Norcold DE 707 Thermostat

[richard5933]

We have a Norcold dual voltage (120v ac & 12v dc) refrigerator in our bus. It's the original and cools nicely - it will freeze ice cubes solid in short order and keep food cold with no trouble. The problem is that the unit doesn't seem to want to stop cooling. If I set it to the lowest thermostat setting possible without turning it off the compressor will cycle, but then it doesn't keep things cold enough.

Reading the manual leads me to believe that the thermostat is the cause. The manual recommends either replacement or cleaning the contacts of the thermostat. The part is no longer available and nowhere to be found online. This leaves me with the option of trying to service the thermostat myself.

So, the question...Anyone have experience servicing a thermostat from an old refrigerator that can offer some advice? There is little to nothing about this online due to the age of the unit. Since it's really easy to pull the thermostat I thought I'd give it a go.

Alternatively, any help locating a thermostat that can replace the one in the unit would be great. Since the only purpose of it is to cycle the compressor on/off it shouldn't be difficult to replace it if a similarly configured one can be found. The bulb end of the capillary tube mounts to the bottom of the freezer box and appears to be in good condition, but that doesn't mean that it's working properly.

To preempt some of the questions...This fridge works well except for this. It is a compressor fridge and works on 120v/12v only. There is no LP and no risk of fire from LP. Yes, I considered replacing it but the only unit that fits the opening and will work on 120v/12v is a Vitrifrigo. I'll buy one if necessary, but at $1500 it seems that an attempt to repair should come first. Also, there is no circuit board in this fridge at all. The thermostat controls the on/off of the compressor. No other fans. No other modules to replace/repair other than the compressor (working fine) and power supply (also working fine.)

Other models similar to mine other than size and door layout are: DE704, DE707 ,DE727, DE728. The 'DE' stands for dual electric.

Thanks in advance!

[manholt]

Have you tried  cross reference with Dometic or Electrolux? 

[richard5933]

23 minutes ago, manholt said:

Have you tried  cross reference with Dometic or Electrolux? 

Tried to do this online, but struck out. I'm going to take the part to an appliance parts place on Monday to see if they have something generic that will replace it. After all, it's really nothing more than a temperature sensitive on/off switch.

[manholt]

What is your model # ?  May not be a 74', that's the coach year, not necessarily the year of it's components.

[richard5933]

DE707
I believe that it's from 1974 and original issue by Custom Coach, since its manual is in the binder from CC.

 

[richard5933]

UPDATE:

I was able to get a Ranco universal refrigerator control from a local parts place for $70. It is installed and working, although the temperature differential is about 10 degrees between make and break on the circuit so the temp goes down to 35 and back up to 45 before turning on the compressor again. Probably would work short term, but the swing is too wide for safely keeping raw foods in my opinion.

We've decided to spring for a new Vitrifrigo 12v/120v and install it. I got a pretty good price, but with shipping it's certainly more expensive than a residential. I like the efficiency of the 12v compressor units though so residential is out. Since I really don't want to cut apart all the cabinetry and relocated a basement air blower located above the refrigerator, there is really no choice but to find one that fits the opening. This was the only option that maximized capacity in the given space.

For those curious, there is no LP in this fridge. It is 12v/120v only using a 12v compressor. Power consumption is low at 31 W (2.58A) - 12Vdc / 31 W (0.44A) - 115Vac .

[jleamont]

16 minutes ago, richard5933 said:

For those curious, there is no LP in this fridge. It is 12v/120v only using a 12v compressor. Power consumption is low at 31 W (2.58A) - 12Vdc / 31 W (0.44A) - 115Vac .

I was going to ask this, thank you for sharing.

[kaypsmith]

What is the actual opening size for the fridge? There may be more options than you think available in a residential fridge and the newer technology is nothing to be sneezed at.

[richard5933]

1 hour ago, kaypsmith said:

What is the actual opening size for the fridge? There may be more options than you think available in a residential fridge and the newer technology is nothing to be sneezed at.

44"h x 23"w x 23"d

Reconstruction not an option, nor is moving the a/c condenser unit above it.

[manholt]

Curious.  Have you made a call to CC's Tech dept?  They have parts for all their coaches interior/exterior, dating back to the Flexible of 1954 !  

Since I didn't have the part # for your model thermostat...I said Adios! 

[richard5933]

Bottom line is that even if I got the exact right part (which is no longer available) I still have a 44 year old fridge with all that entails. It could last another 20 years or just 20 minutes. Rather than having it crap out at the worst possible time, I'll replace it on my schedule.

[manholt]

Richard.

What is the CU. Ft. of your unit?  Have found several different brands and sizes, from 2.7cu to 7cu, that are all DC/AC....Out of the box, think Marine.  Not RV!  $879-$1,300..

[richard5933]

35 minutes ago, manholt said:

Richard.

What is the CU. Ft. of your unit?  Have found several different brands and sizes, from 2.7cu to 7cu, that are all DC/AC....Out of the box, think Marine.  Not RV!  $879-$1,300..

Thanks for the note.

I generally start all my searches for parts on the marine supply websites, not the RV sites. Custom Coach seemed to pull most of the house system parts from the marine world when they built out the coach, and I've found it best to start there looking for parts.

You are correct, there are a number of AC/DC models out there. Our current unit is a Norcold DE 707, and I'm not really sure of the exact interior capacity but would guess that it's somewhere in the 5.5 to 6.0 cu ft range. It would have been easy to replace it with a smaller unit, but we really didn't want to lose capacity and down-size.

The height is the biggest limiting factor, and there were only a couple of options out there. Unfortunately the basement a/c has its inside unit mounted above the fridge so we can't really grow upwards. It was clever what they did here - when it's hot enough to run the a/c it's also hot enough to cause problems for the fridge. The intake for the a/c shares the cavity with the fridge, and when the a/c is running it not only pulls air from the intake vent, it also pulls air up and around the fridge. This way there is a constant flow of air around the fridge whenever the a/c is on. I'm going to be adding another small 12v fan when I install the new fridge to be sure there is airflow even when the a/c is not running, like when we're boondocking.

The Vitrifrigo DP150 was the closest to what we currently have in size, and will only require a slight modification. The height should fit in fine, and the width will require a small filler on each side. I was told by the sales guy at the marine supply who ordered this from us that this is a particularly oddball size which hasn't been used in years. Apparently this is the only unit out there that will basically slide it without having to do major mods to the cabinetry.

[richard5933]

So, finally at the end of this particular story. The Norcold DE707 worked after the thermostat was replaced. I didn't feel that it was able to keep up when the inside of the bus was hot though, like on days with the sun shining but no a/c running inside. We ordered the Vitrifrigo through Sure Marine Service in Seattle WA. Took about 6 weeks from ordering till it arrived at our door. Total cost with shipping was about $1550.

The Vitrifrigo is about 2" narrower than what it's replacing and had a very narrow mounting flange. I had a friend at a local fabrication shop make a flange extension from 1/8" steel - he cut it out on the plasma cutter and I shot a few coats of paint on it so that it blends in with the cabinetry. This allowed the new fridge to slide into the space the old one occupied. Even though it's slightly smaller on the outside, I really think that we ended up with almost as much usable interior space. Plus, this one has a separate freezer that actually freezes.

The air intake on the bottom was slightly smaller than the manual recommended, so I added risers to the feet on the bottom of the fridge to raise it up another 1/2" off the floor. That created almost 11 sq. inches additional air intake at the bottom. I also added a small computer fan inside the vent cover to help force fresh air into the cavity for better circulation.

I originally hoped to be able to use the Formica door panel from the old fridge to make panels for the new one, but it didn't work out. On the old fridge the Formica was glued to a sheet of 3/16" hardboard to make the door panel, and on the new one there is only room for the Formica itself to slide into the groove. We like the look of the new black fridge enough that we decided to keep it for now. I can always order a sheet of the Formica later on if we decide to add it (yes - they still make that color).

I did run the fridge overnight in the barn from 120v to make sure it worked, and it certainly got cold and did it pretty quickly. The whole thing looks like a residential fridge in miniature, right down to the smaller Danfoss compressor, condensing coil, and cooling fan.

[rsbilledwards]

Making me go Hummmm, what if... and it is 12 volts...  b

[richard5933]

This particular model will run on 12vdc or 24vdc as well as 120vac or 240vac. It was designed to run in most vehicles and on both sides of the pond. Not the largest of its type out there, but they and other companies do make them larger.

[dickandlois]

Options and multiple ones is always good. Kind of a nice setup, that looks good in the coach.

Rich.

[manholt]

Richard.

I like it and I also think, the Blake looks good and blends well, with your coach retro look!  Hope to see it in Gillette!

Rich, hang in there and we'll get together in Perry! 

[jleamont]

Richard, very nice installation!