1]

[bucko]

Anyone have a link to a supplier of these units

[Terry Kay]

Let your finger's do the walking---

Do a web search for Norcold.
There are 41,637 places to look and read about them.
I think Camper's World sells them.

They do have a gas model too---
But--it's back to the low performance coolng through absobtion process.
Not much better than what you have.

The AC / DC refrigerator works very well, and puts the Dometic to shame.
_________________
T.K.

[gears]

Yeah... it's just that battery power doesn't last long enough (and it's nice to be able to go camping without a separate generator).

[Terry Kay]

No,
It's just that you don't have the correct battery capacity to handle the draw.

There are several places to mount a decent sized house battery besides the whimpy, lame battery box under the driver's seat.
_________________
T.K.

[tds3pete]

The Norcold 3-way unit in my Eurovan is Model 3163G.

I don't know if it will fit in a Westy. Operating on propane is definately it's strong suit. Runs 30 days on 5 gallons and easily freezes if not careful.

Doing the dance on 12v by turning it off at night will work, but sooner or later you will forget and leave it on for a day and oops...dead battery.

Propane is the way to go.
_________________
'58 Westy camper-come and gone
'73 Westy-bought new in Holland,now gone
'86 Syncro weekender-come and gone
'79 Westy...Oscar
'95 Eurovan Camper/5 spd...Marsha Mellow

[gears]

Pete, do you have experience with the original Westy 3-way Dometic?

[vansmack]

Check out www.rvmobile.com. They sell both Dometic and Norcold units. After a couple simple upgrades to my Dometic (new fan & air valve), the sucker works much better and stays very cold. Also, I think it would stink not being able to use propane. Its all I ever use to run the fridge. Too bad Norcold doesn't make a three way to fit the westy!
_________________
Cheers,

Tim
______________

'86 Westy
'03 Passat Wagon Turbo
'03 Ford F150 4x4
'91 Volvo 740 Turbo SOLD
'79 Ford F150 Ranger SOLD

[tds3pete]

Gears-

No I don't. We removed the 12v unit in the '79 Westy and replaced it with a stock cooler to gain the extra space taken up by the fridge mechanics. That fridge was too weak and drew too much power.

My synchro was not a Westy, so no fridge experience there.

The Norcold in the Euro was modified by the PO to increase circulation with three holes in the face trim. I now have to run it below at medium or lower to avoid freezing!
_________________
'58 Westy camper-come and gone
'73 Westy-bought new in Holland,now gone
'86 Syncro weekender-come and gone
'79 Westy...Oscar
'95 Eurovan Camper/5 spd...Marsha Mellow

[Tomswesty]

Here is my Norcold and it is cold compared to the old westy frig. This is the DC0040 1.7 cuft model that I got off Ebay for $350. The other is in the garage where it belongs. The second battery will run it for a couple of days without have to recharge but I do have a solar trickel charger that keeps the battery up.

[1621]

[Tomswesty]

It actually is about the same, maybe a little smaller. The main thing is that it keeps things cold something the Dometic has a problem doing well.

[1621]

[wbx]