New Adler Barbour Somewhat Coldmachine Fridge – Not as Cold as the Old One

[Bob K]

I just installed a new Adler Barbour CU-100 Coldmachine  and companion VD-150 evaporator.  These replace the OEM Adler Barbour DCM-12 and SFV-1 evaporator.   I hooked it up last night and my hopes for a nice cold fridge were kind of deflated.  It seems to work, but does not seem as cold as the old unit.  The evaporator frosted only on the rear side, whereas the old unit caused frost on both front and back.  I had it on for maybe an hour and the front side never frosted.

Both new and old units have similar cooling capacity specs, so my first thought was that the new unit is not working correctly.  But......after thinking about it, I noted many differences that would justify lower performance of the new one.  The new unit is smaller overall, has a smaller compressor, is lighter weight, runs on R-134, and draws less current.   I know little about refrigeration but these all seem to point to lower cooling capacity when compared to the old.  Note that the new evaporator looks identical to the old one in every aspect except part number, so I don't really see that as a variable.  The unit came pre-charged - I have no means of checking charge level, but there was negligible charge loss during hook-up.   It did give me a brief fault on initial start-up which did not reappear.  Fault code was over-charge!!.  Not sure if I believe it unless it occurs again. 

I didn't get a chance to run the unit long enough to stabilize the fridge temp and start the compressor cycling.  Won't be able to do that until it is loaded with food on upcoming trip.  So I am wondering if I should plan ice runs into our itinerary.

Has anyone else made similar fridge replacement?  How does your performance compare to mine?

Thanks

[Stu Jackson]

Bob, good analysis.

Re: Frosting - frosting is sign of a leaky hatch leak.  Did you touch the evaporator where it wasn't frosting to see if the evaporator got cold there?

Evaporator - is it the same shape as the old one, although smaller, i.e., a rectangle that you stand the ice cube trays up inside of?

[karista]

I also recently replaced my original Adler Barbour Cold machine with a new System. My original ran fine for almost 18 years, it was like yours, a R-12 charged system. The new Cold machine uses R-134, it also has quick connect fittings.
Unlike your experience, I find the new system to be very efficient while more energy efficient. The evaporator makes ice at a "2" setting.
I would let your system stabilze for a day or two on a 3 setting with water in the ice trays, if it makes ice at that setting your system is ok.

[Bob K]

Karista,
I took your suggestion and kept the fridge on overnight with ice cube trays filled.  I set the thermostat to mid-range (4).  Today I checked and I did indeed have ice cubes!!  One tray not fully frozen.  So it does work better than I originally thought.  Next test is when we stock the fridge and see if it stays cold and compressor cycles properly.  (BTW Stu, the evaporator is exactly same as the old one -  the vertical one with the standup ice trays.)

I'll post any final updates.  Thanks all for the help!!

[Bob K]

A quick note to announce a happy ending to my reefer saga.  I called Adler Barbour, and they put me in touch with a local shop who performs warranty repair for them.  I was visited within days, and it was confirmed the charge was low.  Now have a full charge and love the cold and frosty with much less noise and lower power consumption.  Kudos to Adler Barbour and Sherrod Marine who performed the service.