Refrigeration Survey General Forum Forums

Previous owner installed an A/B compressor unit (uses R-134a) and I believe the box is the original.  Compressor seems to work great –it makes ice very easily.  Placed under the aft salon seat nearest the center line.  Newer ones have quick-reattach plugs or such.  The one big failure is the fan chosen by the engineers on this unit.  The bearings have died —it started making horrible noises and during a heat wave this summer,completely froze up.  So basically,a $1600 fridge ruined by a $20 computer fan!  I've ordered a couple replacement fans and it turns out I can reduce the fan amp requirements (from 0.45A to 0.30A) while engineering a better airflow myself (which could reduce running time or improve heat transfer efficiency).  The airflow concept seems vastly overlooked in terms of compressor placement.  The fan shouldn't just blow onto the coil which sits inside a locker..  it should move the air in on one side and out on another side.  Hence I'm upgrading my unit with two fans:an intake and an outtake.

For a completely new system, I believe a lot can be said for getting a standard home/auto commercial fridge unit (top loading, made for RV's, likely), throwing away the internals and keeping the box, placing the box somewhere suitable onboard, then installing marine-compatible compressor system with it.