Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

[downunder]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Which gets us back to another blast from the past:
Why cant I take 50-100mm blue styrofoam and stick it on the outer of my domestic fridge?
Surely this will increase foam thickness and efficiency.

No reason at all.

[s/v Jedi]

Putting the fridge inside more insulation helps, but ...

To do that you basically build an insulated box without the inner lining. Add that lining and a lid and you don't need the standard fridge anymore.

One of the problems is that the outer finishing of the fridge is a decent heat conductor. This will transport heat from the front side, where the door is, into the area where you added foam. The heat is going around your defenses
You can prevent that by removng the outer lining and put your extra foam directly on the fridge's insulation. Which just leaves the door with less insulation, but that is less than 25% of the loss. The bottom insulation is the most important one.

ciao!
Nick.

[Wanderlust]

I'm following this with great interest because I can see a potential for a larger capacity without breaking the bank. What was mentioned briefly earlier but not covered in any depth is how a domestic compressor system handles the motion that would be expected at sea.

While a cat will not have the lean of a mono, there will be swells to negotiate and quite a bumpy ride in rough weather.

Does anyone have any first hand experience of these units NOT working (or worse) failing due to motion?

[saylor240]

I have Reefer/HVAC background and find this post very interesting.....makes me think a Oil-less compressor would be ideal on a boat. I have built Custom Walk in coolers and freezers and wine rooms, I bet i could build something on boat. So i guess no one uses Propane refrigeration? There are also some advancements in CO2 refrigeration very high efficiency....
so i'm thinking i can make a few bucks at the boat docks..humm...

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by saylor240

I have Reefer/HVAC background and find this post very interesting.....makes me think a Oil-less compressor would be ideal on a boat. I have built Custom Walk in coolers and freezers and wine rooms, I bet i could build something on boat. So i guess no one uses Propane refrigeration? There are also some advancements in CO2 refrigeration very high efficiency....
so i'm thinking i can make a few bucks at the boat docks..humm...

Propane will not be very successful because it is the propane that runs out first already. Electric energy is the way because every boat can generate it from the sun, wind and diesel.

ciao!
Nick.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by saylor240

I have Reefer/HVAC background and find this post very interesting.....makes me think a Oil-less compressor would be ideal on a boat. I have built Custom Walk in coolers and freezers and wine rooms, I bet i could build something on boat. So i guess no one uses Propane refrigeration? There are also some advancements in CO2 refrigeration very high efficiency....
so i'm thinking i can make a few bucks at the boat docks..humm...

Many of fishing boats and larger charter fishing party boats in Aus which have gensets running 24/7 simply use conventional 240v refrig gear. One of the tourist charter vessels I worked on had a walk in freezer for storing food and for times they had charter fishermen on board.

[jakegator]

So maybe i missed this part in one of the pages, but if you were to take a normal home refrigerator, secure it put some kind of locks on the doors then it would work on a mono if it doesnt heel (stays at a dock)? So why cant you take a marine compressor and attach it to the home refrigerator? In my mind you would get the best of both worlds?

[sailorchic34]

Well my 120V fridge works fine at 10-20 degree heel and even to 30 degrees sometimes. Not sure who said that a 120V compressor of the same basic compressor design as the Danfoss 12V would not work on a sailboat (monohull). Mine does and has for 5 years. Ok at the dock some but out sailing quite a bit too.

[jm21]

I'm wondering the same thing as Wanderlust....what does the heel do to the compressor on a freezer or refrigerator built for home use? Would it just upset the timing for a bit or could/would it destroy the compressor permanently?

Do household appliances have lots of different types of compressors and there are certain ones we should look for?

Sorry for my obvious lack of knowledge....

[daddle]

Any compressor type refrigerator should work just fine on a heeled and bouncing boat. Except for the rusting steel, poor insulation, and the contents tumbling around and out.

[jm21]

Well I was thinking about a small top loading chest freezer....lots of boats here with an icebox....rather than replacing the icebox with a marine refrigerator and freezer you could add a small top loading household freezer and use it to freeze ice packs for the ice box I guess....if you had it inside I wouldn't think it would rust too quick but not sure where you would put it on a monohull less than 40' without tearing up a big piece of the interior...anyways, interesting idea...

EDIT:
Monohull sailboat under 40'....powerboat would have more places to put one....

[Geoduck]

All I want is a good ice machine to keep my drinks cold - and after reading all these posts - I need one - bad!LOL!
I once sailed on an old timer built in 1898 called "Mimi" she had a kerosene fired freezer on board that worked like a charm! It would run on diesel just fine but sooted up once a week. No electricity, no moving parts at all! I wish I had one in my boat - after I get my new ice maker --see ya later, I'm gonna make myself another whiskey - smoke my cigar and call it good!
Adios Amigos!

[idpnd]

One year on eur 100 household fridge.. the same sized model, marine style, would have cost eur 850. My lump of steel doesn't really tend to wobble or heel much but the fridge hasn't been upset so far either way..

I compared consumption figures and they were exactly the same by the way.

[SimonV]

I just read the owners manual for a Samsung fridge freezer, " after location your unit abstain for 2 hours before recommencing operating" how does that work on a continuously moving vessel.?
And why ?

[atoll]

Originally Posted by SimonV

I just read the owners manual for a Samsung fridge freezer, " after location your unit abstain for 2 hours before recommencing operating" how does that work on a continuously moving vessel.?
And why ?

most compressor units have lube oil inside,standing upright for 2 hours before operation allows the oil to settle in the bottom of the compressor.

once this has been done a domestic compressor has no problem running on a moving boat,in exactly the same way as a marine engine would,with the oil returning to the sump by gravity.