What off-the-shelf refrigerator are you using?

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I can’t do that one. That makes three refrigerators or freezer is running at once. That is too much on the power even with as much power as I have.

And I won’t ever be building anything when it comes to a refrigerator. It’s really against my design philosophy. What a perfectly normal El cheapo household refrigerator last 20 years, there’s no reason to build one for me.

If I can’t find anything big enough, I will adjust my usage to get used to the smaller refrigerator. In the 50 foot Gulfstar I had a tiny little refrigerator. I managed. With a girlfriend.

2 smaller fridges doesn't necessarily use more power than 1 big one. You'd have to do some research in terms of power consumption for the specific models in question. But generally a smaller fridge will have smaller refrigeration components and draw less power (assuming a similar duty cycle).


And if you have 2, you don't have to run both all the time. You can run both when provisioned heavily, then turn one off once everything fits in 1. Or only run 1 when you don't need to carry as much food.

[MicHughV]

If you get right down to it, all you really need is an icemaker.

I came across a boat outfitted this way. He had a smallish icemaker inside his boat, maybe 3' high x 2' wide or something along those lines. I don't recall the make. He'd make ice everyday.

This guy was adamant he was going to have ice cubes for his daily quota of rum and cokes. The remainder of his ice he shoved into his icebox. His biggest dilemma used to be finding clean water for his ice.

Overall, I give his system an A +.

By the time I met him, I had become accustomed to drinking my rum and coke with warm coke, so a trip to his boat was always a pleasure.
If there were several people on the boat for the afternoon sundowner, he would dole the ice cubes out one at a time. He never minded sharing and even a single cube was a pleasure, though it invariably melted very quickly, so you had to down your drink quickly too.

'jes sayin'....

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

If you get right down to it, all you really need is an icemaker.

I came across a boat outfitted this way. He had a smallish icemaker inside his boat, maybe 3' high x 2' wide or something along those lines. I don't recall the make. He'd make ice everyday.

This guy was adamant he was going to have ice cubes for his daily quota of rum and cokes. The remainder of his ice he shoved into his icebox. His biggest dilemma used to be finding clean water for his ice.

Overall, I give his system an A +.

By the time I met him, I had become accustomed to drinking my rum and coke with warm coke, so a trip to his boat was always a pleasure.
If there were several people on the boat for the afternoon sundowner, he would dole the ice cubes out one at a time. He never minded sharing and even a single cube was a pleasure, though it invariably melted very quickly, so you had to down your drink quickly too.

'jes sayin'....

That’s the thing. I don’t have my water maker running yet. And I won’t this winter. That’s a long project. I think I have to replace membranes and of course plumb the whole thing.

I’ll probably just deal with tank water for the winter

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Ahhhhh. Financial efficiency!

The math doesn’t lie. You’re correct.

I do need to add more batteries however, to support this.

You've got space and lifepo4 are now cheap and light.
Buy a big victron
Buy the big household fridge
You won't regret it.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Whatever you do, stay away from those RV fridges that run on electric and on propane. They are sure to burn your boat down, even on electric. Added to that, they don’t cool.

Interesting as my rv has such a setup and it’ll freeze almost the entire fridge is run wide open

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Interesting as my rv has such a setup and it’ll freeze almost the entire fridge is run wide open

The issue with the RV fridges isn't necessarily total cooling power, it's that many of them don't actually regulate temperature, they just provide a constant amount of steady cooling. If the outside temp never changes, you rarely open the door and you never add food that isn't pre-cooled, it's fine. But it doesn't work so well in the real world.

[BMD21]

Wow, everyone taking the tack of building a box or using a cold plate or some other idea.


I'm just going to tell what we've got. A Norcold, lasted 15 years, still working. 102 VAC, 12 VDC, automatic, if 125 VAC is present, it'll use that. I think the size is 2.7 ft^3, though they make other sizes. If this one quit, I'd buy another.


Boris

[MicHughV]

Lordy, lordy....my 2nd boat had the dual engine driven/110v fridge. I don't recall the make.

The first was provided by the engine driven compressor. The thing was a beast, requiring a double belt driven sprocket. It could solidly freeze the shoebox size holding plate in under 20 minutes. Make ice in 30 minutes.
The 110 v kicked in whenever the main engine was off and the generator was running.

Underway, it was a marvel. Operated with a timer.

At the end of the day, having a successful reefer is really dependent on your power supple. Solar panel or engine/generator driven. Take your pick.
Only time I ever had a functioning freezer.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

The issue with the RV fridges isn't necessarily total cooling power, it's that many of them don't actually regulate temperature, they just provide a constant amount of steady cooling. If the outside temp never changes, you rarely open the door and you never add food that isn't pre-cooled, it's fine. But it doesn't work so well in the real world.

Hmmmm.

In this case, have you had one of these refrigerators?

There is a thermostat built-in and it cycles on and off. If it’s really quiet, you can hear the flame turning on and off all day long as needed. Settings are number one through number nine. Typically I keep mine on seven. I like a really cold refrigerator. 35°-ish. And I like my frozen stuff really frozen.

I have been using these for about 15 years now as my only refrigeration.

Other than the control panel being broken on that newer one in the boat, I haven’t had any problems.

They don’t work the way you are describing. They cycle on and off via thermostat like a compressor. They are fantastic. They hold the exact temperature you set them at. And there is a ton more power available to freeze all of your stuff. God knows I’ve sent mine at nine before by mistake and destroyed all my vegetables.

They work exactly like a home refrigerator. On land. You don’t actually think about them. The only time you think about them is when you have to switch propane tanks. That’s once every three weeks with a barbecue size tank.

I mean, the one I have right here in my RV right now is from 2004 I believe. I got my RV like four years ago I think? It’s been on almost the entire time continuously. Except when I have gone onto boats for a little bit here in there it’s been on the propane flame the whole time. I have done nothing at all to it. It just works flawlessly. Because it’s installed correctly.

That’s the main thing with these. If you don’t have a chimney draft behind them or failing being able to do that, you don’t have fans to make a forced airflow, they don’t work.

But it’s all in the installation instructions when you order the thing. They clearly spell out how to install them. If you follow the instructions, they work really really well.

I assume a lot of people don’t follow the instructions and probably even more RV builders don’t follow the instructions. I know mine didn’t follow them perfectly. There are fans to assist.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by BMD21

Wow, everyone taking the tack of building a box or using a cold plate or some other idea.


I'm just going to tell what we've got. A Norcold, lasted 15 years, still working. 102 VAC, 12 VDC, automatic, if 125 VAC is present, it'll use that. I think the size is 2.7 ft^3, though they make other sizes. If this one quit, I'd buy another.


Boris

Yeah. All the raving I’m doing about the refrigerators above is Nora cold also. They really work well. Except my control buttons are broken on this one right now. I don’t know exactly how they broke. I wasn’t there. But those nor cold 12 V refrigerators are a pretty good idea. A little bit pricey, but maybe I’ll have a look.

Also I did find some of those inverter refrigerators. Wow. They really save a lot of power. There’s one that’s averaging 2A an hour all day long. I’m trying to see if I can get it, but it’s out of stock everywhere. You can’t find anything still. Very frustrating. I thought I found a good little Danby unit. However the review sure that it doesn’t go below 40 and often is quite above 40. So I don’t like that. I like a cold refrigerator.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Hmmmm.

In this case, have you had one of these refrigerators?

There is a thermostat built-in and it cycles on and off. If it’s really quiet, you can hear the flame turning on and off all day long as needed. Settings are number one through number nine. Typically I keep mine on seven. I like a really cold refrigerator. 35°-ish. And I like my frozen stuff really frozen.

The better units do work like that. But some of the crappy units are just a constant flame with an adjustment and not so good. To be fair, none of the units I've been around are modern, I'd be surprised if the newest is less than 25 years old at this point.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

If you don't want to run an inverter all the time. I have a domestic refrigerator into which I install an evaporator plate connected to my 12v remote compressor and keel cooler.

That might be a reasonable solution for the OP.
Stick in some domestic unit that runs on shore power/inverter, and then when ships 12V systems are up-and-running add one of the 12V units to the mix.
You'd basically have a 3-way unit without much fussing around.
If you have room add some foam board to the sides.
Whatever, an air-cooled condenser needs good ventilation.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

The issue with the RV fridges isn't necessarily total cooling power, it's that many of them don't actually regulate temperature, they just provide a constant amount of steady cooling. If the outside temp never changes, you rarely open the door and you never add food that isn't pre-cooled, it's fine. But it doesn't work so well in the real world.

Granted the regulation is crude
But ewe have consistently filled it with warm semi warm beer and open the door often

It works well for what it does this from experience of owning a GMC motor home

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

The better units do work like that. But some of the crappy units are just a constant flame with an adjustment and not so good. To be fair, none of the units I've been around are modern, I'd be surprised if the newest is less than 25 years old at this point.

Ohhhhh! That’s where our difference of opinion is.

These are now all electronically controlled. No more constant flame. They light up like a compressor turns on now.

They also gave a solenoid now that turns on the propane only when the flame is needed. It also turns it off if it does light or the flame goes out.

Much more safe these days I think.

Other than the control panel being broken right now because the buttons are broken, I do have a couple other complaints about it.

First, it’s currently 1 AM. I am at a Walmart in an RV. I just woke up to some beeping. I am exhausted. I have to go outside and change the propane tanks. Of course! Never happens in the daytime. Or when you are awake.

Second, the way I installed mine in the boat, it was never meant for a dock. I never thought I would afford a dock for this boat. Well it is really windy out and blowing from the wrong direction, it can blow out my flame. That’s very annoying. I anchor it works great. But at the dock there are some problems. Typically that would be a non-issue because you are plugged in. However, not at this dock. No power.

[Chotu]

Since the refrigerators are currently all sold out that I want, I’m going to look at fixing the buttons on this norcold for a bit tomorrow. The front seems to come apart like a cell phone. There’s no obvious way to take it apart. You have to know the right spots to pull on. And I have not seen any indication on how to do it. I may have to call Norcold support.

In any case, since I can’t get the refrigerator I want, I will just probably run this one for the winter hoping that the supply chain comes back around someday. A few of them look like they are due in in a few weeks. I will look then. Or maybe just after Christmas or something. I don’t know.

I have settled on an LG inverter model that is absolutely perfect.

Adding this refrigerator I need to get two more Trojan T105s or switch over to a 300 or 400 AH lithium.

It would be *286* lbs lighter to the lithium and cost $1000 more.

Wow. VERY TEMPTING! In fact I could shed 320 lbs because I couldn’t carry half the propane!!!

Damn. These numbers are possibly too good to resist.



Next question. I’m looking at those ampere time batteries. So if I get one, is there anything special I have to do? That’s pretty much a plug and play drop it in thing right? Just set my outback charge controllers to whatever the scent points are for the Lifepo4 batteries?

I would also spring for a new battery charger that they have for sale on the site as well.

Is that reasonable? Is there any reason I would get into any trouble or have any headaches from this? I don’t want my batteries to become a hobby. I just want to have them be quick and reliable.