Fridge freezer

[peterboat]

I have been away for christmas we popped into the boat today to see if all was well and it wasnt!! my 12 volt fridge freezer has stopped freezing I checked the batteries and they had plenty of power in them (solar panels doing their stuff) We have brought all the stuff to my other halves house and cooked it but the item in question is just over a year old and I am miffed to say the least!! I has always been noisy and I have talked the manufacturer about it but they said they are all tested and it must be ok. Anyway If I had known at the time that the compressor was made in China I would never have bought it but I will contact the maker tomorrow and see what they have to say?

 

Peter

[frangar]

If it only has one stat in the fridge then the ambient temp may have been too cold for it....happens in domestic units in garages in winter too. Does it run if you turn the stat up (colder) or if you raise the temp in the boat?

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Ex- Member]

I have been away for christmas we popped into the boat today to see if all was well and it wasnt!! my 12 volt fridge freezer has stopped freezing I checked the batteries and they had plenty of power in them (solar panels doing their stuff) We have brought all the stuff to my other halves house and cooked it but the item in question is just over a year old and I am miffed to say the least!! I has always been noisy and I have talked the manufacturer about it but they said they are all tested and it must be ok. Anyway If I had known at the time that the compressor was made in China I would never have bought it but I will contact the maker tomorrow and see what they have to say?

 

Peter

 

If only a year old hopefully you'll get some recourse. frangar might be right also.

 

If not you might want to consider a 240v option, I posted this just a couple of days ago.

 

Came across this one which might be useful for boaters. we have a superb Bosch fridge (with no freezer option) which is very energy efficient @ 117kwh this under counter fridge freezer is just 170kwh. for best of both worlds, only a smallish freezer but perfect for the essentials, and the smaller fridge compartment should suffice for 2 persons at least.

http://www.currys.co...0131226141033:s

[lexicon]

I have been away for christmas we popped into the boat today to see if all was well and it wasnt!! my 12 volt fridge freezer has stopped freezing I checked the batteries and they had plenty of power in them (solar panels doing their stuff) We have brought all the stuff to my other halves house and cooked it but the item in question is just over a year old and I am miffed to say the least!! I has always been noisy and I have talked the manufacturer about it but they said they are all tested and it must be ok. Anyway If I had known at the time that the compressor was made in China I would never have bought it but I will contact the maker tomorrow and see what they have to say?

 

Peter

Most 12v combined fridge freezer don't freeze if the room they are in goes under 16c

[ditchcrawler]

Its because the stat is in the fridge which is kept cool by the excess freezing in the freezer section. If the room is too cold the fridge thermostat doesn't call for more cold so the freezer thaws out.

Edited December 29, 2013 by ditchcrawler

[by'eck]

Its because the stat is in the fridge which is kept cool by the excess freezing in the freezer section. If the room is too cold the fridge thermostat doesn't call for more cold so the freezer thaws out.

I wind mine flat out when leaving the boat unattended in the winter for this reason. It just about compensates.

[Ex- Member]

I wind mine flat out when leaving the boat unattended in the winter for this reason. It just about compensates.

 

Blimey

 

That's costly if you lose a freezer full of food. I used to store mostly meats in our freezer in (B&M), surprising how much value you can get in even a small freezer. You would have thought some kind of override system would have been built in to stop this happening.

[hilary barr]

Been away for a week and my table top freezer is on shoreline.... Hope all ok!

[ditchcrawler]

Been away for a week and my table top freezer is on shoreline.... Hope all ok!

If its a straight freezer it should be OK

[Kwacker]

Some makers (used to) get round the problem by fitting a switch that allows you to turn on the fridge lamp when the door is shut. The heat from the lamp enables the fridge to go through it's defrost cycle quicker, thus preventing the freezer thawing.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Kwacker

[peterboat]

Yes you are all saying what I thought the temp was right down in the boat and its a shoreline with auto defrost on the fridge we didnt lose much as we cooked the lot and refroze it at the house plus the Taff whose birthday it was yesterday had a birthday feast!!

I will check out the fridge next week when I go back on board still not happy about the noise though

 

Peter

[johno38]

Hi

New to all this sorry if I am being thick but on our new to us boat the fridge/f is a but tatty we would like to change it but a new 12v seems to be from £500 / to £750 could I use a 240v though wouldn't it take too much power to run??!!

Thanks John

[MtB]

Hi

New to all this sorry if I am being thick but on our new to us boat the fridge/f is a but tatty we would like to change it but a new 12v seems to be from £500 / to £750 could I use a 240v though wouldn't it take too much power to run??!!

Thanks John

 

This question crops up repeatedly, have a search!

 

The advice is usually to get a 12v as a 240v needs your inverter to run all the time with the inherent reduction in efficiency and increased risk of a power supply failure.

 

I'm inclined to disagree with this and suggest a modern 240v fridge, as it is likely to be more fuel-efficient than a 12v old design (they make far fewer 12v fridges so the product development budgets don't exist) and the WAY lower price of the 240v goes some way to the cost of a half-decent inverter.

 

MtB

[Ex- Member]

Hi

New to all this sorry if I am being thick but on our new to us boat the fridge/f is a but tatty we would like to change it but a new 12v seems to be from £500 / to £750 could I use a 240v though wouldn't it take too much power to run??!!

Thanks John

 

We've looked in to this a fair bit. First off if you require a fridge to run when off grid (Not in a marina with mains electricity) You need an inverter to run a 240 fridge or F/Fer where you don't need an inverter to run a 12v fridge.

 

Which ever you choose the power usage isn't going to be much different, especially if you choose a 240v A+ rated 240v fridge freezer.

 

You can pick up a decent 240v unit for £200 ist or pay for a 12v £500 ++++

 

We look at it this way. With the price difference between the 2 you could buy a sufficient inverter to run a 240v fridge.

 

You have a far wider choice of 240v fridges/freezers

 

You'll probably get 240v appliances repaired or replaced much quicker than the companies that supply 12v fridges.

 

I've also just come across a problem with 12v f/f ers defrosting in left in the cold.

 

We have a fridge only 117Kwh per year, It's a bosch with a great design for access.

 

http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/Bosch_Logixx_Easy_Access_Undercounter_Fridge_KTR18P20GB/version.asp

 

You won't get this kind of design with 12v

 

I also posted this wee fridge freezer a couple of days ago, small but just 170KWH per year.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bosch+kt&oq=bosch+kt&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3j69i60j0.9533j0j8&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#es_sm=93&espv=210&q=essentials+cuc50w12&tbm=shop&spd=594367554040136138

[ditchcrawler]

Well that's 3 of us in agreement

[frangar]

Most fridge freezers and the freezer compartments of fridges will defrost if the ambient temp drops as pointed out in the previous posts....doesn't make a difference if they are 12v or 240v.

 

I personally prefer a properly designed 12v built in fridge (mines made by Waeco) over either a 240v unit or a domestic unit fitted with a 12v compressor such as the shoreline units...you get useful things like the ability to lock doors...screw it to units/floor...rust proof construction etc. I also have the 240v-12v auto change psu so I can run it directly on the shore power when it's connected.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[johno38]

Great thanks for that the only thing I can see with the second unit is if you read product details it says not to be used in outhouse or any unheated room?? Guess thats out then?

[Ex- Member]

doesn't make a difference if they are 12v or 240v.

 

 

Apologies I thought it was a 12v quirk

[frangar]

Apologies I thought it was a 12v quirk

Nope fraid not......you need to look for units which are suitable for "Garage use".....they usually mention it in the manual. Quite a few of the Beko units are rated as such....we have one in our unit which works fine even in a harsh winter as long as it's already running.....however if you have a power cut it gets confused and you bizarrely have to warm it up for it to start running again...hence the other year after a power cut we ended up with an array of heaters pointed at it to spring it back into life!...as recommended by Beko technical dept!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[johno38]

Sorry just cought up with previous posts!

 

Doesn't seem to be a great deal beween them if they both defrost!!

I can't afford the 12v so I guess its a no brainer

[Ex- Member]

Nope fraid not......you need to look for units which are suitable for "Garage use".....they usually mention it in the manual. Quite a few of the Beko units are rated as such....we have one in our unit which works fine even in a harsh winter as long as it's already running.....however if you have a power cut it gets confused and you bizarrely have to warm it up for it to start running again...hence the other year after a power cut we ended up with an array of heaters pointed at it to spring it back into life!...as recommended by Beko technical dept!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

Strange stuff. We're considering a small freezer but can't find a decent smaller than under counter size unit with a decent energy rating, so gave up for now. We'll look again in a few months, I'll look out for "Garage use" with regard to the spec, we are full time livaboard though but even a day away it can be pretty cold on returning.

[frangar]

You might be ok if it's just a freezer......what I said is more for fridge freezers and fridges with freezer compartments....might still be worth a call to the manufacturer tho just to be safe...I have something nagging me that "frost free" freezers might be affected to but I'm not sure.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

Edited to add

 

Have a look at the Waeco range...sure they do some small freezers inc one that's cool box size.....not cheap tho!

Edited December 30, 2013 by frangar

[b0atman]

spray foam insulation on the sensor line can help stop this problem.

With regards to costs generally rip off price boat fridges are only for casual use so do not comply with energy requirements I am now looking for a A+ energy rated larder fridge have heard a rumour that Inlander use 230v fridges and convert them to 12v so will go down this route unless you know more

[ditchcrawler]

spray foam insulation on the sensor line can help stop this problem.

With regards to costs generally rip off price boat fridges are only for casual use so do not comply with energy requirements I am now looking for a A+ energy rated larder fridge have heard a rumour that Inlander use 230v fridges and convert them to 12v so will go down this route unless you know more

Isn't that a boat fridge which in line 2 you claim are rip offs or are you talking about something else?

[Kwacker]

spray foam insulation on the sensor line can help stop this problem.

With regards to costs generally rip off price boat fridges are only for casual use so do not comply with energy requirements I am now looking for a A+ energy rated larder fridge have heard a rumour that Inlander use 230v fridges and convert them to 12v so will go down this route unless you know more

If by this you mean the thermostat probe in the fridge .... spraying it with insulation foam would not work in my world.