I was set to buy a Norcold DE0051 for my Bayliner when I read some of the
customer reviews on the West Marine site.  5 People complained that the unit
died after 4 years.  I don't want to drop $600 on the Norcold to have it die
in 4 yrs.

There were no reviews on the Adler Barbor.(Waeco)  It looks like a nice unit
though.  It is $60 more than the Norcold.

Any opinions on the reliability of the above unit.

A third unit not listed is the Tundra by Dometic.  I'm having trouble
finding information or pricing on these units.

Thanks in advance

Craig    Monterey10@hotmail.com

I replaced an old Norcold unit with a Tundra T-80 ("full height") several
years ago and have been very pleased.  The Tundra seemed to be well designed
and constructed with the possible exception of the door latches, although
they have not failed.  The Tundra used about half the amps as the old
Norcold.  I think the newer Norcolds also use about half the amps as the old
models.  I prefer the Tundra because it uses the Danfoss compressor which,
I think, makes for a better system than the Norcold.

Jim Fidler  "Fiddlesticks"

I also replaced a Norcold with a Tundra.  In addition to
the benefits mentioned by Jim Fidler of Fiddlesticks,
you also get an 8.5 cubic foot unit to replace a 6.5
cubic foot unit in the same space!!!

The Tundra (mine, anyway) was designed to run on
either nominal 12 and 24 VDC operation.  AC operation
is from a power supply running on your 120 VAC shore
power (or generator) line.  It puts out 24 VDC.  You
can tell if you have lost your 120 VAC power because
the lamp in the fridge is designed to run on 24-28 VDC
and is noticably dimmer running on 12-14 VDC.

We have had our Tundra since 2002 and like it a lot.
Unlike the Norcold, it has a fan to help cool everything
and isn't as likely to die from external heat.

Local refrigeration shop here would have replaced the
compressor on the Norcold for about $500, but the
small capacity, larger amperage, and other problems
would have remained.

D C "Mac" Macdonald
m/v Another Adventure
Grand Lake - Oklahoma

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Jim Fidler" fidlerjim@earthlink.net
To: "Craig Harlamoff" monterey10@hotmail.com,
"great-loop"great-loop@lists.samurai.com
Subject: Re: GL: Which Refrigerator?
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 11:12:08 -0500

I replaced an old Norcold unit with a Tundra T-80 ("full height") several
years ago and have been very pleased.  The Tundra seemed to be well designed
and constructed with the possible exception of the door latches, although
they have not failed.  The Tundra used about half the amps as the old
Norcold.  I think the newer Norcolds also use about half the amps as the old
models.  I prefer the Tundra because it uses the Danfoss compressor which,
I think, makes for a better system than the Norcold.

Jim Fidler  "Fiddlesticks"

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