Hi All
We are currently in Rodriguez after a rough
passage from
Indonesia during which several things failed including our
refrigerator.
We would like to limp home to the
Caribbean with what we have in the way of
refrigeration and upgrade there. I have tried to contact Richard Kollmann having witnessed how often he has helped people on this forum but am not sure if he still operates his website on which my
registration has so far been unsuccessful.
I will add the
email I have sent him here hoping that someone can give me some
advice and also hoping that I am not simply being too impatient. I hope he is still around as I would like to buy his
books and have a suggestion from him as to what kind of controller I should get to replace the one we have as it is no longer available as far as I know.
Hi Richard
We have over the years marveled at the help you have given so many via the Cruisers Forum and now suddenly find ourselves needing your
advice.
We are in Rodriguez in the
Indian Ocean and had a rough 23 day
passage from
Indonesia. Winds were 30/35 kts gusting fourty and it was rough with several breakages. We
lost the use of our
autopilot, our
engine and to add insult to injury our
refrigeration.
The refrigeration is with an old EZ Kold unit from 1993 with a four pin
compressor and Danfoss BD 102N3016 controller. The
compressor is marked D-25A-30 / 502E-12A7.
The unit has been operated manually for some time due to the failure of its thermostat I.e it has been bypassed by a jumper. During some of our difficulties under way the compressor was inadvertently left on for about 12 hours. It stopped operating either during that time or shortly after.
When we turn it on with the fan connected the fan comes on and it feels like the compressor is running but there is only a small
current draw less than one amp and the voltage stays at 12.85 v. It may be vibration from the fan I feel. Then after 24 seconds the voltage drops to 12.56, the
current measured with a clamp on meter jumps to 6 amps and the unit including the fan shuts off after about two seconds. The cycle is then repeated with the fan coming on again after those seconds.
When I do the same thing without the fan in the circuit the result is much the same but with no vibration from the compressor. A small voltage drop and five to six amp current draw for a very short time.
I measured the resistances between the four pins on the compressor and measure 3.6 ohms between the uppermost pin and the other three. On all other possible combinations I measure essentially 0 ohms.
The unit is powered with #6 tinned
marine wire directly from the house bank with eight
batteries via its own dedicated breaker. All connections are tight and sound with no
corrosion.
I hope I only need a control unit as it would be difficult at this point to install a completely new compressor. Nor do I know if I need a new compressor. Having an operating
refrigerator would also promote harmony on board (-: We are on our way back to the
Caribbean and hope to upgrade there.
I know you only ship inside the US but we deal with a friend operating Jahaya
Marine in Ft Myers. He will be sending us items for our
engine and
autopilot etc shortly and a new controller should that be the solution could be sent to us via him.
We have a very slow and sometimes non-existent
internet connection which has hampered my searching.
Sure hope you can help us on the path to harmony on board (-: Looking fwd to your comments.
Jim and Helen on board sv GAIA in Rodriguez