Refrigeration

[PLKennedy]

I now have a slip, and I hooked up the shore power, and turned on the inverter.  I had read that the refrigeration unit would work automatically through the inverter, but this does not seem to be the case.  I had to turn the battery(ies) switch on for the refrigeration unit to work.  Since the batteries are being charged by the shore power, there is no drain on them.

Am I correct, that in order for the refrigeration unit to work, the batery(ies) must be switched on?

Peter

[amoreau]

Hi Peter,  Yes, the way I see it the fridge is on the DC side of the panel so the DC switch must be on as well as the battery switch.  The charger will replace what's lost on the batteries.  You can run on just batteries while your out, but it will drain them if your not careful.   Al

[shekinahsailor]

Your description of the refrigeration is correct, at least for my vessel (I have a charger but no inverter).  Further, since my batteries are constantly working and being recharged, I find I need to add water much more frequently than my friends who shut their refrigeration down (my refrigeration expert believes it's better to keep the system running but that's another discussion).  I've been in touch with Adler Barbour and found they have the components necessary to wire a bypass of the batteries when under shore power.  I'm not an electricity guy but the necessary components seem to be a small transformer to go from 110 to 12 volt and some diodes to keep the current flow in one direction so that you don't mechanically need to tell the refrigeration system where it's current is coming from.  As of now I have not added this system.

[Stu Jackson]

Peter

The refrigeration is run on DC power.  This assumes that you have the "standard" Adler Barbour (AB) unit.  You will need to confirm this, because some other units, like NorCold run on both AC and DC.

If it's AB it ONLY runs on DC and can only run from the batteries.

Your inverter makes AC power FROM the DC batteries.  IF, (this is another "you'll need to confirm this to us), IF your inverter is a combination inverter and charger, when plugged into shorepower you are charging your batteries.

What is the size of your inverter, the size of your charger, or the size of your combination inverter charger?

The inverter part is always watts (1,000, 1,500, 2,000, etc.) and the charger part is always in amps (20 amps, 50 amps, 75 amps, etc.)

Since your refrigerator will only draw 5 amps maximum, and your charger, whether it be 20 amps or 75 or more amps, is putting in way more than your fridge is taking out, there is no problem.

The comments about batteries losing water has more to do with bad charging from old ferro resonant chargers, the newer chargers just will not fry batteries.  Again, not to worry. Always good however to check your batteries.  If you have wet cells, do check the water level (remember, distilled only - no beer, gin, vodka or regular wa wa).  If you have gells, nothing to check.

What you need to do is begin to understand the difference between the AC side and the DC side of your electrical system(s).

John Meyer wrote: "I've been in touch with Adler Barbour and found they have the components necessary to wire a bypass of the batteries when under shore power. I'm not an electricity guy but the necessary components seem to be a small transformer to go from 110 to 12 volt and some diodes to keep the current flow in one direction so that you don't mechanically need to tell the refrigeration system where it's current is coming from. As of now I have not added this system."


I recommend NOT doing this UNTIL you have completely understood what's going on ON YOUR BOAT.  John and I have corresponded about this offline, and he leaves his fridge on for different reasons, in answer to my question about why bother to do that.

I do not understand why anyone (other than John who has a GREAT reason - find out directly from him) would leave their fridge on when they are not aboard.

Your fridge will NOT work better if it is on all the time.  That is a bunch of malarkey.  The fridge uses a refrierant gas (R-22 or HC-134) (like the old freon).  The more it runs, the more it will eventually (over a LONG time) use up the refrigrant.  This is one case where my motto "if it's mechanical use it or lose it" DOES NOT APPLY.  It just simply AIN'T a Sears refrigerator.

Any questions, plet me know.

Best regards,

Stu

PS - Having FUN yet???? :cool:

[hdevera]

I hate to disagree with everyone else.  I have a 2001 Catalina  34 with a AB refrigeration unit.  When I leave the inverter off and the refrigeration unit on, my batteries are not being drained!!  When I turn of the 110v input, it automatically swithches to 12vols.

Hence, the refrig does operate off of 110 volts.