refrigeration

[Stephen Hicks]

My old Adler Barbour referigeration system has died. I plan on replacing it with a new system but our boat will be moving to the tropics and I have been considering the air/water cooling system. My ice box is just less than 6 cubic feet. My concearn is that by drawing sea water I may be opening myself up for costly maintenance due to marine growth. I would appreciate any first hand knowledge. I am also considerind A/C water cooling systems. Please advise.
Steve Hicks

[Cheechako]

I've had both. Cant say the air/water unit seemed any more efficient from a charging time standpoint, hard to compare though. Friends who sailed to OZ put in one of those little water cooled units that cool via a thru-hull type of bronze fitting (forget the brand) They really liked their unit. 6 cubic feet is a lot though. Have you considered breaking that up into freezer & refrig?

[ctl411]

Cheechako I think you are talking about the Isotherm SP. unit. SP self pumping as in no pump.

[Jon Neely]

Check out Engels ice box conversion. $1000 but very easy to install, mine only draws about 1.5amp/hr once up to temperature. Air cooled and quiet.

[colemj]

We live in the tropics and have no problem with an air cooled AB system. Get the additional fan and cooling duct for it and make sure it has lots of airflow and is not mounted in an engine space.

Mark

[Capt.Alex]

I am a fan of the frigiboat keel cooled system. No pumps, no fans. The compressor moves the refrigerant through the keel cooler. Very quiet and very thrifty on power. The whole system is 12V.

[Vasco]

Have had both. My current Adler Barbour works fine in a not too well insulated freezer/spillover fridge. About 70 amps a day in the Bahamas. Keeps ice cream frozen. The water cooled I had in my other boat was always needing new pumps. ( E-Z Cold, holding plate with Danfoss compressor air/water cooled).

[onestepcsy37]

i installed an adler barbour super cold machine eight years ago, which has both air and water cooling. i'm in florida/bahamas and figured if the air wasn't enough i could always add the water. haven't added the water yet. i've also got a 6cf box, although last year i shortened it to 3.5 by putting insulation batts in the bottom; we just weren't using 6.

like others have said, be sure there's a good flow of air over the unit and it will work fine. i added a computer muffin fan over the compressor just because i could, not because i really think i needed it....

[Stephen Hicks]

Thank you we will be in the same area next year and will spend a number of years in the same waters. From all the responces i have recived I will go to the air cooler system The area I have for the compressor is under my stove and has a screan front allowing good air flow

[Tim R.]

Originally Posted by Capt.Alex

I am a fan of the frigiboat keel cooled system. No pumps, no fans. The compressor moves the refrigerant through the keel cooler. Very quiet and very thrifty on power. The whole system is 12V.

+1 on the Frigoboat keel cooler.

Also very easy to self install and maintain.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by ctl411

Cheechako I think you are talking about the Isotherm SP. unit. SP self pumping as in no pump.

I think it was the Frigo boat system, now that I've thought about it...

Thank you we will be in the same area next year and will spend a number of years in the same waters. From all the responces i have recived I will go to the air cooler system The area I have for the compressor is under my stove and has a screan front allowing good air flow

One thing to think about is the amount of heat generated in the cabin. It's like a little heater running under there. The Frigo wont have any of that....

[onestepcsy37]

stephen, i don't think you'll be sorry for just replacing your adler barbour one for one. mine is eight years old and has had zero maintenance, except that when we're vacuuming the boat we also vacuum the cooling fins on the compressor.

if i had to do it over again i would have bought the 'regular' air-only adler barbour and the LARGE evaporator, rather than the standard evaporator that i bought. you'll get a little extra freezer space and maybe better cooling in the box. and save over a hundred bucks.

the only other thing i'd like to recommend is to follow the wiring instructions in the manual. wire it directly to the battery with the specified fuse in line and the proper wire size as shown in the manual. we had a thread last year from a sailor who was having trouble with his system. i recognized all the symptons he was giving us as almost word for word from the manual as to what would happen if you didn't wire it according to their requirements. he upgraded the wiring and all was well again....

[rebel heart]

Air cooled engel, one-piece unit. We're in the tropics and it works absolutely wonderfully. Cheaper than a fancier system, uses less power, easier to install and replace, keeps things cool even on the lowest of settings. If I had the space and money I'd buy a second to act as a freezer.

[Bash]

I've had both, and I will never have a raw-water cooled compressor again.

Never. They are noisy, they draw excessive power, and they require far more maintenance than air-cooled or keel-cooled systems. No thanks.

[bstreep]

We have a Grunert Passagemaker water cooled system. Works well, but DANG it uses a lot of power. 110v. We have separate fridge and freezer, and both are pretty large. The system is designed specifically to work with a generator, which we have.

We've had zero (knock on wood) problems with the water cooling. You do need to clean out the strainer every once in a while, and we do get some barnacle growth on the strainer - but nothing that attention every few weeks takes care of.