Bypassing Danfoss Controller 3-pin compressor

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

The electronics module, or thermostat, are the most common failures...the compressors are pretty bullet proof. Heat, moisture, vibration all take their toll.

Heat Heat , and Heat , that kills a danfoss controller very fast . These small Danfoss compressors were designed to have air flow around them , Make sure you have a fan blowing over the controller and compressor so the new one does not suffer an early death as well . Frigoboat has an issue with this when there system are used with keel coolers. Also moisture/ salt spray even worse , again , spec out your installation so as not to have either of these problems .

Regards

[patprice]

The controllers are expensive. I have recently had controllers break down twice. Expensive. First one was replaced, the second repaired and this was slightly cheaper.
One would think there would be a source from China. There are a multitude of these controllers in use around the world.

[Jon Phillips]

Yes, the boat and fridge controller have been in the Caribbean for almost 10 years now and the controller is 12 years old. I literally had the + pin on the controller corrode away to nothing. I've had the same thing happen to my bilge pump switch. When the salty humid air comes into contact with the cheap metal on the pins/terminals and an electrical current is introduced it's only a matter of time. These two instances were particularly prone to corrosion failure because they are hard to reach, thus they are not cleaned and maintained as well as, say, the connections on my electrical panel which I can get to easily. The Caribbean is a great place to sail but with the salt and UV the maintenance is never ending. In contrast, I learned to sail on a 50 year old Pearson 30 on Lake Superior which had virtually all original parts down to the Atomic 4 engine, sails, and all!

Thanks for all the replies. I am keeping my fingers crossed that once the controller is replaced the fridge fires right up and runs as it should. Cold Presidentes here I come =)

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by patprice

The controllers are expensive. I have recently had controllers break down twice. Expensive. First one was replaced, the second repaired and this was slightly cheaper.
One would think there would be a source from China. There are a multitude of these controllers in use around the world.

R Parts has this one .

RPARTS.COM - BD35F BD50F Controller

And this one on Ebay , just need to get the plug but thats not hard to source.

Danfoss 101N0630 Electronic Control Unit for BD35F Compressors Automotive | eBay

Regards

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Jon Phillips

Yes, the boat and fridge controller have been in the Caribbean for almost 10 years now and the controller is 12 years old. I literally had the + pin on the controller corrode away to nothing. I've had the same thing happen to my bilge pump switch. When the salty humid air comes into contact with the cheap metal on the pins/terminals and an electrical current is introduced it's only a matter of time. These two instances were particularly prone to corrosion failure because they are hard to reach, thus they are not cleaned and maintained as well as, say, the connections on my electrical panel which I can get to easily. The Caribbean is a great place to sail but with the salt and UV the maintenance is never ending. In contrast, I learned to sail on a 50 year old Pearson 30 on Lake Superior which had virtually all original parts down to the Atomic 4 engine, sails, and all!

Thanks for all the replies. I am keeping my fingers crossed that once the controller is replaced the fridge fires right up and runs as it should. Cold Presidentes here I come =)

Wow you got 12 years out of a controller !!! Thats great and really is good service life . That unit owes you nothing . I wonder how long it would have lasted if you could have cleaned and greased the connections . I'm impressed.

Regards

[conachair]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Interesting. Ive often wondered about that, but found no tech detail. Pulsed/phased DC makes more sense to me than inverting.

Have any reference for this?

What ever it is, it makes a right old mess all over the RF frequencies..

[boatbod]

The nice thing about these controllers is they have a built in diagnostic output. Hook up an led and read off the error code (using the document I linked earlier).

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by conachair

What ever it is, it makes a right old mess all over the RF frequencies..

Never had a problem with that aboard my boat, but my MPPT controller effectively wipes out the most common frequency I use with a high pitch whine.

[chala]

BD35F.
Danfoss BD35F compressor - The Grey Nomads Forum

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by typhoon

Wow you got 12 years out of a controller !!! Thats great and really is good service life . That unit owes you nothing . I wonder how long it would have lasted if you could have cleaned and greased the connections . I'm impressed.

Regards

Ours on our freezer is 13 years old.. However, now that I have said that, it will fail!

[Anna Sail]

Originally Posted by typhoon

Heat Heat , and Heat , that kills a danfoss controller very fast . These small Danfoss compressors were designed to have air flow around them , Make sure you have a fan blowing over the controller and compressor so the new one does not suffer an early death as well . Frigoboat has an issue with this when there system are used with keel coolers. Also moisture/ salt spray even worse , again , spec out your installation so as not to have either of these problems .

Regards

Frigoboat has an issue with this when the keel cooler system is run while the boat is out of the water: no water for removing the heat from the refrigerant means the compressor gets overheated, overworked, killed.

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Anna Sail

Frigoboat has an issue with this when the keel cooler system is run while the boat is out of the water: no water for removing the heat from the refrigerant means the compressor gets overheated, overworked, killed.

Compressor cooling from refrigerant helps but it is not the only thing , compressor also needs airflow to help cool.

Also the controller does not get cooled by refrigerant . Just touch one when you are running on high speed be carful don't burn your self , they get very hot . They also need air to cool them . Heat is always your number one enemy when it comes to longevity of a component .

Regards