portable on board freezer

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duke

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Am thinking about purchasing a small freezer ( about half size standard under counter fridge) for onboard and possible also use at home.

Any advice as to which is better:
1) mains + 12/24 volt supply model or
2) mains with an invertor (when on board).

With the latter I think there may be a bigger selection and possibly better specification.
Any info or other advice re this would be much appreciated. Also, info on makes available.

Thanks,

Duke,
 
Yo Duke. !
Only one check in the box for us..

WACO.. dont bother with an inverter model.. or if you do, use the on board inverter if fitted - not the one with the unit.

WACO units, around 2 to 3 hundred pounds are simply exceptional.. low power, well insulated, does what it says on the tin..


We have the WACO 25 lts fridge freezer in fridge mode.. am buying another to use in freeze mode. or to double up as more fridge.. best of both worlds.. can even use both as freezers..

Joe n Jayne
 
I would not recommend the inverter approach for two reasons. Firstly the compressor of a freezer when starting up can be a very difficult load to power, you would probably need a pretty big invertor to power it.

Secondly if power consumption is an issue then the compressors on domestic freezers tend to be less efficient than the Danfoss onces commonly fitted to boat fridges.

Check out the Waeco coolboxes - they are both 240v and 12/24 and are very efficient.
 
We have the WAECO 35lt brilliant bit of kit - built in 12v/240v trasformer. Just boost the power and it will act as a freezer - turn it down and its a fridge. HOWEVER - you would need considerable battery power to run it as a freezer. We tend to use ours as a fridge on shorepower when in the marina and on battery when at sea. It does come with a variable voltage cut out device - ie you can set it to cut off so it runs the battery down more or less. They are expensive - ours cost about £500.

Just for info, someone was advertising one here on the For Sale forum recently and I don't think they had any offers.
 
Hi Duke,
I would vouch for Waeco , 12V models. I have their smallest , the CF18 , it is very efficient and it's current consumtion is very low. Mine is not fitted in , it just sits where the navigators feet go in my boat. Might be too small for you if I understand your post.
I bought mine from Ebay's 'aliandjoe' , for about £270 , might be worth seeing if they also sell the bigger models.
 
Be aware that many portable 240/12volt combi fridge freezers have a thermostat on the 240 volt supply but not on the 12 volt, which means that they run whether they need to or not. I asked the question why and the reason which was quoted was that the thermostats cannot handle the amperage on 12 volts, which means that you the mug customer are consuming valuable battery power when the system should have shut down! Frustrating!
 
If the bold "Cliff" was still about he'd tell you that he ran domestic fridges from invertors on his boat. I saw them with my own eyes, I have no idea about his battery setup, but I can tell you that his beer was cold and he had ice to spare.
He may well have explained it all on here in the past, might be worth a search.
 
Re: I think

The original question whether to buy a domestic freezer (cheap) or portable 12v expensive depends on your boating habits.
If you spend a lot of time on shore power then a domestic freezer running on mains will do nicely providing that you are willing to allow the freezer to defrost when away sailing. It probably won't warm up much in a days sailing but overnights away may be a problem.

I believe you need a true sine wave inverter to run fridges and will need more power for starting.

If you want to run it on the ships battery then go for the 12v compressor types. Just make sure you don't get one of those electronic coolers (they will heat as well as cool) they are useless. (certanly in Oz).

If you see a chinese compressor type 12v freezer around half the price of Waeco grab it. A friend bought one a few years back and it is very good. A motor parts discounter had imported a batch of them into Oz but not regularly available. (no usefull name) Fairly large top loading portable. olewill
 
Many thanks to all who responded.

Always amazed how quickly and expertly queries get answered on this Forum.

Duke.
 
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