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Replacing fridge

Arthur Marshall

By Arthur Marshall
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Lady M Proficient

Lady MDonate to Canal World

Posted
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Talk to your BSS person;  if necessary find one that favours three way fridges.  The advice we received/followed was to have the installation checked by a Gas Safe engineer.  Gas Safe engineers are not allowed to install gas fridges on boats but they can check installations for safety.

 

 

 

 

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Lady M Proficient

Lady MDonate to Canal World

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This is just my understanding and my personal experience which I hoped might assist the OP.  I can't quote a regulation but it may be in the BSS (though the few BSS inspectors I know are all quite keen on gas fridges, provided the boat is not powered by petrol) or it may just be that boat qualified Gas Safe engineers prefer not to install 'unsuitable equipment'.

 

The three-way caravan fridges installed on many older boats are described by the manufacturer as 'not suitable for installation in a boat'.  AFAIK it is not currently possible to buy a three-way fridge which is 'suitable for installation in a boat'.

 

There seems to be a general acceptance that caravan fridges in older boats may sometimes need to be replaced.  In my boat, swapping to an electric fridge was essentially impractical and anyway we like our silent fridge.

 

I talked to my BSS man about the situation and he advised that he would have no problems with us replacing the fridge like for like provided the installation was tested for safety, as I described previously.  My local chandlery was happy to order a suitable replacement fridge and I specified piezo ignition. 

 

My advice to the OP remains unchanged.

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WotEver Veteran II

WotEverDonate to Canal World

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3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Really?

 

Can you cite the rule saying this please?

I think it’s because a GS engineer MUST follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Afaik, all such instructions state ‘not to be installed on a boat’. 

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cereal tiller Veteran

cereal tillerDonate to Canal World

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21 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I think it’s because a GS engineer MUST follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Afaik, all such instructions state ‘not to be installed on a boat’. 

Not to be Installed in a Boat as Certain Types of Boat lean over more than a Bit!

That's why they are considered  unsuitable for a Boat ,Sailing Boats Heel over to 30-40 Degrees Frequently and an Absorption Fridge would cease to function.3 Ways are fine on Canals and Stiller waters.I have an AC freezer and a Gas Fridge on the Boat.

 

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doratheexplorer Veteran

doratheexplorer

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1 minute ago, cereal tiller said:

Not to be Installed in a Boat as Certain Types of Boat lean over more than a Bit!

That's why they are considered  unsuitable for a Boat ,Sailing Boats Heel over to 30-40 Degrees Frequently and an Absorption Fridge would cease to function.3 Ways are fine on Canals and Stiller waters.I have an AC freezer and a Gas Fridge on the Boat.

 

What angle do gas fridges stop working at?  Some campsites are quite sloping.

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rusty69 Veteran II

rusty69

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4 minutes ago, cereal tiller said:

Not to be Installed in a Boat as Certain Types of Boat lean over more than a Bit!

That's why they are considered  unsuitable for a Boat ,Sailing Boats Heel over to 30-40 Degrees Frequently and an Absorption Fridge would cease to function.3 Ways are fine on Canals and Stiller waters.I have an AC freezer and a Gas Fridge on the Boat.

 

My sailing dinghy often heals to 180,degrees,luckily the fridge fell out and sank. 

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Arthur Marshall Veteran II

Arthur Marshall

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As per the other fridge thread, thanks to Bizzard I no longer need a new fridge, assuming it doesn't explode tomorrow when I give it a full day's workout.  Mind you, if it does explode, I won't need a fridge anyway any more.

As I understand it, the BSS banning them was when they just incorporated a load of regs that apply to sea going craft to canal boats, which was about as stupid as most of the rest of the BSS.

As to the angle, I assume, possibly erroneoulsy, it's because the freon gets circulated as it rises when it gets hot, so the system of pipes is designed to work properly on the flat. If you lurch about a bit it you get airlocks in the system as the stuff swishes about - happens if your rope breaks and the boat crashes head first into a lock gate, not that mine ever does, obviously.

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cuthound Veteran II

cuthoundDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

.

As to the angle, I assume, possibly erroneoulsy, it's because the freon gets circulated as it rises when it gets hot, so the system of pipes is designed to work properly on the flat. If you lurch about a bit it you get airlocks in the system as the stuff swishes about - happens if your rope breaks and the boat crashes head first into a lock gate, not that mine ever does, obviously.

 

3 way fridges do not use freon.  They are absorbtion type fridges, which rely on a heat source evaporating a liquid (usually a water/ammonia or water/bromide solution.

 

The danger from heeling over is that the gas flames will no longer be where they should be, so may set fire to something. However surely this could have been resolved with an angle sensitive gas shut off valve.

Edited by cuthound
Spillung
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Arthur Marshall Veteran II

Arthur Marshall

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1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

3 way fridges do not use freon.  They are absorbtion type fridges, which rely on a heat source evaporating a liquid (usually a water/ammonia or water/bromide solution.

 

The danger from heeling over is that the gas flames will no longer be where they should be, so may set fire to something. However surely this could have been resolved with an angle sensitive gas shut off valve.

The gas flame is more like a pilot light than a real flame. It would be pretty hard pressed to set fire to anything - it's certainly half the size of the pilot in the water heater.  Thanks for the explanation of how the thing works - I should have remembered freon's in the other sort.  It still baffles my brain that making something hot cools everything down, but then my physics lessons were about fifty years ago....

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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I've had 4 different bss insprctors pass my non - room sealed 3 way gas fridge that I installed myself. The last one explained to me the other day why it was fine for it to flue straight into the boat. I obviously wasn't listening properly as I can't remember what he said but I think it's just because the flame is so small. 

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

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3 hours ago, blackrose said:

I've had 4 different bss insprctors pass my non - room sealed 3 way gas fridge that I installed myself. The last one explained to me the other day why it was fine for it to flue straight into the boat. I obviously wasn't listening properly as I can't remember what he said but I think it's just because the flame is so small. 

 

Point of order...

 

The term for your fridge is “flueless”. 

 

Gas appliances are classed as “room sealed”, “open flued”, or “flueless”. 

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