12v fridge to recommend?

[jonathanA]

2 hours ago, magnetman said:

I use a compressor cool box as a fridge if needed. It is very rare for me to need a fridge but I did note that a basic flaw is they they have no drainage so will quite quickly create a puddle. 

 

Normal fridges have a drain hole at the back which is routed over the compressor so any accumulated liquid should be evaporated. 

 

Not sure how the top loading campervan fridges deal with this issue but would want looking at I think. 

I have one of the 'total freeze' compressor fridge/freezer  'cool boxes' as an additional cold store uses 45W max can run on either 12V or 240V.  it can be configured (via blue tooth) to run as a fridge or a freezer (down to -20C ) so its handy for extended cruising or as a beer fridge in summer ! its a good addition to the Waeco which is a bit on the small side. 

[churchward]

If you are after a 12v fridge then I can recommend a Shoreline under the counter I think it has about 100 litre capacity.

 

DC Fridges | Shoreline 12/24 Volt DC Refrigeration (shoreline-marine.co.uk)

 

Shoreline Undercounter Fridge with 4 Star Freezer (98 Litres, 12V/24V) | Midland Chandlers

 

A friend of mine went for a  240v fridge and inverter supply and is happy with that.

[peterboat]

11 hours ago, churchward said:

If you are after a 12v fridge then I can recommend a Shoreline under the counter I think it has about 100 litre capacity.

 

DC Fridges | Shoreline 12/24 Volt DC Refrigeration (shoreline-marine.co.uk)

 

Shoreline Undercounter Fridge with 4 Star Freezer (98 Litres, 12V/24V) | Midland Chandlers

 

A friend of mine went for a  240v fridge and inverter supply and is happy with that.

I gave the shoreline the push for an inlander conversion far more economical to run, just bought a secondhand one for the campervan which is equally as good. Unless Shoreline have upped the quality from 10 years ago I would not buy one. Also they were all the wrong way around, freezer on top?

[Bargebuilder]

45 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Unless Shoreline have upped the quality from 10 years ago I would not buy one. Also they were all the wrong way around, freezer on top?

You may find that the cheaper made fridge freezers with the freezer part on top only have one compressor and one evaporator that is in the freezer part. The freezer thermostat should keep that compartment somewhere near to -18⁰c, and the freezer supplies cold air to the larder section via a vent in its base. The thermostat in the bottom larder section, if it has one, operates a damper in the vent that controls how much cold air is allowed to escape from the freezer to the larder section below.

 

If Shoreline use such a system it doesn't surprise me. I had a Shoreline 12v fridge for four years; first the thermostat packed up, then the whole thing went the same way. Mine, at least, was vastly overpriced rubbish and I wouldn't ever have another one. 

[David Mack]

7 minutes ago, Bargebuilder said:

You may find that the cheaper made fridge freezers with the freezer part on top only have one compressor and one evaporator that is in the freezer part. The freezer thermostat should keep that compartment somewhere near to -18⁰c, and the freezer supplies cold air to the larder section via a vent in its base. The thermostat in the bottom larder section, if it has one, operates a damper in the vent that controls how much cold air is allowed to escape from the freezer to the larder section below.

In some domestic fridges its the other way round - the evaporator is in the freezer part, but the thermostat is in the fridge compartment, so the fridge temperature is well regulated, and the freezer compartment is just a lot colder. Which is fine unless you keep the thing in an unheated area such as a garage. In winter the air temperature may fall below the fridge thermostat setting, the compressor switches off and all your frozen food defrosts. Some fridge instructions have a warning against using them in unheated areas for this reason.

[blackrose]

On 09/07/2023 at 13:32, MtB said:

 

I lived in a caravan until aged 5 and I can just about remember the tin can bog with that stinky black liquid. Oily-looking and I've an idea it was creosote based.

 

 

 

Luxury, we lived in shoebox in't middle of road.

[Blaster]

On 24/07/2023 at 09:28, Theo said:

I would echo Tony's opinion.   Our new Lec (mains) fridge rated at A+ is proving excellent.

 

Nick

I wouldn't go for a 240v fridge at all, my inverter sucks about 40A in 24h period, so switching my inverter off when away for a 3-4 days I can run the fridge full time without topping up with generator or engine. My 240v consumption is based only on phone/laptop chargers and TV, so when I do not use any of these, 40amps a day is a good deal of saving the juice.

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, Blaster said:

I wouldn't go for a 240v fridge at all, my inverter sucks about 40A in 24h period, so switching my inverter off when away for a 3-4 days I can run the fridge full time without topping up with generator or engine. My 240v consumption is based only on phone/laptop chargers and TV, so when I do not use any of these, 40amps a day is a good deal of saving the juice.

 

I am sorry, but this post makes no sense whatsoever, except to show you need to brush up on your electrical units and knowledge.

 

If your inverter really does "suck" 40 Amps in 24 hours then that is 960 Amp hours (Ah) and even with lithium batteries, I don't see how you can have enough installed battery capacity to supply that. This is before we consider how the blazes you will recharge by that amount.

 

I suspect that you just might mean 40Ah over 24 hours, or maybe you have seen an instantaneous current reading of 40 amp.

 

Why, if you are so against 240V equipment, are you not using a car charger for the phones and laptop? There are 12V TVs available.

 

In general, mains fridges tend to have better energy ratings than 12V ones, but you need to ensure you buy a quality one, not some cheapy off Ebay. This means that all other things being equal, they will consume less electricity than a 12V one. However, that takes no account of the inefficiencies within the inverter which was a problem back in the day, but nowadays a quality inverter draws only milliamps when on standby - unlikely to be true for Ebay bargains though. A quality inverter is likely to save you consumption for the other mains loads.

 

In my view, the difference in electrical consumption between a 12V fridge and a quality mains fridge plus quality inverter is likely to be marginal and not worth worrying about.

 

 

 

[David Mack]

12 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

In my view, the difference in electrical consumption between a 12V fridge and a quality mains fridge plus quality inverter is likely to be marginal and not worth worrying about.

So if you already have an inverter for other reasons, then you might as well pay the significantly lower cost of a mains fridge.

[Bargebuilder]

3 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

In my view, the difference in electrical consumption between a 12V fridge and a quality mains fridge plus quality inverter is likely to be marginal and not worth worrying about.

I agree, but if every Ah is critical, such as over a period of gloomy midwinter days where you are reliant on PV, just wire up a dedicated inverter to only come on when the fridge calls for cooling. Doing it that way, there is no quiescent current loss to worry about.

 

You may have a big inverter to power other boat items and if it's quiescent demands are tolerable, then just use that as previously suggested.

 

If Amp hours are in very short supply and you are only using 'mains' for a TV and a phone charger, then just use a tiny inverter for those items to minimise the quiescence current loss and have a dedicated inverter for the fridge. I did this in order to avoid using a generator, preferring instead to rely 100% on solar power.

[Blaster]

5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I am sorry, but this post makes no sense whatsoever, except to show you need to brush up on your electrical units and knowledge.

I accept your sorry but try to not patronising me

 

7 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I suspect that you just might mean 40Ah over 24 hours, or maybe you have seen an instantaneous current reading of 40 amp.

You got it right this time

 

8 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

but nowadays a quality inverter draws only milliamps when on standby - unlikely to be true for Ebay bargains though

we are talking working inverter providing juice to the fridge, so no standby situation, your comment is irrelevant if the fridge is kept plugged in 24/7.

 

My inverter is Victron Multiplus II, once again, I will repeat, if I switch it off I save about 40ah in a

24h period. I cannot remember the exact consumption to the decimals, but will post a picture soon.

18 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Why, if you are so against 240V equipment, are you not using a car charger for the phones and laptop? There are 12V TVs available.

Don't make me say what I have never said. I started this topic asking recommendations for a 12v fridge. I also explained why I stay away from 240v fridge running 24/7.

[Bargebuilder]

4 minutes ago, Blaster said:

I started this topic asking recommendations for a 12v fridge. I also explained why I stay away from 240v fridge running 24/7.

Just buy a  230v fridge and an 800w quasi inverter dedicated to it, plus a 12v thermostat and relay. The combined cost will be a fraction of the cost of a Shoreline 12v fridge, will be, in my experience more reliable and long lasting, and will also consume fewer Ahs over a 24hr period.

 

Yes, I have done both and couldn't have been more disappointed with the Shoreline product. 

[system 4-50]

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Edited July 29, 2023 by system 4-50

[Stilllearning]

At the risk of diverting this discussion, may I ask if anyone knows if an old Electrolux 3 way fridge can be regassed?

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

At the risk of diverting this discussion, may I ask if anyone knows if an old Electrolux 3 way fridge can be regassed?

 

I know.

[magnetman]

This is like 'can I ask you a question?' when what is mean is 'can I ask you another question?'. 

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

8 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

At the risk of diverting this discussion, may I ask if anyone knows if an old Electrolux 3 way fridge can be regassed?

 

I have my doubts because it does not use gas as such. It uses an ammonia mixture. When I was on the fleet, we bought recon. units to fit into the existing case, but I doubt they are available nowadays.

 

If it has lost refrigerant, I would expect you to have asked about an ammonia smell, but you have not. Assuming the burner has a nice blue flame of sufficient size, have you tried turning it upside down and assaulting the pipes at the back with (say) the heel of a slipper or soft shoe? Let it stand a while before relighting it.

 

Note to those not familiar with three-way fridges. This is an absorption type fridge so where a compressor fridge has a flimsy  exporter these fridges have hulking great pipes, they are totally different. Never whack an evaporator unless you what a leak.

 

 

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

Many commercial cold rooms run ammonia based refrigerant but as to whether an engineer working in that industry could be bothered regassing  ancient Electrolux 3 way fridges it is unlikely.

[Stilllearning]

7 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I have my doubts because it does not use gas as such. It uses an ammonia mixture. When I was on the fleet, we bought recon. units to fit into the existing case, but I doubt they are available nowadays.

 

If it has lost refrigerant, I would expect you to have asked about an ammonia smell, but you have not. Assuming the burner has a nice blue flame of sufficient size, have you tried turning it upside down and assaulting the pipes at the back with (say) the heel of a slipper or soft shoe? Let it stand a while before relighting it.

 

Note to those not familiar with three-way fridges. This is an absorption type fridge so where a compressor fridge has a flimsy  exporter these fridges have hulking great pipes, they are totally different. Never whack an evaporator unless you what a leak.

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I will go and have a look, but it's built into the motorhome, and turning it upside down would involve getting it out first.

I hadn't considered the likelihood of it being an ammonia filled unit.

[Alan de Enfield]

14 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Note to those not familiar with three-way fridges. This is an absorption type fridge

 

And mine draws 8.4 amps continuously when on 12v as there is no thermostat. The manual tells you to disconnect the 12v supply when the engine is not running.

The back of the fridge gets exceedingly hot as it is continuousyy boiling the ammonia.

 

 

 

 

They also say that the fridge should not be installed in a boat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[Stilllearning]

1 minute ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Many commercial cold rooms run ammonia based refrigerant but as to whether an engineer working in that industry could be bothered regassing  ancient Electrolux 3 way fridges it is unlikely.

It does work still, but it runs a lot of the time and the cooling fan cuts in a lot which not a problem when on 220v, but the noise annoys me.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

It does work still, but it runs a lot of the time and the cooling fan cuts in a lot which not a problem when on 220v, but the noise annoys me.

 

 

If you are using it on 12v then , yes, it is designed to run continuously and if you run it for too long it will 'freeze up' (see above post)

Edited July 29, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[Tracy D'arth]

2 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

It does work still, but it runs a lot of the time and the cooling fan cuts in a lot which not a problem when on 220v, but the noise annoys me.

If it has a cooling fan it is not what we usually refer to as a 3 way Electrolux, what model number is it?

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, Blaster said:

I accept your sorry but try to not patronising me

 

You got it right this time

 

we are talking working inverter providing juice to the fridge, so no standby situation, your comment is irrelevant if the fridge is kept plugged in 24/7.

 

My inverter is Victron Multiplus II, once again, I will repeat, if I switch it off I save about 40ah in a

24h period. I cannot remember the exact consumption to the decimals, but will post a picture soon.

Don't make me say what I have never said. I started this topic asking recommendations for a 12v fridge. I also explained why I stay away from 240v fridge running 24/7.

 

Straight from the Multiplus 2 manual for the 12V model:

 

Maximum efficiency 93 %

Zero-load power 13 W

Zero-load power in AES mode 9 W

Zero-load power in Search mode 3 W

 

So even without enabling any power saving features, it will only use 24 Ah a day so the other 16Ah (40 - 24) comes from your 124V equipment so the fridge will only add its own consumption to that.  In search mode, it only uses 10Ah a day to run itself, so that is 30Ah consumed by the other mains equipment.

 

Unfortunately, you have not explained why you stay away from 240V fridges. You have just stated your belief with no explanation of why, but it is your prerogative to hold such beliefs, even if they may not be backed up by fact.

[Stilllearning]

27 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

If it has a cooling fan it is not what we usually refer to as a 3 way Electrolux, what model number is it?

Not sure it's in a barn on a friend's farm, but it runs on either gas, 12v or 220v.

ETA it is likely that Rapido fitted the fan, they are a very high quality builder.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Stilllearning