diyvanner
Rhode Island
Senior Member
Joined: 07/04/2007
View Profile
|
Just got back from a week of camping on the MD coast. Great weather, lots of sun, and we could hear the waves lap the shore at night. The problem was that our refrigerator, a 12 V DC Norcold, would turn on and drown out the sound of the waves and interfere with a good night's sleep. Has anyone ever modified a compressor type fridge so that it is really whisper quiet? I hate to get rid of it because it really is an efficient unit. Don’t have propane on board and only want a 12 volt unit.
For anyone interested, running the florescent lights, toilet, water pump, overhead fan, and fridge lasted five full days before I ran both batteries (200 Amp-Hours total) out. Solar panels coming soon. Would have run longer but about 2 days out I found that the door gasket to the fridge had a large open gap that must have let a lot of cold air escape. I will have to add a latch to keep it shut, especially when the door is fully loaded. BTW, when we turned off the fridge and filled it with ice, the quiet was deafening and we got the best sleep ever. Insignificant sounds during the day make a big difference in a B size coach at night.
diyVanner
|
Hit The Road Jack
Treasure Coast of Florida
Senior Member
Joined: 10/20/2005
View Profile
 Offline
|
diyvanner wrote:Just got back from a week of camping on the MD coast. Great weather, lots of sun, and we could hear the waves lap the shore at night. The problem was that our refrigerator, a 12 V DC Norcold, would turn on and drown out the sound of the waves and interfere with a good night's sleep. Has anyone ever modified a compressor type fridge so that it is really whisper quiet? I hate to get rid of it because it really is an efficient unit. Don’t have propane on board and only want a 12 volt unit.
For anyone interested, running the florescent lights, toilet, water pump, overhead fan, and fridge lasted five full days before I ran both batteries (200 Amp-Hours total) out. Solar panels coming soon. Would have run longer but about 2 days out I found that the door gasket to the fridge had a large open gap that must have let a lot of cold air escape. I will have to add a latch to keep it shut, especially when the door is fully loaded. BTW, when we turned off the fridge and filled it with ice, the quiet was deafening and we got the best sleep ever. Insignificant sounds during the day make a big difference in a B size coach at night.
Any sound deadening enclosure would have to be over-sized to allow for proper ventilation...a counter-productive fabrication!
Very true about insignificant sounds sounding larger than life at nap time...
2006 DIY Dodge Badged Sprinter Conversion
'Roadhouse' Interior
|
booster
Minnesota
Senior Member
Joined: 10/14/2007
View Profile
|
Many folks (especially boaters) claim that the Isotherm refrigerators are significantly quieter,more efficient, and more reliable than the Norcolds. They do use a different compressor, so that could be at least part of it. We will be putting in an Isotherm 3.0 cf shortly, to replace our 3 way in the Roadtrek, so we will see if folks are right.
* This post was
edited 10/13/09 10:12am by booster *
|
landyacht318
Near a large body of water
Senior Member
Joined: 07/11/2007
View Profile
|
I too have found my compressor Norcold to be louder than I like. Especially in colder weather when I do not have fans running to create some white noise.
Some of the noise is caused by the vibration from the fridge, and other things like forks in the sink vibrating because of it.
I have taken the following steps and have gotten the noise down to tolerable levels. Now, it never wakes me up, and I'm a light sleeper.
The vertical rails that the fridge edges screw into are solid rubber.
I had added 1/2 inch to 1 inch of foam all around the fridge. 1 inch on the bottom. Since It requires airflow underneath, I have a shelf about 2.5 inches off the floor. This shelf sits on the same solid rubber feet, and has some foam rubber that the fridge rests upon.
Basically the fridge floats around in it's enclosure, but still requires the removal of 4 screws and a little finesse to remove.
This helped a lot.
I have also insulated the cabinet in which it sits, but one has to leave space on top and below the fridge for ventilation, but just putting sound deadening material along the airflow path also reduced the noise.
The triangle in the corner is where a quiet muffin fans runs 24/7. Under the fridge is some sliding storage. When the fridge's shelf touched this drawer, the noise and vibration increased.
Granted I originally build the cabinet around the fridge, hoping to reduce the duty cycle. After it was in I realized I needed to quiet it down as well. If you can afford it, maybe investigate the isotherm.
I know My father had a large Tundra brand compressor fridge on his boat, and that one is way quieter than my Norcold.
Some compressor fridges
|
diyvanner
Rhode Island
Senior Member
Joined: 07/04/2007
View Profile
|
Thanks for the feedback. Booster, I’d be interested in hearing how loud the sound level of your Isotherm is at night. Landyacht318, I did most of what you’ve done to quiet mine except I probably need to decouple the unit from the cabinet more. The rubber vertical rail is worth a shot. I called a Norcold service center and will take mine in to see what they suggest. I actually insulated the entire box quite heavily but will redo it with sound insulation instead. You just may see a B with a compressor in an outside compartment (no kidding, if I can’t get it quiet enough).
|
|
|
landyacht318
Near a large body of water
Senior Member
Joined: 07/11/2007
View Profile
|
You can see in the attached photo in my earlier post, I built a thin closet next to where my compressor lies. This area, if empty, acts like a sound amplifier, and seems to direct sound at my head, 2 or 3 feet away.
When it is filled with clothes and my surfing wetsuit gear, little noise makes it past.
Does the noise/ tempo of your fridge change when you push on the door?
Now that mine is out of warranty I am thinking of mounting the compressor on rubber feet where it attaches to the skin. The compressor is suspended on rubber bushings from the factory, but I think more might be useful, unless it causes some weird harmonics to occur.
|
diyvanner
Rhode Island
Senior Member
Joined: 07/04/2007
View Profile
|
If I do an exterior compartment, I'd shape it to amplify the sound to the outside and probably use a louvred door or cover. The noise/tempo of the fridge doesn't change when I push the door (just checked to make sure). I really shoehorned the insulation in between the fridge and compartment. I can feel the vibration from the compressor through the walls of the compartment and so I think the decoupling idea is needed. I'll ask the service guy about extra and softer bushings to reduce the vibration feedback into the unit.
|
landyacht318
Near a large body of water
Senior Member
Joined: 07/11/2007
View Profile
|
I put a dead air space in between the walls of my fridge and the insulated sides. The space is sealed off with some light density foam rubber covered with some flexfit silver tape. I can barely feel the vibrations in the cabinet or floor. It is like 1/10 as strong as when there was a direct fit to the cabinet.
I can move it about 1/4 inch in any direction before it compresses the foam on the bottom or sides. When it does contact the cabinetry, the vibration is much more pronounced.
I had to drill out the holes in the side rails to allow this movement.
I'll be interested what the Norcold tech says. Please update.
|
kmessinger
Bay area but NOT San Francisco or Berkeley
Senior Member
Joined: 01/13/2008
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club
Offline
|
I put rubber strips on the bottom metal runners and added reflectix insulation all around. Still vibrates but is much quiter. Also at night I turn it down to 2 where it is normally on 3.
Regards,
Keith
The excellent adventures of Keith and Debbie. Observations about life, at home and on the road in our 2008 Sportsmobile Sprinter. (Warning: Occasional sharp turns to the right.)
|
thriftydutch
Ontario, Canada
Senior Member
Joined: 12/27/2003
View Profile
Offline
|
Mine was making a lot of noise and I discovered that the ice cube trays in the freezer and the plastic locking switch in the center of the door were the problem. The trays were dancing around on the metal shelf. Solved all my noise problems with those 2 items. My fridge is 20 years old and runs like a top. Mine is also a Norcold.
1990 L.E.R. Dodge B 250 Class B 17'
|
|
|
