Norcold AC/DC Cold Plate vs. Adler/Barbour DC

[sailingdolphin]

I am looking to finally do my ice box conversion.

So far I am leaning towards the Norcold for three major reasons.

1. You get the frig and the freezer in one kit and it is less expensive than the Adler.

2. It is A/C and D/C. A/C only runs on .83 amps D/C only 3.  If your using the Adler and you want to keep it on with D/C only you are discharging and charging your batterys all the time.  Doesn't that shorten the battery life?

3. The cold plate system is much more energy efficient.  The system only has to run a few times a day instead of constantly cycling on and off.  If your at anchor run it while you are charging your batteries.

4. I heard from an electrician who solely works on boats that unless you have a true DC system it doesnt work as well.  I am waiting to here more details from him when he calls me back.

I am looking for feedback.

Thank you

#71

[Paul Blumenfeld]

I installed an Adler-Barbour cold machine a few months ago.  It's been great!  Have the small evaporator and no problem freezing stuff inside the unit, the rest of the box stays below 40 degrees.  I leave the battery charger on and have had no problems.  The 8D battery keeps the fridge and all house electric running at anchor for 3 days easily.  Just installed a xantrax battery monitor to find out how much battery amps are used.

[Stu Jackson]

D&D

Assume you've read these:

http://c34.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?a=search&s=329609511&reqWords=fridge

Stu

[Stu Jackson]

D&D

Aso, in our earlier correspondence, i.e.:

http://c34.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=329609511&f=829605811&m=364604153&r=432606153#432606153

The "100 amp alternator" thread, we discussed an energy budget, so unless the TOTAL amp hours per day OUT of one system or another were different, there's NO advantage in that regard.  

Think of total daily out, cycling doesn't matter as far as your batteries are concerned.  There's no difference in "energy efficiency" of a machine working one hour at an output of 24 compared to another machine working 24 hours at an output of 1.

Full time DC running of an A/B unit won't hurt your batteries if you have a good charger and a good house bank.

You may have read and/or contributed to the Finds on "chargers" and "batteries" already.

There's a nice advantage of having the unit switch automatically from DC to AC once you plug in, but who plugs in [only] to keep their fridge's running anymore anyway?

With a good house bank you can stay going for more than two days away from shorepower and only plug in when necessary.  A few hours at a gas dock or a restaurant will do wonders if you have a quality charger.

As far as pure DC" goes, that's "pure B/*."  The A/B units and most other pieces of equipment will have transformers inside all over the place.  Don't hassle the internal differences, go with what you can afford and install.

You're buying a refrigerator, after all, and both are fine products.

Nice work you're doing on your Good Old(#71) boat.

Stu

[DavidComando]

Not to add more cold to the conversation, but I went for the Frigoboat refrigeration with the keel cooler and Carel thermostat. My wife wanted radar, I wanted cold beer. We all love the system, my kids get ice cream, I get cold beer, but the refrigerator NAZI, my wife's new nickname, does all the loading and stocking as...well...she's the boss. It was a great investment, it takes 3 days before it it brings down the house bank below operating voltage, and running the engine for an hour did little to charge it up. Three days at anchor is enough, with my 2 kids, their friends, the dog in the dingy...
Dave Comando Kindred Spirit #55

[Paul Blumenfeld]

D&D,

Where you boat will make a difference on what type of unit you get.  I'm in CA where the air temp is very mild. Rarely does the air temp get above 75. If you are boating in warmer weather then I think the water cooled units probably work better.  The downside is another thru-hull fitting.

[rxc]

The first owner of my boat installed a Norcold unit, and it worked reasonably well, but eventually I decided to switch to the A/B, and I have never regretted it.  The A/B (1) makes ice, which the Norcold did not(maybe the newer ones do, now), (2) is not made of carbon steel components, and therefore does not rust, like the Norcold, (3) runs on 12vDC, and therefore does not suffer the losses of conversion from DC to AC, and (4) is not susceptible to vibration problems (the Norcold uses a compressor that is driven by a 60Hz resonant element, and other boat vibrations can sometimes interfere with the resonance, and make the unit less efficient).  

Both the Norcold and the A/B will cycle, depending on how much insulation you have around your box.  If you want to be able to leave the fridge on all the time, and not have to flip the breaker off when the engine is not running, you also need a bigger battery bank, and probably a bigger alternator.  There are lots of posts on the board explaining how to do that part, too.