12v fridge to recommend?

[Tony Brooks]

4 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?

 

Agreed, they are usually silent in operation or at worst with your ear really close you may hear the liquid circulating.

 

To Stilllearning, These things do seem to need to absolutely level for maximum efficiency, that is why they say not for use on boats.

[Alan de Enfield]

9 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?

 

Mine is an RM212 and it doesn't have a fan.

 

Tried to post the Manual Pdf but it is bigger than the forum limits.

 

 

[cuthound]

3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Agreed, they are usually silent in operation or at worst with your ear really close you may hear the liquid circulating.

 

To Stilllearning, These things do seem to need to absolutely level for maximum efficiency, that is why they say not for use on boats.

 

Unfortunately "boats" is a very general term covering small ocean going boats which will rarely be level to narrowboats on canals which are probably the most stable.

 

They allow 3 way fridges to be installed in motorhomes which I would have thought would move around far more than a typical narrowboat.

 

It is a pity the BSS follows the manufacturers advice without considering why because they really were the ideal fridges for narrowboats, quiet, economical of gas and zero electrical load except for the door operated internal light.

Edited July 29, 2023 by cuthound
ocean, not over - bloody spullchucker

[Bargebuilder]

6 minutes ago, cuthound said:

They allow 3 way fridges to be installed in motorhomes which I would have thought would move around far more than a typical narrowboat.

Is the reason not because of the little gas flame? Boats do allow the accumulation of butane in the bilge, whereas it can escape from motor homes quite easily.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, Bargebuilder said:

Is the reason not because of the little gas flame? Boats do allow the accumulation of butane in the bilge, whereas it can escape from motor homes quite easily.

 

That is my understanding from the BSS notes.

The BSS do allow fridges that are 'sealed' and as Electrilux state - they do have boat 'acceptable' fridges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[MtB]

6 hours ago, Blaster said:

Don't make me say what I have never said. I started this topic asking recommendations for a 12v fridge.

 

Not sure if you actually had any but I bought a Shoreline bog-standard under-counter fridge about 20 years ago and it has been brilliant. Cost about £500 at the time. Then about 15 years ago I bought another for a different boat also brilliant. Both are 240V converted with Danfoss 12V compressors. My current boat has a near identical "Inlander" brand under counter fridge which still has the same Danfoss 12V compressor but doesn't seem as stable in temp inside. Works ok though. 

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Bargebuilder said:

Is the reason not because of the little gas flame? Boats do allow the accumulation of butane in the bilge, whereas it can escape from motor homes quite easily.

 

Possibly yes, but given that until the mid 90's the vast majority of boats that had fridges were of the 3 way type, running on gas, there were very few incidents (none that I recall) of boats exploding because the fridge pilot light ignited gas which had accumulated in the bilge.

 

However the point I was trying to make is that the manufacturers don't recommend fitting 3 way fridges into boats, because they have no control over the type of boat, so give blanket no fit advice.

 

These fridges need to be kept level plus or minus a few degrees, and a typical narrowboat will be more stable than a motorhome when both are underway.

Edited July 29, 2023 by cuthound
Spillung

[Bargebuilder]

7 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Possibly yes, but given that until the mid 90's the vast majority of boats that had fridges were of the 3 way type, running on gas, there were very few incidents (none that I recall) of boats exploding because the fridge pilot light ignited gas which had accumulated in the bilge.

 

However the point I was trying to make is that the manufacturers don't recommend fitting 3 way fridges into boats, because they have no control over the type of boat, so give blanket no fit advice.

 

These fridges need to be kept level plus or minus a few degrees, and a typical narrowboat will be more stable than a motorhome when both are underway.

The angle of the fridge is important to its operation, but I suspect it's the gas aspect that the BSS are concerned about.

 

Did the old fridges have flame failure devices? If not, an extinguished pilot light could allow quite an accumulation of gas in a bilge. 

 

The BSS inspector would fail a gas system thats bubble detector bubbled the equivalent of the gas consumed by a fridge flame.

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, Bargebuilder said:

Is the reason not because of the little gas flame? Boats do allow the accumulation of butane in the bilge, whereas it can escape from motor homes quite easily.

 

That is why, even in the late 60s they all had flame failure devices on them. I am sure it is more to do with what Cuthound says, re not knowing what type of boat they will go into.

[cuthound]

31 minutes ago, Bargebuilder said:

The angle of the fridge is important to its operation, but I suspect it's the gas aspect that the BSS are concerned about.

 

Did the old fridges have flame failure devices? If not, an extinguished pilot light could allow quite an accumulation of gas in a bilge. 

 

The BSS inspector would fail a gas system thats bubble detector bubbled the equivalent of the gas consumed by a fridge flame.

 

Certainly the 3 way fridge on my 1992 built shareboat had a flame failure device fitted.

[Tacet]

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.

 

 

Elsanol - and it was a creosote type fluid

 

https://collections.rafmuseum.org.uk/collection/object/object-139312/

Edited July 29, 2023 by Tacet

[MtB]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

Certainly the 3 way fridge on my 1992 built shareboat had a flame failure device fitted.

 

I'll raise you on that. The ancient ol' gas fridge already in my first boat wot I bought in 1977 had a FFD.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

4 hours ago, cuthound said:

They allow 3 way fridges to be installed in motorhomes which I would have thought would move around far more than a typical narrowboat.

 

According to the manual it is designed for 'rolling' as in a vehicle ot towed caravan .............................

 

 

 

[blackrose]

I had a Dometic 3 way fridge on my boat connected to gas until quite recently. It passed 4 separate BSS inspections over the years with different inspectors. 

 

As usual on this forum most of the doomsters & gloomsters are people who have no firsthand experience that are just repeating things they may have heard. 

[magnetman]

Wasn't the gas fridge problem because the installation required a drain hole below it through the bottom of the vehicle to atmosphere? Rather tricky with a boat unless the fridge is raised in uits own sump tray. 

 

Also I believe the fire problems occurred with inboard petrol engined boats where there was a real risk of vapours accumulating in the bilges and eventually being ignited by the pilot light which in a lot of installations was nearly at floor level. 

 

Of course there is nothing to stop you putting a gas fridge at higher level. It also makes for easier access. Fridges on the floor never made much sense to me. 

[Bargebuilder]

6 hours ago, blackrose said:

I had a Dometic 3 way fridge on my boat connected to gas until quite recently. It passed 4 separate BSS inspections over the years with different inspectors. 

 

As usual on this forum most of the doomsters & gloomsters are people who have no firsthand experience that are just repeating things they may have heard. 

But yours was an appliance installed before any change of regulations and as such would be exempt. 

 

Will the BSS pass a piece of equipment that it's own manufacturer recommends should not be used on a boat? 

 

My last BSS inspector refused to pass my boat because it's carbon monoxide detector didn't have a yacht symbol embossed on the back: he insisted that only CO detectors specifically recommended for use on boats were acceptable. I argued that the detector didn't know where it was and CO was the same wherever it was detected, but he refused to issue my certificate until I sent him a photo of a new detector with the symbol visible on it. I thought he might be wrong, but complied with his request.

[Alan de Enfield]

6 hours ago, magnetman said:

Also I believe the fire problems occurred with inboard petrol engined boats where there was a real risk of vapours accumulating in the bilges and eventually being ignited by the pilot light which in a lot of installations was nearly at floor level. 

 

And a fridge with an open pilot flame is a BSS fail on a petrol engined boat (and on a commercial boat irrespective of fuel type)

 

 

[MtB]

On 29/07/2023 at 18:59, MtB said:

My current boat has a near identical "Inlander" brand under counter fridge which still has the same Danfoss 12V compressor but doesn't seem as stable in temp inside. Works ok though. 

 

Having written this only yesterday evening, I woke up this morning to find the Inlander has given up the ghost. Compressor won't run. 

 

Plenty of volts on the wire, no error code on the red LED, for all the world as though the thermostat has gone open circuit. But nope, shorting the thermostat wires together still does not make the compressor run. Pesky thing. Gonna have to learn how to diagnose these BD35 compressor fridges properly now! 

 

 

[captain flint]

On 29/07/2023 at 14:00, Tony Brooks said:

In search mode, it only uses 10Ah a day to run itself, so that is 30Ah consumed by the other mains equipment.

I've got the same inverter and I'm trying to work out how to bloody turn search mode on! It's nowhere in my Cerbo menu that I can see. Maybe I need to set up a VRM thingy

I actually tried to delete this crappy post out of existence but you can't edit it down to nothing so here it remains.

Aaaanyway. As you were.

Edited November 2, 2023 by captain flint

[Alan de Enfield]

8 hours ago, captain flint said:

Deleted

 

Just delete your text and add 'Deleted' then everyone knows there was something but now there is not.

[Phoenix_V]

For anyone looking for a small 12v compressor fridge these have appeared on Amazon; obviously a Chinese compressor but then Danfoss are made in China now.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shield-Autocare-Campervan-Compressor-Refrigerator/dp/B0CCF532XP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Just delete your text and add 'Deleted' then everyone knows there was something but now there is not.

 

And then everybody climbs the walls with curiosity about what was so bad it needed deleting! 

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

10 hours ago, captain flint said:

I've got the same inverter and I'm trying to work out how to bloody turn search mode on! It's nowhere in my Cerbo menu that I can see. Maybe I need to set up a VRM thingy

I actually tried to delete this crappy post out of existence but you can't edit it down to nothing so here it remains.

Aaaanyway. As you were.

 

I don't think this is a crappy post. It is a perfect illustration of how high-tech, "boy racer" type "enhancements" Make things very difficult for far too many people. As simple multi-position twist switch would do the job of screens, leads and Bluetooth. However, that adds manufacturing costs and is less appealing to the gizmo must have market.

[Sea Dog]

25 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

And then everybody climbs the walls with curiosity about what was so bad it needed deleting! 

 

 

Deleted.

 

 

[captain flint]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

And then everybody climbs the walls with curiosity about what was so bad it needed deleting! 

 

 

Everyone who hasn't come across any of my other posts I guess 😂

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I don't think this is a crappy post. It is a perfect illustration of how high-tech, "boy racer" type "enhancements" Make things very difficult for far too many people. As simple multi-position twist switch would do the job of screens, leads and Bluetooth. However, that adds manufacturing costs and is less appealing to the gizmo must have market.

I used to have that, sadly my old inverter wasn't compatible with the new battery system. Why can't they have both?!