Insulation and Fan

One of everybodies' favorite topics. Post your technical questions or solutions about your boat's refrigerator here.

Moderator: KenKrawford

Ken
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Mar 18, 2006 12:21 pm
Location: Cape Coral, Florida

Refrigerator forum

Post by Ken »

I have a 2003, 350 hull #12, The dealer I bought my boat from is no longer in cape coral, But before he closed he looked at my frige 2 times. I was told it is working as it should.( My Ice Chest kept ice longer the the frige) I have added insulaion to the inside of the top, and sealed the 1/4 to 1" gaps between box and counter top, this has helped. I would like to know if there is a group of owners who are working to try to make Catalina fix this, I would be glad to join in, This is my 1st time on the association site, what a great place to find help and see what others have done.

Ken
Cape Coral, Fl.
S/V Forever Young
Triumph
Posts: 256
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:34 am
Location: Tampa, Fl

Refrigeration Challanges

Post by Triumph »

I installed an hour meter on my compressor to measure run time. I sealed up all the cracks and crevices around the top of the ice boxes and the countertops. I installed a small low volt computer fan to blow on the comperssor when it's running, and I installed another one of these on the vent hose on the starboard side to exhaust the air from this area of the stern. This fan runs constantly as long as the refrig unit breaker is 'on'. I then put foam gasketing around the lids to better insulate the vertical gap between the lid and the opening.

I drilled holes and checked for insulation behind most all walls of the boxes. I found insulation behind every wall. I was perpared to add it if needed as one of our members had done. But this was not necessary.

I put two frozen gallons of water in the bottom of the refrigerator over the drain area. I put a 5 lb bag of ice in the freexer on top pf the beers, and used this up as the week pasted, for rum drinks, etc.

I then went cruising for a week, on the hook all but one night. Out side temp were 85 daytime, 68 nighttime on average. After loading it, and running it for 48 hours, I recorded run times of 16.3-16.6 hours per day. (70% run time) Normal use, several opening a day, ... well, OK, a lot of openings of the freeze door to get beers. I set the dials for the freezer at 3, and the refrigerator fan at 9, or max. Temps inside the boxes were recorded as 42-45 for the refrigerator, and 37-39 for the beer area or aft area of the freezer box. The white Abler Barbour freezer box itself, froze water, and kept our frozen stuff hard as a rock. (yes the little fan ran constantly, but this fan like the others I installed only draws something like .07 amps per hour.)

Towards the end of the week, I dialed the freezer temp up to 5, and the comperssor ran 21 hours a day, temps dropped 2-3 degrees.

While at the St Pete boat show, I took a look at the box of the new models, and it's very obvious that they added 2" or more additional insualtion.

I't very clear to me that lack of insulation is our main problem, followed by poor seals, and heat build up around the compressor area.

It seems to me, that the only real way to get good performance is to add insulation inside the box.
KenKrawford
Posts: 614
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:54 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Post by KenKrawford »

Tim,
Your experience pretty much mirrors mine. I also installed an hour meter on my compressor and run times average 76% of the time. I've been keeping logs for the past year. I also have come to the same conclusion that you have - insulation is the issue. I'm afraid that trying to retro-fit insulation inside the boxes is going to turn it into a mold and mildew nightmare. I wish there was another solution!
Ken Krawford
Message Board Moderator
C350 # 351
Lake Lanier, GA
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