Are Norcold Fridges Junk?

[1Blue78]

I have a 10 ft3 Nocold in my trailer. I have had a few problems with it going out when on propane, I think due to wind so I have been trying a baffle which seems to help. Fast forward to last weekend and when we opened the door to the fridge, the whole thing fell off! Note - this is a 2020 model so a relatively new trailer.

Turns out the hinge on the bottom broke off (they are plastic). Called about getting a new hinge - nope...have to buy the whole door for $342. I have it in now but I am a bit afraid to use the shelves on the door but if they didn't want me to put anything on the door they shouldn't put shelfs on it.

Anyone else have issues with broken hinges on a Norcold?

[Hittntheroad]

Check this out
Common problem

https://thenorcoldguy.com/norcold-re...compatibility/

[Bobby F]

I'm not answering your door question - I'm responding to your post title.

My 1993 Norcold - with, from what I can tell, all original parts - works all day, every day, and keeps my ice cream hard.

(Perhaps the newer models are junk, but I read your title and thought "hey!")

[1Blue78]

Originally Posted by Bobby F

I'm not answering your door question - I'm responding to your post title.

My 1993 Norcold - with, from what I can tell, all original parts - works all day, every day, and keeps my ice cream hard.

(Perhaps the newer models are junk, but I read your title and thought "hey!")

My previous trailer (2003 Travelaire) had a Dometic in it - zero problems in 16 years...I spend $70G on a new trailer and have had a few issues with this trailer, the latest being this door. After all my beer fell all over the floor when the door came crashing down I am starting to think that I made a mistake selling the old one.

[scbwr]

The Norcold fridge in our 2012 Bay Star is much better than the Dometic fridges we had in our 2002 Sunline trailer and 2014 Winnebago trailer. The freezer is much colder and the main part of the fridge is cold enough at the middle setting. But...perhaps their quality has gone to heck like a lot of other products on the market today! And, you certainly should be able to get parts to avoid having to buy a replacement door....I wouldn't be happy!

[Ray,IN]

That question is very subjective IMO. My 1999 Norcold 1200LRIM still works fine. The lifespan is determined by how much it is operated outside the Norcold maximum out of level parameters, which is 6° front-to-back, 3° side-to-side as looking into the fridge.


The rule of thumb is; if you are comfortable living, sleeping, eating in your RV the fridge is likely within the Norcold parameters.
This fully explains:The RV Doctor: RV Absorption Refrigeration Basics

[Atlee]

I would gladly trade my current new Dometic fridge for a new Norcold.

That said, the door hinges in the Norcold are a know weak point, to the point, you can buy metal supports for the Norcold hinges.

[MtCamper]

I started camping when our last stop was the ice house. Progressed to absorption refers that couldn't keep ice in the freezer frozen let alone convert water to ice. All the new refers are amazingly good at what they are supposed to do. Yes there are some known problems. One of those problems is the Norcold door. Easy and cheap to prevent before it brakes. I have no idea why Norcold won't reinforce the hinge before they leave the factory but they don't. The best insurance is to stay active on an RV forum and pay attention to the lessons others have learned in the School of Hard Knocks. The newer 12v compressor refers are very promising and solve a few problems intrinsic to the absorption refers. I'm looking forward to see where this tech leads. I'm also hoping to see some developments in heat pump tech for HVAC.

[TXiceman]

We have had both Dometic and Norcold and as best I can tell, they are all junk now. The older Dometic and Norcold were much better built units and they would cool. If you notice, the newer units weigh about 2/3 of what the older units weighed.

Now you can get a 12 VDC or 120 VAC powered replacement for most of the RV fridges now.

Ken

[1Blue78]

Originally Posted by Atlee

I would gladly trade my current new Dometic fridge for a new Norcold.

That said, the door hinges in the Norcold are a know weak point, to the point, you can buy metal supports for the Norcold hinges.

I read that the hinge kit does not fit on the Norcold Polar NA10LX (which is the replacement for the N1095)- I am going to check later today but I think that is the model I have.

The fridge itself cools very well (when it doesn't go out from wind) but cold beer crashing to the floor makes a big mess...

[CharlesinGA]

I have had two Norcold N611 fridges 2007-08 vintage and they were great. I now have a Dometic and it too works great. Don't know what to say about the door, I put hinge kits on both of the N611's before they broke or cracked.

Charles

[Old-Biscuit]

2020 Model......plastic hinge broke....need new door

IF RV Purchased with in one (1) yr

WARRANTY

https://norcold.com/wp-content/uploa...and%20handling.

Never hurts to file the claim with Norcold

[jleonard]

[QUOTEAre Norcold Fridges Junk?][/QUOTE]

In my opinion yes.
I installed one in a boat. Probably the same model.
The freezer door warped after a month and would not seal properly. Since it was in a boat they would not send a technician to fix it unless I paid their time for a 2 hour trip. That would be diagnose the problem.
Then another 2 hours travel time to replace the door after they ordered it.
We "fixed" the problem by adding weather stripping to the seal. It solved the problem but was not a proper repair.
Never again

[Gammel]

Planning to replace ours with either a Dometic or install
an inverter and get something altogether better.