www.iFourWinns.com

I'm looking to replace the Norcold on my 2004 Vista 268. Can anyone tell me what model it is? (I don't want to pull it out until I'm ready to replace it.) Any recommendations for a replacement are also greatly appreciated.

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Paul Dauwer
Bunch of Time
Hingham, MA

2004 Vista 268 - VP 5.7iE

Just curious why are you changing it. They are notorious for being underwired. Mine wouldn’t run on 12v. I bought a new one and it did the same thing. When fridge kicked in it would pull voltage down below 10 volts which is to low to run. It pulls out pretty easy. They are a bear to get out of the cuddy though

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2001 Four Winns Vista 248 by rick2752, on Flickr

Ran great for 13 years. Never had a problem. Stopped working a couple of weeks ago. Figured it's about time for a new one. Are you suggesting it could be fixed?

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Paul Dauwer
Bunch of Time
Hingham, MA

2004 Vista 268 - VP 5.7iE

Did it quit all together? Does it work on shore power? Mine worked on shore power but not on 12v

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2001 Four Winns Vista 248 by rick2752, on Flickr

Quit altogether.

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Paul Dauwer
Bunch of Time
Hingham, MA

2004 Vista 268 - VP 5.7iE

Check the voltage inverter on the back of the unit.
Mine went out last year.
It converts AC/shore power to 24 VDC and straight feeds the 12VDC power thru it.
There is an older post on here about it.
I had to purchase the larger inverter (they don't make the small one that came with it anymore).
A lot cheaper than replacing the entire fridge.
Does the light come on inside?
Does the unit try to come on for about 1-2 seconds on shore power and then shutdown?

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The Dance II
2007 278 Vista
6.2L Mercruiser

Hi Dolphin,

Thanks for responding.

So yours worked for quite a while, as well. I was under the impression that if the inverter was the problem it would have died much sooner.

There's no light inside the fridge. This is how the dying process progressed:

1. It worked fine when first put the boat in the water a few weeks ago.
2. The compressor ran but the fridge was not cold after about a week on shore power.
3. The green light on door panel was lit, but no compressor.
4. Green light went out about 2 weeks ago.

All of this is on shore power and nothing changed under battery power.

Is this similar to what you experienced?

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Paul Dauwer
Bunch of Time
Hingham, MA

2004 Vista 268 - VP 5.7iE

Not exactly what mine did, but I would still recommend removing the fridge and checking the power inverter.
Make sure you have power coming in to it, and power coming out of it.
Then try bypassing and applying 12VDC direct to the plug coming from the inverter.
It is all very obvious on the back.

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The Dance II
2007 278 Vista
6.2L Mercruiser