electric fridge

[headrowe]

I've been given an almost new Electrolux 30l mini fridge. It is 230v,nominal current 0.33A,nominal input 75W.I was wondering if it would be possible to somehow convert it to run on 12v also.I have an Engel fridge at the moment which is capable of doing this.If an inverter was the only solution, what size would be required.My knowledge is very limited regarding electric appliances so please be gentle with me!
If there is no solution then I'll just have to keep it next to my chair /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[bdsweeting]

It all depends on what type of compressor is fitted. A Danfoss BD35 can run off low voltage.

An invertor can always be used if you have the capacity.

 

[William_H]

The Electrolux is almost certainly a household 240v compressor fridge.
As I understand it they don't like running on inverters unless it is a true sine wave type inverter. (open for comment here)
So best stick to Engel. certainly a lot less power consumption. olewill

 

[headrowe]

Don't really know! Just says its an absorbtion type?
Have two 110Ah and one 85Ah starter battery.Any idea what size inverter they could cope with running only the fridge while cruising?

 

[jollyjacktar]

As the fridge requires 75Watts then the simplest solution would be a very small simple inverter with a maximum rating greater than 75W. Most inverters are greater than this. However absorbtion fridges although they are silent can use more power than a compressor fridge. Your 75 watt fridge would use in excess of 6 amps at 12Volts every hour. Further absorbtion fridges generally need some method of getting rid of the heat that comes out of the heater chimney. Check your other fridge, you may find that it is more economical. If so use that as it seems that it is capable of running on 12V without modification.

 

[William_H]

Absorbtion fridges are usually priamrily made to run on gas or in old days parafin. They are often sold as a camping fridge where they are touted as 3 way ie gas 12v or 240v. Look for a gas pipe fitting and wiring and or switch for 12v. If it is an absorbtion type for 240v only then any cheap inverter will run it but it will eat current .
They are very inefficient and I would still suggest you stick with Engel.
olewill

 

[roger]

We had an electrolux caravan fridge of 1 cu.ft. It ran off 12 volt ofr gas. Obviously it was the absorbtion type. I believe it used about 80 watts or c. 7 amps. It was not very effective on 12 volts and much better on gas so I guess the gas consumption was more than 80 watts equivalent.
Frankly I think they are unsuitable for boats. The gas option could be lethal - depending on the flame failure system. In any case there's a riskof Carbon monoxide poisoning. The electricity consumption is pretty high and unsustainable unless you have some very powerful onboard charging system.
As a matter of comparison, my danfoss powered 12 volt compressor fridge (Waeco) uses an alleged 3.5 amps and rarely runs at more than 25% of the time.

 

[headrowe]

Thanks for the help & info. Apparently the fridge is an electrolux RA122H primarily used in pharmacies to keep insulin etc. cool but also sold as a mini bar fridge (at £250 -£325 on various websites!!!!).Was only thinking of using it on the boat because it is brand new and my Engel, although works perfect, looks a bit jaded and makes a lot of noise!
However, this is my first year of boating and I am learning a lot from this forum and always listen to any advice.

 

[Sy-Revolution]

I have a small household (75 watts) fridge in my Camper run off an inverter. First attempt I used a 150 watt inverter, no go, just wouldn't fire up because of the initial draw from the compressor motor. I bought one of the 600 watt units from Maplins when they were on offer and it works a treat........untill the batteries give up!.......

Which, incidently, is a long weekend and just two 100amp batteries, providing I put a litre of frozen milk in there too.

 

[DaveS]

If it is an absorption fridge (should be silent in operation) it will have no motor but an electric heating element. This should happily work with any old waveform so a cheapy inverter should be fine. Unlike a motor, there will be virtually no start up surge, so anything comfortably above it's rating, 100W say, should be OK.

OTOH I entirely agree with others' comments that absorption fridges are inefficient and you can expect 75W of heat to come from its chimney more or less continuously in warm weather - which might be a pain. Assuming an inverter efficiency of 85%, that's about 7.5A steady draw from your battery, i.e. 105 Ah in 14 hours. Your battery charging arrangements would need to be carefully though if you go this route.