Adler Barbour

[Moparots]

Hello all, pulled the old "rusty" Adler Barbour cold machine (air cooled) out of its spot and I am replacing it with a new one. I am torn between the CU 100 (air cooled) and the CU 200 (water cooled) I would prefer the water cooled unit but I do not want another through hull.

My question is, can I use an existing systems thru hull, specifically the brand new (previous owner) air conditioning systems thru hull?
Using a "T" barb in the ACs water line . They would be right next to each other anyway.

Thanks, Craig

[Stu Jackson]

Craig,

Are u aware of this 'site?

Kollmann Marine

IMO, water cooled is more problematic with more parts, unless you're going to the HOT tropics.

Where are you and where are you going?

[Moparots]

Thanks for the link Stu, I'll check it out. My thoughts were, we are in Florida (sub trop.) and the unit will be in the hot engine room. We are going to cruise the ICW at first, then We would like to travel to the Bahamas and posiible points South eventually.

[Richard Kollmann]

Moparots, Once seawater temperatures Jupiter FL south reach tropical conditions the Adler Barbour CU200 water cooling option provides no benefit as energy saved is traded off buy added pump energy used. If condensing units air supply is coming from heated engine room above 90 degrees F even the small water cooling option is not of much benefit. If you must put condensing unit in engine room install a ducted air cool air tube and additional fan suggested in Adler Barbour installation instructions and forget the unfriendly water pump system. Remember the CU units are variable speed and are normally set at slower speeds to improve energy consumed and therefore compressor runs longer. If water pump runs as long as compressor it destroys the benefit of speed reduction. You should check with boaters in south FL and Bahamas that purchased the very small AB water cooling condenser option if they ever even use it.

[onestepcsy37]

Listen to Mr. Kollmann.

I bought the CU200 ten years ago and installed it myself - without the water cooling system hooked up, air only. I figured that if it couldn't keep up with the load I would add the water cooling parts. Easy for me because my previous system was water cooled so I already had a thruhull available.

Ten years on and I haven't hooked up the water cooling system yet. It simply doesn't need it. Just give the aircooling system plenty of air circulation. In fact, I used the water cooling connection on the control module to run a computer fan when the system is on. It forces air over the control module and compressor and to the condensor. If you get a chance to read Richard Kollman posts he will tell you that the critical part on the AB is the control module; keep it cool by blowing air over it.

And guess where we cruise. Florida and the Bahamas - in the summer!

If I had it to do over again, I would have bought the CU100, and, with the money I saved, would have bought the larger evaporator. I bought the smaller evaporator and although it works well the larger one would have given us a bit more freezer space.

[bmm32005]

I replaced my AB with a Frigoboat keel cooled and I read about issues with them but so far me and a couple other boat friends have had no problems at all. I like the quiet operation with no fan running


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[Richard Kollmann]

bmm32005, As long as you are not cruising for extended periods in warm seawater or running refrigeration with boat out of the water and can control electrical discharge at keel cooler you can expect good service from your unit. In your cruising area Moparots added option of water pump cooling change to a CU200 might be an improvement too.

[bmm32005]

I coastal sail New England only


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[accomplice]

Unfortunately I cannot quantify it, but I can qualitatively report that the average daily power usage of our water cooled refrigeration is much less in the waters of New England (prob avg in the 50s) than in the Carribbean (in the 80s), even when ambient air temperature is comparable.

Beyond the issues of cost/complexity/maintenance, I could fully believe that the water-cooled condensor offers no performance benefit in the tropics. In cold water, it probably does help some.

I imagine a factor in the effectiveness of a water-cooled condesor vs. air cooled condensor is the amount of heat that needs to be transferred. A little Danfoss might only generate a few hundred watts (depending on the model) in combined inefficiency and heat (re)moved; but, a directly driven or A/C driven compressor might have capacities to multiple kWatts. A water cooled condensor (of the same approximately volume) can remove much more heat in a given time than air-cooled -- but if you're using a small low-capacity compressor it might be more energy efficient to use air-cooling.