Ken,The problems you are experiencing with refrigeration are not unusual they even occur on million dollar boats. Most times refrigeration problems are easily solved by correcting the heat flow through a system.
The question is who is responsible when your new boats refrigeration unit does not perform correctly, refrigerator manufacturer, Boat manufacturer, or the boat purchaser?
• I believe the manual for the refrigeration unit you have states the following. “Let the unit breath! Position the condensing unit so that its fan can intake air from one space and discharge it to another. Do not re-circulate the same air unless the compartment in which you mount the unit is 100cubic feet or larger in volume, unobstructed, and below the water line.â€
Refrigerator Performance
Moderator: KenKrawford
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Richard Kollmann
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:26 pm
- Location: Ft. Lauderdale
- Contact:
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william vanwagoner
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:59 pm
- Location: Destiny #229 Long Beach CA
After all of the refrigeration talk, I ran a few experiments of my own. After leaving the unit on for two days on almost the coldest setting, the evaporator frosts over, but I am only getting down to about 31.6 degrees F, and it will not freeze anything. Then I noted that there is some ice buildup where the copper coils go from the compressor into the plastic conduit leading toward the ice box. The air around the compressor did not appear to be too hot, and I do not believe ventilation of the compressor unit is that significant, at least in my case. Does anyone else have this experience where frost has built up on the copper line near the compressor?
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Richard Kollmann
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:26 pm
- Location: Ft. Lauderdale
- Contact:
Refrigerator Frost line
William, Your feedback is good information and before I am to quick is recommending a solution I need some more information.
The size inside of box or boxes dimensions or cubic feet.
About how much tubing is there from the refrigerator plate to the compressor? I mean length of tubing not distance between the box and compressor. Sometimes the excess tube may be in a coil by the condensing unit.
How old is the unit? Can you read the model number on compressor is it a BD3 or BD35?
Can you describe the evaporator plate in the box? Is it mounted flush to the wall or on stand off tubes? I have the measurements of evaporator from one owner but I am confused is it a thick or thin plate? If the evaporator is a thin plate is it U or L shaped? I need to figure its surface area of conductive heat transfer so I must have measurements of your evaporator.
Does your boat have a DC ammeter accurate enough to read amperages from 3 to 8 amps or do you have a volt ohm meter with a 10 amp DC scale?
The size inside of box or boxes dimensions or cubic feet.
About how much tubing is there from the refrigerator plate to the compressor? I mean length of tubing not distance between the box and compressor. Sometimes the excess tube may be in a coil by the condensing unit.
How old is the unit? Can you read the model number on compressor is it a BD3 or BD35?
Can you describe the evaporator plate in the box? Is it mounted flush to the wall or on stand off tubes? I have the measurements of evaporator from one owner but I am confused is it a thick or thin plate? If the evaporator is a thin plate is it U or L shaped? I need to figure its surface area of conductive heat transfer so I must have measurements of your evaporator.
Does your boat have a DC ammeter accurate enough to read amperages from 3 to 8 amps or do you have a volt ohm meter with a 10 amp DC scale?
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/ ... cs2001.jpg
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/ ... cs2003.jpg
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/ ... cs2004.jpg
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/ ... cs2005.jpg
Greetings again all. Here's where I am thus far. I have replaced the original fridge lids with the new, wider lids. This is not as easy as Catalina's Instructions indicate, by the way. This has helped some.
Next, I drilled 1 1/2 inch round holes all over in the wall between the freezer space and the refrigerator space. The newer models do not even have this wall. The idea is to get more air into the refrigerator space. If you can do this, then you can dial down the freeze unit, and save energy. I have about 12 holes drilled now. After drilling, I used white caulking to reseal the insulation and all inside the holes. I used the larger drill bit that Catalina sent us to cut the holes for the engine siphon holes under the steps - thank you Catalina.
I then added a divider to the freezer side, and made a drink holder/space. I love this, keeps the beer really cold, and out of the way. I can now fit a 5 lb bag of ice between the Adler Barbour unit and the new divider wall. This bag of ice will stay frozen. Make sure you remove the plastic tray on the bottom of the A-B unit if you're going to do this. I cut mine in half so it will slide back in, but I really do not use it any longer. See pictures.
I added an exhaust fan, a .15 amp computer fan similar to the one in the box, i added this to the duct hose that exits near the A-B unit in the stern. This exhausts the hot air that builds up in the compartment. This is wired to the power to the A-B unit, so when the breaker is on, the fan is on. You have to switch the hoses down behind the engine as someone else pointed out. This is easy to do.
I also installed another one of these little .15 amp fans to blow in the unit itself. This one comes on when the compressor runs only. I paid $3.50 for these fans on ebay, delivered.
I also have an hour meter installed so I can monitor the run time of the unit. I'm now getting run times of 15-16 hours per 24 hours. Ambient temp outside the box is 75 day, 65 night. Freezer temp is 8 degrees inside the A-B box, adn 39-42 degrees in the refigerator. This is with the A-B temp set at 2 1/2, and the fan set at 5 (or max) . I plan to keep the fan running.
I've got a few more things to do, but I'm making good progress. Thought I'd let you all know these things.
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/ ... cs2003.jpg
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/ ... cs2004.jpg
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/ ... cs2005.jpg
Greetings again all. Here's where I am thus far. I have replaced the original fridge lids with the new, wider lids. This is not as easy as Catalina's Instructions indicate, by the way. This has helped some.
Next, I drilled 1 1/2 inch round holes all over in the wall between the freezer space and the refrigerator space. The newer models do not even have this wall. The idea is to get more air into the refrigerator space. If you can do this, then you can dial down the freeze unit, and save energy. I have about 12 holes drilled now. After drilling, I used white caulking to reseal the insulation and all inside the holes. I used the larger drill bit that Catalina sent us to cut the holes for the engine siphon holes under the steps - thank you Catalina.
I then added a divider to the freezer side, and made a drink holder/space. I love this, keeps the beer really cold, and out of the way. I can now fit a 5 lb bag of ice between the Adler Barbour unit and the new divider wall. This bag of ice will stay frozen. Make sure you remove the plastic tray on the bottom of the A-B unit if you're going to do this. I cut mine in half so it will slide back in, but I really do not use it any longer. See pictures.
I added an exhaust fan, a .15 amp computer fan similar to the one in the box, i added this to the duct hose that exits near the A-B unit in the stern. This exhausts the hot air that builds up in the compartment. This is wired to the power to the A-B unit, so when the breaker is on, the fan is on. You have to switch the hoses down behind the engine as someone else pointed out. This is easy to do.
I also installed another one of these little .15 amp fans to blow in the unit itself. This one comes on when the compressor runs only. I paid $3.50 for these fans on ebay, delivered.
I also have an hour meter installed so I can monitor the run time of the unit. I'm now getting run times of 15-16 hours per 24 hours. Ambient temp outside the box is 75 day, 65 night. Freezer temp is 8 degrees inside the A-B box, adn 39-42 degrees in the refigerator. This is with the A-B temp set at 2 1/2, and the fan set at 5 (or max) . I plan to keep the fan running.
I've got a few more things to do, but I'm making good progress. Thought I'd let you all know these things.