Hi Blis Schip,
I have been through this whole process. In my view a spillover system just does not
work on the
freezer and fridge in the 410's. Our
boat came with the one frigomatic
freezer panel and cone
compressor. There was an existing 100mm hole between the fridge and freezer located centrally.
The
boat is an ex
charter unit which was located in the Whitsunday Island in Tropical North
Queensland. When we bought the boat the fridge would cool but
food would start going off after 4 to 5 days. Ice would stay frozen but nothing would freeze unless it was against the cold plate.
I installed a 100mm waterproof 2 volt computer fan over the hole to force air into the fridge. This worked relatively well and from that moment on we did not lose any
food in the fridge. There was no way to gauge the temperature so I bought a small fridge/freezer thermometer and placed it in the freezer and connected a 12 volt LED temp gauge to the fridge. Despite the compressor running almost non stop the temp in the freezer never went below 0 degrees. The temp in the fridge held between 10 and 15 degrees.
It was quite clear to me that the one compressor and
cooling plate was just way to small for the large area that is the fridge and freezer. If memory serves me right the freezer and fridge have a total capacity of 200 litres. That's a lot of air space to cool.
On closer
inspection I saw that there had once been an
cooling plate in the rear of the fridge. It had been disconnected and removed and I suspect that the hole was an after market
installation by the
charter company
.
I had a
refrigeration mechanic look at the boat while in the Whitsundays and it was his opinion that the system would never
work as was and stated that it required a separate unit in the fridge and freezer. He quoted and we accepted the quote but he never ever turned up to do the job. Go figure
.
The unit worked until we returned to our home waters where I had the local
refrigeration guru have a look at the unit. He was as the same opinion as the first tradesman and when we told me we would be returning to the tropics stated that in his experience the only system that would work properly for all our travels were cooling plates freezer and fridge run by independent compressors. Based on my own experience and the comments made by both independent refrigeration tradesman we opted for this system.
I could not be happier. The system is working flawlessly and we have to keep the fridge to its lowest setting locally to make sure it does not ice up. We have taken the freezer down to - 18 degrees Celsius without anything in the freezer. We not only keep all our meat etc frozen but ice blocks for the
kids and ice cream when I get the taste..
The plates were custom made to fit the freezer and fridge from copper plate and tubing. We utilised the existing freezer compressor and were up for a new danfos compressor for the fridge.
Total cost $3400 installed. I now have total control over the temperature of my fridge and my freezer and very very happy that it will perform in the most extreme of circumstances.
There is a company here in
Australia called Ozefridge. I was looking at
buying one of their systems and installing it myself. It ended up being cheaper having a custom built unit installed by a professional.
While the old unit with the fan did function it was not efficient or effective particularly in tropical climates. Even with the second compressor I am not using anywhere near the power I was using with the one compressor and fan unit.
If you are never going to the tropics then a spill over system may be all new need. If your going further afield spend the extra, see a
marine refrigeration tradesman and get the job done properly.
Just my two cents worth
Sorry for being so long winded but there was no way of writing this any shorter.
Greg, Sue and Bella the sea dog
SV Sunshine
Lagoon 410 S2
Lake Macquarie NSW OZ.
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