| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| a11night |
Posted - 04 May 2007 : 08:43:29
hi
i have just bought a small fridge for my norman 20.it uses 65 watts(5.42ah) or 0.5335kw over 24hrs(1.8525ah)this daily lower figure i assume is because the fridge only runs 1/3 of the time approx.i also bought a 1000 watt inverter which uses 0.8 ah.i have an old 85ah battery which i will keep for starting my mariner 20hp outboard.my question is what size battery or batteries should i be looking to buy to keep the fridge running from say friday night to sunday evening and also what solar panel do i need to charge up the batteries(not starter battery) from monday to friday ready for the weekend?nav lights will run from starter battery,cabin lights water pump and radio from new ones.look forward to your sugestions
paul |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| davem |
Posted - 11 Aug 2012 : 14:35:15
Hi All,
I've just aquired an Engel fridge 1993 vintage, front opening, built-in c. 40L (came with spare boat). Rumour has it that it chewed batteries on this particular vessel. Anybody got any knowledge on this model of refridgerator - not sure of the exact designation/number as yet - apparantly it is compressor driven but uses a unique Jananese unit based on a floating piston arrangement supported by opposing springs and excited by electromagnetics. Said to draw between 0.5 - 2.5amps when running and has a significant benefit of working at up to 30 degrees of heel - so originally popular with the stick and rag brigade.
Any info gratefully accepted.
Dave M |
| nigel-in-oxford |
Posted - 10 May 2007 : 10:17:30
I don't use my gas fridge on the boat for the reasons mentions.
(I once came close to blowing up a lab when some solvent I spilt ignited from a Bunsen burner 30Ft away).
I have a nice clean area in the bilges that I keep the Milk/beer/meat in.
Milk lasts for two days in the summer, and the beer is cool but not cold.
Norman 18 "Salix Alba" (white willow)
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| IanM |
Posted - 10 May 2007 : 07:52:29
That water powered fridge is what Marilyn was referring to. It's called an Easicool and is now available again here:
http://www.vwcurtains.com/easicool.htm
It runs on the priciple of water evaporation. You have to treat it as a coolbox rather than a fridge. Everything you put in it must be cold already. It will not chill your beer but it will keep it cool longer. |
| Barry |
Posted - 10 May 2007 : 02:47:05
Ok i have the ultimate answer to the fridge problem ---Drink warm beer, eat at pubs, use tinned milk in your tea, hunt each morning for your breakfast and pretend its the 1950's again.
Sorry to labour a point but if the gas fridge is portable, on the outside of the boat, on deck, vented to fresh air ---------- Its less dangeroius than the BBQ you will light 6 feet from the boat on the towpath. Its time to read the BSC regulations and see for yourself
At least we are back on fridges and 13watts of sunlight power i dont think will top up a 110amp battery enough. If it would we would all have one or two and not have a problem with fridges.
There is a water fridge that was around in the days of VW beetle vans that you simpley put fresh water in it and that worked well considering what it was and they still make them now and again.
Now anyone want to talk about Maggie Thatcher and the Poll Tax?
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| gorbo |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 21:52:31
We have one of these kits and have been very pleased with it
http://marinestore.co.uk/page/mrst/CTGY/fridges-isotherm-aircooled/
we built ours as a chest under worktop fridge which gives us 70 c/l and much cheaper than the alternative, yes you have to build your own box but that cost me £20!! and it can be any shape, anywhere
dawncraft owners
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| trevork |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 20:28:55
Sorry Paul, that's not the case. The 40 amps is over 24 hours. I think you will find that the average hourly rate is 0.6 aph. The other benefit is that, using the accumulator, it does not run for 24 hours. More likely 12 hours. Yes they are VERY expensive but they do a good job.
With regard to a gas fridge, the BSC will only allow "room sealed" fridges. The only ones I've seen available are Dometic. The smallest is a 60 litre and the cost? £599.96....... have a look.....
http://www.acornengineer.co.uk/show_cat.php?id=201&start=0#
Trevor |
| adi-n-chez |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 19:46:59
Gas Fridge & Petrol Motor NO NO NO !!!!!
Its not where the Gas Bottle is mounted (Most of us have them outside) its the fact a gas fridge has a naked flame that can ignite Petrol vapour. The BSS is there for our own safety not just to annoy us every 4 yrs.
Accumulator fridges do work & you dont have much choice unless you use an easycool evaporation fridge (Doesnt chill just keeps cold)
Please reconsider the use of a gas fridge ! And lets stop the talk of its ok I'll take it off for the BSS examination, your insurance will be invalid if something causes a problem that shouldnt be fitted.
For instance - I had to improve ventalation to the battery compartment as I plan (But havent yet) to add an extra battery
Adi |
| Kaz Steve |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 19:33:10
Might I be so bold as to suggest a mains hook up with a very very long lead or as i do, put the beer in a net in the water ( always cold when i fall in ) and eat in the pub !seriously though, I do use an electric cool box, but only on hook up either marina or many quay sides around the broads for £1. This cools things down, and if kept in the bilges, lasts a good while.
kaz & steve |
| a11night |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 19:01:52
oh dear i'm more confused now than when i started this post.
Trevor i have been looking at the waeco fridges you mention but they are very expensive and also consume around 40w which is a lot more than the fidge i linked to ealier in this post at 0.6ah.
if i bought the 13w solar panel from maplin's that Buccaneer mentioned surely this would be more than enough to keep a new 120ah battery charged.
on the other hand if i took Barry's suggestion and used gas, providing the gas bottle was on the outside of the boat and my 29L Eltex plastic remote fuel tank was inside my rear right seating compartment sealed and vented to the outside,would this be a safe option.also how long approx would a 50 litre fridge run for on a 4.5kg butane bottle Barry?
paul
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| Barry |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 17:15:54
I think that Mr Blair is a very nice man and i think there may still be a tribe somewhere up the Amazon who think he would be good with a few herbs too. As for Mr Brown he would make a good pudding course and i think the staff of Defra should be made into the soup dish.
Dont get me started on Ken Livingstone i still remember him ftom the seventies as RED KEN and age hasnt improved him. I like this thread LOL |
| IanM |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 11:59:33
Barry, I agree with most of what you say. Many people use those portable "canister in a briefcase" gas cookers on their boat and just remove them for the BSC. I'm sure some people do the same with fridges and heaters. It's similar to people changing their car wheels or removing their non-conforming fog lights to pass a car MOT (I once knew someone who changed his exhaust just for the MOT then put the old one back on afterwards).
People have to make their own informed decisions about risks and accept any consquences of those decisions. The rules say that you have to conform with the BSC all the time, not just during the test, much the same as you are responsible for keeping your car roadworthy between MOTs. So if something does go wrong you can expect your licence and insurance to be void and you will probably get the blame for every maritime disaster since the Titanic ("Boating Madman Jailed for 2000 Years").
The real danger doesn't come from your use of the fridge, because you understand the risks. The real danger comes from someone else reading this forum and thinking that gas fridges are always safe. Many people would not even consider that a gas fridge features an open flame, just as many people don't realise that petrol vapour and gas can collect in the bilges. Some people don't have common sense.
I think the BSC is mostly a good idea. It's not amazingly strict and it makes people think about safety. And in the big scheme of things the cost of a test every 4 years is not expensive compared with the other costs of boating.
Now, on to the next topic: "Tony Blair is a great guy, Taxes ARE lower and we all love speed cameras. Discuss."....
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| Barry |
Posted - 09 May 2007 : 08:53:04
quote:
Posted - 06 May 2007 : 09:05:05
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using a gas fridge on a petrol boat is considered to be very dangerous and will usually fail the BSC test. If your fridge is portable then obviously it can be removed for the test but that does not reduce the danger of using it.
I have a diesel boat so the petrol is not an issue
What has been said is correct and the open flame could ignite any fumes in the bilges.
The message i was trying to convey is that if the fridge is on the outside of the boat ( on mine its on the deck behind the rear cabin) and it was portable the bsc may not apply as its not a fixture. I had a Norman 20 and i put the fridge on the front deck with my gas bottle and put a wind shield up to protect the flame from the wind. I'm not saying this is a good idea but if you want cold beer or milk for your cornflakes on a 2 week holiday its a way of doing it.
Petrol gas or even diesel and naked flames don't go together but if kept far enough apart and common sense is used they can co exist lets face it if you have a gas cooker on board and that has naked flames so the risk is already there.
The choice is yours and the risk also. Perhaps ask a BSC tester he may have an opinion that sheds light on my theory i know i did and the reply i got was very enlightening.
More food for thought on the subject is that the BSC doesnt exist on most coastal waters or anywhere else in the world and only applies to us poor victims on the inland waterways where the nanny culture exists and is enforced by profit making caretakers appointed by the government.
Anyway technically i shouldn’t be here as i played with lead soldiers, ate with dirty hands, crossed roads without the aid of a pelican, and drank from the river etc.
I have a feeling i might have stirred a hornets nest so i will get ready for some stings about this post. But regardless of that i will have cold beer on my boat
Barry
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| marilyn |
Posted - 07 May 2007 : 11:54:02
Oh dear. Being a woman for whom electrical appliances are something that work automatically when I plug it in and has no understanding WHATSOEVER of the finer points of amps,watts and volts I think I'll stick to my lovely little cooler that just runs on water!
What no blonde jokes???
Marilyn |
| trevork |
Posted - 06 May 2007 : 16:22:48
Barry, if you have a compressor fridge with that setup and your batteries can't handle it then there is something wrong! I've a single 60 amp alternator and two 110 aph batteries and don't have a problem.
Trevor |
| peter271 |
Posted - 06 May 2007 : 16:15:07
When we had a Viking 23 we had a 12v fridge running off 2x 110v batteries with no problem. We had a 15hp o/b and this kept everythink topped up.
Peter / Lin
Dream Catcher (coffin dweller)
Bridgewater Marina |
