Fridges / Cold Boxes ?? Waeco

[Bodach na mara]

The BD35 unit that I fitted in my Renown was capable of running on ac or dc. It seemed to sense the input and adapt accordingly. I don't know how. There was an issue with dc operation however. If it detected a voltage around 12 volts it would cut out if the voltage fell below app. 10.8 volts to protect the battery. It would also cut out when the voltage was above app 15 volts. So far so good; it has a range of suitable voltages with low and high limits. (All voltages quoted are from memory and not from the data book. )

Unfortunately my Renown was fitted with a Watermota diesel engine, which many of you will know requires a 24 volt electrical system. The low and high cutout voltages as suppiied were about 24.8 and 32 respectively so it kept cutting out because of "low" voltage. I had to obtain a detailed manual which gave the circuitry to allow the cutout voltages to be reset to 24 and 31.5 volts. The circuit also allowed the connection of warning lights showing whether the unit was powered, cooling, and also displaying a fault code if it had cut out.

I have a built in fridge in my current boat and the dual voltage operation has caused an embarrassing problem. We have got into the habit of leaving the fridge on overnight, just like at home, when we are in a berth with shore power. When the family were aboard last summer we were anchored one night and I forgot to turn off the fridge when we went to bed. In the morning the batteries were flat and the engine wouldn't turn over. Thank God that there was someone in the anchorage with a Lithium ion power pack!

 

[V1701]

I had one of these Alpicool compressor coolboxes - 20l, very good value indeed, worked well and drew not much power. If you're quick they're on Amazon ATM @ £178 minus £35 offer so only £143...

 

[Tranona]

How do you get the £35 off?

 

[Refueler]

I had one of these Alpicool compressor coolboxes - 20l, very good value indeed, worked well and drew not much power. If you're quick they're on Amazon ATM @ £178 minus £35 offer so only £143...

Does not deliver to Latvia ....

 

[Refueler]

How do you get the £35 off?

Many Amazon products ... look down the listing at right side of picture and usually there is a box you tick to take advantage of a single voucher off .....

 

[lustyd]

I have never noticed that voucher thing before. I wonder what the scam is?

 

[V1701]

How do you get the £35 off?

Yes as above there's a little box to tick to apply the voucher...

 

[V1701]

I have never noticed that voucher thing before. I wonder what the scam is?

Blimey you're more cynical than I am! On this occasion I don't think there's a scam...

 

[lustyd]

Blimey you're more cynical than I am! On this occasion I don't think there's a scam...

If there’s no scam it would just be the price. I’m not cynical or paranoid, I work for a global tech firm so see the inside of the scams.

 

[Tranona]

No scam (I hope!) Just ordered a 22l version - slightly bigger inside and has a separate smaller compartment. Will fit the space I have in mind. Thanks for the heads up on the £40 discount.

 

[lustyd]

Oh I’ll probably still order one, cheap way to get a spare compressor for the boat ?

 

[Bodach na mara]

Scanning through the pictures in the Apicool description I noticed that it has "low battery drain" of "only 1kWh in 2days" which means that it will completely drain a 80Ah battery in 2 days. I would worry about this.

 

[eilerts]

I have the budget version of icebox conversion in my boat. I intercepted a boat fridge on its ay from a mobo to the recycling, took the coling mechanism carefully out and adapted it to my icebox. The fridge was thrown out because a door hinge was broken and the plastic interior was tatty. At the same time I changed the insulation around the box from 2cm EPS (held together with packaging tape) to 5cm XPS (glued corners). If I had space for more I would add more. The compressor (Danfoss BD35F) uses 3V when running, but runs less than 20% of the time. It does not look bad, but I have to admit it looks more homemade that things mentioned above

 

[Greenheart]

I think I asked this in the last fridge thread, but I can't recall the answer.

Given that electrical requirement is the chief downside of an on-board fridge, aren't gas-powered fridges ideal?

Below is the first one I found on Amazon...not a recommendation, but clearly cold drinks needn't spell flat batteries:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dometic-RC...eywords=Gas+Fridge&qid=1673554545&sr=8-3&th=1

 

[AngusMcDoon]

I think I asked this in the last fridge thread, but I can't recall the answer.

Given that electrical requirement is the chief downside of an on-board fridge, aren't gas-powered fridges ideal?

Need to be within a few degrees of level, so not good on boats. OK for camper vans though.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Was looking at various .... then saw eBays Global Shipping Program costs .................

I know various sellers were cheating eBay in the past - but this system is taking the p**** !!

My biggest problem is shipping .... if I was in UK - then not so bad ... but being in Latvia is not so good.

I looked at one as example in UK .... 150 quid ... then add 49 quid shipping and 85 quid Customs / Service charges ....

Vevor are European agents for a range of Chinese compressor fridges. They are a German company, they ship to uk, I should think they ship to Latvia. We have a 40 litre version, it is in fact the best thing since sliced bread. Ours draws 5 amps on startup, but averages about 1.5 amps over 24 hours.

 

[Tranona]

Scanning through the pictures in the Apicool description I noticed that it has "low battery drain" of "only 1kWh in 2days" which means that it will completely drain a 80Ah battery in 2 days. I would worry about this.

Little different from a built in fridge. On my last boat the fridge generally used over 40 amps a day in mid summer. Typical consumption is 4A when running and runs 35-40% of the time. So 0.4*4*24 = 38.4. If you want to run your fridge 24 hours then you build your battery system to cope with it. On the Bavaria i had a house bank of nominal 285Ah and of course a dedicated start battery so I would not get in the situation you did not being able to start the engine. That was adequate for 2 or 3 days away from shorepower with the typical anchoring overnight and usually motoring 2-3 hours during the day. If you have solar you can extend that. With the Golden Hind I have less toys - no pressure water, no autopilot, LED cabin lights and no night sailing so have only 190Ah house bank. Should be able to run the fridge on that.

 

[Refueler]

My boat has an under divan locker but being an old 1970's job .... not so convenient to convert.
The stbd 1/4 berth has been divided by a bulkhead creating a cockpit locker and short storage space in cabin. My Coolbox sits there.
My Coolbox works but as said earlier - its power hungry and doesn't go low enough.

Looking at the Compressor boxes .... one factor that causes me concern - the small size compared to my existing box.

Power ? I have two 90 A/hr car batterys ..... so extreme care is needed in use ..... The battery box cannot take larger ......

 

[Chiara’s slave]

My boat has an under divan locker but being an old 1970's job .... not so convenient to convert.
The stbd 1/4 berth has been divided by a bulkhead creating a cockpit locker and short storage space in cabin. My Coolbox sits there.
My Coolbox works but as said earlier - its power hungry and doesn't go low enough.

Looking at the Compressor boxes .... one factor that causes me concern - the small size compared to my existing box.

Power ? I have two 90 A/hr car batterys ..... so extreme care is needed in use ..... The battery box cannot take larger ......

We have the same issues, our fridge is under the companionway step( theres only 1). We have 120ah of battery, but it only has a 15hp outboard to crank, and if it can’t, there’s a hand start. 200w of solar currently, we plan on doubling that and going Li on the battery. We looked here Search Fridge | VEVOR EU and chose one that we could fit in. Obviously a rectangular box wastes space on a boat, you don’t get the capacity of a built in fridge. We manage, milk, salad, bit of meat and a few tinnies.

 

[Cspirit]

I fitted a compressor fridge to the ice box in my last boat. It ran on 12 volt supported by 240v when on shore power. 18 years in the Med and no problems. I have now moved to a smaller boat in the UK and have purchsed an Alpicool stand alone compressor fridge. I intend to run this on the 12 volt circuit backed up by 240v when on shore power, as with my last boat. My question is this; is it more effcient to run the Alpicool directly on shore power when alongside, or is there no advantage to leaving it connected to 12 volt with shore power replenishing the battery?