Condensation on Wall Behind Fridge

[roetter]

Our Lagoon has 2 Vitrifrigo fridges. Both of them cause condesation spots about the size of a hand on the outside of the cabinet back walls. The temperature in the center the condensation spot is about 10ºC less than the ambient temperature (22ºC vs 32ºC).

Any idea what could be done to fix this?

[delmarrey]

Sounds like not enough ventilation. A couple 12V computer fans back there to get better air flow would probably help?

Are these frost-free refers?

[Richard Kollmann]

Originally Posted by roetter

Our Lagoon has 2 Vitrifrigo fridges. Both of them cause condesation spots about the size of a hand on the outside of the cabinet back walls. The temperature in the center the condensation spot is about 10ºC less than the ambient temperature (22ºC vs 32ºC).

Any idea what could be done to fix this?

Very Poor or no insulation in this area is causing condensation outside of box.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by roetter

Our Lagoon has 2 Vitrifrigo fridges. Both of them cause condesation spots about the size of a hand on the outside of the cabinet back walls. The temperature in the center the condensation spot is about 10ºC less than the ambient temperature (22ºC vs 32ºC).

Any idea what could be done to fix this?

Yep....poor or no insulation in the area. Basically you are seeing the heat being sucked out of the wall area through the crappy or lack of insulation, lowering the temp of the wall to below the dew point and boom...condensation. We have seen these type of issues for years in almost all brands of production boats where the quality of your box insulation isn't something they really care or think about. This will not only cause more heat to travel into your box so that your refrigeration units will have to run more to remove it, you would also be having similar condensation inside the insulation hole or gap....which is bad...bad...bad.

This will be a long term disaster because you could be having the same condensation on the inside of the insulation void and it will eventually saturate the insulation you do have and make it almost worthless. So it is something you need to fix...the hard part is how.

If it's impossible for you to access the spot (which it usually it) the most realistic option is to drill some small holes in the inside box liner just large enough to insert the spray tube straw that comes with a can of spray foam. You may have to make more than one holes to fill the void, but filling it with spray foam is an option for you if you can't access the spot. Ignoring it will only give you more problems down the road unfortunately.

[roetter]

I believe my description of the problem was confusing.

These are "free-standing" fridges that are set into cabinets. There is space around the fridges on all sides to the abinet walls. There are vents in the cabinet walls to allow air through the space between the fridges and the cabinets.

Both fridges have external compressors that are 1-2 feet away from them horizontally.

I could pull the fridges out, but want to wait what the warranty people from Lagoon will do in November. I am returning to the boat in 3 weeks for the "winter" in The Bahamas. Lagoon in Florida already tried once when the boat was brand new. It improved a little bit. I did not see what they did.

It is hit and miss to get people that actually know what they are doing, so I want to have some idea before they start the work.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by roetter

I believe my description of the problem was confusing.

These are "free-standing" fridges that are set into cabinets. There is space around the fridges on all sides to the abinet walls. There are vents in the cabinet walls to allow air through the space between the fridges and the cabinets.

Both fridges have external compressors that are 1-2 feet away from them horizontally.

Got it...now we are following it does make the solution easier (New Free standing units with real insulation). But the bad news is that in my mind it makes your situation even worse because it's telling me that the insulation in those free standing fridges is SO BAD that you are actually pulling heat out of the air space at a fast enough rate to chill down the cabinet wall to cause the condensation you are seeing. I assume that the side wall of your free standing units are pretty darn cool if it is making a cold spot across the air gap to the cabinet. When you get to overly humid areas, you could actually have condensation dripping down your free standing box external walls and wetting your floor and causing rot.

If you have warranty time left on those unit, I would have them do something about the **** insulation on those boxes.

[AnchorageGuy]

We have the Vitrifrigo and placed a 12volt muffin fan behind the unit that runs all the time. Some connect the fan to come on when the compressor kicks in. Try to add some vents in the back of the cabinet into another cabinet if possible. Chuck

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by AnchorageGuy

We have the Vitrifrigo and placed a 12volt muffin fan behind the unit that runs all the time. Some connect the fan to come on when the compressor kicks in. Try to add some vents in the back of the cabinet into another cabinet if possible. Chuck

I'm either not understanding correctly, or frankly I'm in a little bit of a state of shock in what I keep telling myself can't be...but maybe what is. If the insulation in these free standing Vitrifrigo refrigeration units is so bad that you need to add in a circulation fan to basically help add more heat around the box via a fan to prevent the adjacent bulkhead cabinetry from being cool enough to have moisture on it then...holy smokes. What do those Veirifrigo units have for insulation? A Bounty paper towel? If I'm getting this right the air space between the unit and the cabinetry is being cooled enough by a lack of insulation that the solution to keep down condensation is to "dilute the cold" with a fan? No...I gotta be misunderstanding this....please tell me I'm a Bozo...

[AnchorageGuy]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

I'm either not understanding correctly, or frankly I'm in a little bit of a state of shock in what I keep telling myself can't be...but maybe what is. If the insulation in these free standing Vitrifrigo refrigeration units is so bad that you need to add in a circulation fan to basically help add more heat around the box via a fan to prevent the adjacent bulkhead cabinetry from being cool enough to have moisture on it then...holy smokes. What do those Veirifrigo units have for insulation? A Bounty paper towel? If I'm getting this right the air space between the unit and the cabinetry is being cooled enough by a lack of insulation that the solution to keep down condensation is to "dilute the cold" with a fan? No...I gotta be misunderstanding this....please tell me I'm a Bozo...

I'm not sure why the OP is having issues with condensation since we don't have it with ours and we have not heard of this before with the Vitrifrigo. the fans in our case are to remove the heat from behind the unit from the compressor, making the unit more efficient and improving air circulation around the cooling unit. But it will also help with the OP's problem. There must be more going on but the fan will be a quick and easy fix. A possibility may be the difference in the warmer cabinet and the cooler air in the cabin if air conditioning is running. Otherwise, I have no clue as to the cause. Chuck

[roetter]

The condensation is very localized, the size of a hand. I believe it is near or at the area where the connection tubes to the remote compressor are attached.

It could be that the insulation is bad, but I am wondering if it could also have to do with the correct filling amount of the refrigerant.



Rolf

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by roetter

The condensation is very localized, the size of a hand. I believe it is near or at the area where the connection tubes to the remote compressor are attached.

It could be that the insulation is bad, but I am wondering if it could also have to do with the correct filling amount of the refrigerant.

Rolf

Ah....now that could make more sense. If the system is overcharged then you will see frosting of the return refrigeration line going back to the compressor. In a properly charged system, the return line can be a little cool, but if it is frosty cold then that is a sure sign on an over charge and it could be chilling down the cabinetry it is next too or touching. This seems to make more sense to me than the entire box having poor insulation....so I think we are narrowing down the problem.

[AnchorageGuy]

Rolf, If the condensation is coming from the connecting lines, you can go to any hardware store and buy pipe insulation to wrap the lines. It only costs a few dollars and certainly can't hurt the operation of the unit. Chuck

[Cadence]

I've kind of gotten lost. I believe you said two units with the same problem? Would sound more like a design flaw than a charging issue. Had you contacted the MFG directly? You may have gotten two from a bad MFG. run? I don't think I would be drill holes until hearing from them. If you have room, what about adding I piece of Styrofoam, house underlayment, over the spot. It would insulate the area from the ambient air temp. and eliminate the condensation and not alter the units. I feel sure you will see better efficiency. The R rating isn't great but worth a try.