120 Volt refrigeration from inverter?

[Gallivanters]

Has anyone been able to successfully run a 120 volt fridge from an inverter and house battery bank during an extended cruise?

Cheers!

Kirk

[ssullivan]

Nope. You will find that it is not economical to do so. 120VAC refrigeration typically runs with a very high load while the compressor is on. This might seem ok at first, since the compressor is on for a shorter period of time, but as you increase the power drain on a battery, its C rating drops dramatically. For this reason, your 400 AH battery may only deliver, say... 100AH of useable power when subjected to a massive draw such as a 120VAC refrigeration compressor.

I have 120VAC refrigeration on my boat, but I run it when the genset is on to freeze holding plates. No drain on the battery.

In my case, when attempting to run my 120VAC refrigerator through my 1400 watt inverter, I found that the starting capacitor on the 120VAC compressor is not fond of the type of electricity produced by the inverter. The compressor *almost* starts but doesn't. I tried this out to see if there was some kind of failover method I could use in case of genset failure. There isn't, in my case (break out canned and dry foods).

So the short answer is that it's not economical. A 12V system would be more appropriate to use during an extended cruise if you are not running a large genset every day.

[Stevens 47]

Has anyone been able to successfully run a 120 volt fridge from an inverter and house battery bank during an extended cruise?

Cheers!

Kirk

Kirk

I came across this link from Vectron somewhere in this forum http://www.victronenergy.com/upload/...8_july2004.pdf good read makes a case for electricfying the stove. The boat that I am going to do the coming Transpac on has a 110 vac electric range and fridge. When I first saw the boat I was a little surprised to say the least. Now I would not classify it as a cruising boat, it is a Robert Perry design built at Westerly. Has me rethinking some things.

Jack

[ssullivan]

While all of Vectron's ideas are sound (and an echo of what I wrote above), they forgot to include the price list.

[jim lee]

I -think- all the Adler Barbor type fridges -are- 110AC units. They just put a little inverter on the package and call it 12V. When ever mine kicks in, you can hear what sounds like a cheap inverter spooling up over the sterio speakers.

-jim lee

[btrayfors]

jim,

Naah....they run on 12vdc.

The new Adler Barbours, like most modern electric friges, use Danfoss compressors. The famous Cold Machine uses a Danfoss BD50 12V compressor. From the manufacturer's website:

"BD50F
The BD50F is second in line to the BD80F compressor. Like the smaller BD35F (below) and larger BD80F (above), the BD50F uses an electronically commutated permanent magnet brushless DC motor. The advantages of this approach are small size and variable-capacity. However, as with its predecessors, the BD50F does require the use of an electronic power module. Like all electronics, the power module is extremely reliable as long as it is properly installed and does not overheat. "


Bill

[Stevens 47]

While all of Vectron's ideas are sound (and an echo of what I wrote above), they forgot to include the price list.

I hear you had to search for prices seems like the Multi is about $1750

Jack