Seafrost fridge temp issue

[njoynthewater]

Our Seafrost fridge seems to have suddenly developed a temperature problem. The fridge has been working fine until this evening when the digital temperature reading suddenly started to climb. It went from 8C to 18 plus in about 30 minutes. The box is nowhere near that hi temp but the compressor doesn't start. The compressor will run for a short time after I turn the fridge off for a short time and then turn it back on. Of course it's Saturday night and I can't get any ice until the morning to keep the contents cool while I sort this out. Anyone have any suggestions as to what might be the cause and remedy as I probably won't be able to contact Seafrost until Monday. We are currently anchored in the tropics where the temperature is mid 20C. As always Thanks for any help or suggestions.

[wtmf]

In am buying a bestbuy freezer for $118 .
I will set the temp for 35 and I figure I could replace this once and year for 10 years and it would be cheaper.

[wtmf]

In am buying a bestbuy freezer for $118 .
I will set the temp for 35 and I figure I could replace this once and year for 10 years and it would be cheaper.

[Richard Kollmann]

Originally Posted by njoynthewater

Our Seafrost fridge seems to have suddenly developed a temperature problem. The fridge has been working fine until this evening when the digital temperature reading suddenly started to climb. It went from 8C to 18 plus in about 30 minutes. The box is nowhere near that hi temp but the compressor doesn't start. The compressor will run for a short time after I turn the fridge off for a short time and then turn it back on. Of course it's Saturday night and I can't get any ice until the morning to keep the contents cool while I sort this out. Anyone have any suggestions as to what might be the cause and remedy as I probably won't be able to contact Seafrost until Monday. We are currently anchored in the tropics where the temperature is mid 20C. As always Thanks for any help or suggestions.

It always helps to know which one of the SeaFrost 5 different system you have. If this is a 12/24 volt BD system in a box the first two questions are:

Will unit run OK with engine alternator operating at a charge current above 13 plus volts?

When Compressor stops will fan still be running?

[njoynthewater]

Thanks for your interest. When I posted my description I had on just started to delve into the issue. Yes, the fridge is the BD air cooled unit. When it started last night I was just getting this wild fluctuation in temperature on the display & I eventually shut the unit off. The freezer unit seems to be working fine at this point. When I turned the fridge unit back on earlier the compressor started up and ran but I didn't check the fan. It ran for only a short time and the display has now settled down to show a temperature of -1.2C and Er1. I ran the generator this morning for an hour or so. The battery monitor at startup showed about 80 percent state of charge. Currently shows 88 percent with the solar charging at approximately 25 amps combined. Battery monitor currently showing 13.6 volts which I confirmed at the batteries with multimeter. I have not been able to find anything in my onboard manual or online that tells me what Er1 indicates. Most of the information I have found is about a display with a yellow flashing light to show various errors as well as a manual thermostat knob which our system has neither.

[Richard Kollmann]

If the fan also stops when compressor stops it generally indicates a thermostat control problem or a faulty fan drawing higher than normal amperage.

If the flashing light you refer to is signaling a code of flashes every four seconds one flash is a voltage problem problem, two flashes is a code to indicate a faulty fan.

Seafrost has various add on gadgets on their units that normally require contacting them for assistance. If the yellow flashing light is part of thermostat's monitoring they may be a way to override it to manually operate refrigerator. Companies that sell complicated non standard boat refrigeration answer the phone 24 seven, try contacting Seafrost today.

[Elie]

Originally Posted by wtmf

In am buying a bestbuy freezer for $118 .
I will set the temp for 35 and I figure I could replace this once and year for 10 years and it would be cheaper.

How will your run freezer with inboard electric power?

[Scrimshaw4]

Check to see if your air temp thermometer is still mounted correctly and not next to ice or frozen food or the cold plate. It may have been dislodged. Other than the failures mentioned earlier, low refrigerant might also be the culprit. Call Cleve at SF in the AM for more definitive help.

[DrDelmas]

Faulty temp probe?

[njoynthewater]

Thanks to all for your insights, interest and suggestions. We have been reading and trying things all morning and I think we are starting to understand the system as we work through it. We will contact Seafrost tomorrow morning to learn more and confirm our belief as to how the system works. The Er1 message we are getting is coming across the digital temperature display intermittently. Right now we think that the box temperature probe is not showing the correct temperature but at this point we don't believe that probe activated the compressor. The second probe that is mounted on the cold plate seems to trigger the compressor. I learned that by blowing was air over both from a hair dryer. The box temperature probe did not change from its reading of -1.2C when the warm air hit it. The compressor started up shortly after the warm air went across the probe on the cold plate probe and turned off once the set point was reached. At this point it appears that the box temperature display is only shown so you know if you have to change the set points on the cold plate. Thanks again for all the help and interest and I will post what we find out how what it takes to remedy the problem.

[RABenko]

I have a Seafrost 8D fridge and freezer which are working great. Anytime I’ve needed help, i’ve Contacted Cleave at Seafrost and received almost instant help: Cleave Horton(603) 868-5720.

[Richard Kollmann]

The Idea that technology and technical support has advanced enough to replace a reliable mechanical boat refrigerator thermostats with an electronic thermostat is OK for the average armchair sailor. Blue Water Sailors may be miles away from their refrigeration system manufacturer’s expertise so either refrigeration is repaired or we feed the fish with our food from warm refrigerator.

It is always important to understand and plan for redundancy measures on each piece of important equipment on an airplane or yes also on a blue water cruising boat. The standard 12/24 volt boat mechanical snap action refrigerator thermostat is the same one that has been used reliably in home refrigerators for over 30 years with exceptional reliability. If you have an electronic thermostat at least carry a spare and know how to calibrate it. The refrigerator thermostat on the variable speed BD compressors is a simple OFF/ON two wire switch controlling one to five milliamps of power to another electronic switch inside compressor’s control module. Redundancy for faulty electronic thermostat operation in many cases has been achieved by an override switch installed either at the compressor’s control module terminals C and T or on back panel of electronic thermostat’s black box. When switch is closed compressor will run at low speed until emergency bypass switch is opened again allowing refrigerator to be operated manually.