2000 380 Refrigerator Replacement - Norcold DE-461 to DE-0061

[natesms]

Replaced my fridge over the weekend and ran into a few challenges so took some pictures along way to document my experience for others and hopefully save them some time. Just a DIY'er so take all this with a grain of salt.

The Norcold DE-0061 is the direct replacement for the DE-461 according to Norcold. It did fit, even the screw holes lined up on the front, however it wasn't quite that simple. I ended up having to relocate the compressor to clear in the back (pictures to follow), so I'm pretty sure I voided the warranty immediately. It's in and working and looks good though.

This project took several hours, probably 5, and requires a friend or two to get the fridge up and down the stairs. Hopefully this helps someone out in the future.

 

[natesms]

The First step is to get everything out of the way, you have to take the doors to the cabin off (sorry, no pictures there). Take the top pad off, unscrew the little trucks (4 bolts on each door at the top), and unscrew from the bottom (3 bolts + cams hold the doors to sliders).

You'll also want to remove the grab rail in the galley to make clearing the fridge easier. You'll need an open ended wrench.

 

[natesms]

Removing the Fridge is easy, just undo all the screws on the edges and bottom and slide out. Put a towel on the galley to keep it from scraping the edge, it has to come straight out. I removed all the doors before pulling, including the hinges. Once you have fridge out, remove the black frame to make getting it out the door easier. This required a hammer and flat bar as it's glued to the fridge. I also removed a fan off the back by the compressor.

 

[natesms]

Unhooking the electrical was easy, standard plug for the A/C and the D/C was connected by 2 screws to a capacitor under the red covers.

You can also see the fan that needed to come off at the very bottom of the picture.

 

[natesms]

Now the fun part where you will unquestionably need a friend capable of lifting almost 100 pounds over their head. No pictures here, but cover the fridge with a moving blanket or heavy towels to protect your interior going through the door and lift it directly up and then out through the door (again, if it can be removed from the fridge, remove it).

 

[natesms]

This is what the cabinet looks like, note the angled board in the top left, this will become a problem later. Also, you'll want to remove the stairway handrail

 

[natesms]

To get the new fridge in through the door, all hinges and doors and trim came off. I also had to disconnect the compressor on the back and slide it around the side of the fridge. I think there were 5 self tapping screws. One person holds the compressor as 2 others lowered the fridge through the door. Essentially came in straight down, there is zero room to angle the fridge through the door. Again wrap it with something. The good news is the new fridge doesn't have nearly as many sharp edges.

 

[natesms]

At this point, I hooked up the DC lines with 2 butt connectors and heat shrink tubing. Plugged in the A/C and made sure there where lights. I then test fit the fridge to find out it would not go all the way back due to the compressor hitting that angled board I highlighted above.

 

[natesms]

What I did was move the compressor towards the middle of the fridge about 6 inches. There was only 1 screw that grabbed into a frame piece to really secure it, the rest was all insulation so it's fairly shady. I was really worried about hitting something I shouldn't with the screws but it seems fine.

Top-down look, you can see some of the old screw holes.

 

[natesms]

The fridge now goes in, and it looks great!!! It even lines up with the old screw holes and as I take the "complete" picture, I realize I forgot to put the stairway handrail back on, so the whole thing has to come out! The worst part is having to pop the plastic trim off the fridge as it doesn't fit as tightly the 2nd time around. I highly recommend avoiding this mistake.

 

[natesms]

All and all, a very doable project, just takes time and requires some good helpers.

 

[Chris-380]

Great job, thanks for taking the time to document this for the ones that haven’t done this. Mine is original from 2000 also

 

[Garry Van Zandt]

Awesome post. This should be really helpful for when the original fridge needs replacing. It appears that not if it needs replacing but when. Good job

 

[Nauti 97]

Great post, Thanks!
I still have the original fridge in my 2000 so I am sure I will need this in the future.

 

[Francisco Diaz]

All and all, a very doable project, just takes time and requires some good helpers.

Hi, this is super helpful as mine just died. Is the unit still working well for you? Also it says door panels are separate.. was this the case for you also? TIA

 

[natesms]

Hi, this is super helpful as mine just died. Is the unit still working well for you? Also it says door panels are separate.. was this the case for you also? TIA

Still works great. Only real complaint is the freezer frosts up and I have thaw it out once a month during the summer. Panels were separate when I bought it as well.

 

[Nauti 97]

As I stated last year
“Great post, Thanks!
I still have the original fridge in my 2000 so I am sure I will need this in the future.”
Well it happened it’s done for this year. So I will be taking on this project in the near future.
Are the front Panels from the DE461 able to be installed on the DE0061? We have maple interior and would like to keep the original look.

 

[dtfeld]

I don't know if the panels are same between the two.

But if not, when I replaced mine with a Nova Kool, I bought some new material from John @PlayDate at Restoration Marine and cut new panels.

 

[km1125]

I think the reason why those refrigerant lines are so long is so you CAN relocate the compressor to fit the installation!

Just have to make sure you don't kink something in the process and make sure the new mounting of the compressor assembly can take the jolts when you end up bashing some waves in the future.

Great project summary and great pics!

 

[mrsrobinson]

I will be doing, or paying someone to do, this project soon, mine just completely died. This is a great write up, thank you for doing this, it will definitely help me.