12VDC refer fan

[Mark Maulden]

I have an "old" Adler Barbour refer unit that is an ice box conversion. It works well except the fan motor gave out. This is not like a computer muffin fan. It's a real motor with a fan attached to the shaft. It will cost me about $200 to fix as the commutator is gone. Nobody knows p/n etc and is probably not available as a replacement. I'd like to try and replace with a fan style that is now used which is a computer style muffin fan. Need one about 6" square that I can 5200 down to the base. Any leads as to where to purchase?

 

[Sailm8]

http://www.newegg.com/store/categor...&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-Cooling-_-NA-_-NA

 

[Deadhead]

I have had good luck with these guys:

http://www.frozencpu.com/

 

[Benny17441]

Is that fan for cooling the compressor? Find out the air CFM for the current fan and try to match.

 

[Mark Maulden]

The fan is for drawing air through the condenser. No way to determine CFM. It's an unshrouded fan blade(s) next to the condenser which is driven from a motor..

 

[Bill Roosa]

Digikey has a full line of these. Be sure you get one that has the smaller center hub. The larger hub blocks the cooling coils air flow except around the edges. May not be an issue if the fan is some distance from the coils though. The factory version puts the muffin fan right on top of the coils.
Also in my unit there are fans on both sides of the coils. Probably to get the air flow up to the correct value. Don't know if that will be an issue or not for your situation.

 

[Richard Kollmann]

There are many sources for the muffin fan you need and priced from $14 to $60. Electronic catalogs for best price and boat refrigeration parts companies highest prices. Because your compressor is a Danfoss BD2 or BD2.5 as indicated by present fan description the correct 12 volt muffin fans specifications are; Dimensions 4 and 11/16 by 4 and 11/16 by one inch thick. For Cfm fan below 75 Cfm. For fans with Cfm over 70 the thicker one and 5/8 in thick fan.
Most of these condensing unit fans in cool climates need only a 50 Cfm fan, for tropical conditions I recommend fans with 80 to 100 Cfm capacity. It is important that for your unit’s fan it must draw less than one amp, for new variable speed compressors fan amperage must be less than ½ amp. These muffin fans have a service life of around seven years in a live aboard boat. It does not seem to make much difference if fan bearings are friction or ball bearing.

 

[Mark Maulden]

update: I acquired a 120mm square fan and 4200'd it to a piece of teak (for some height) and lowered it in next to the condenser to see how it would work. This fan is real close to the fan diameter of the original. I first positioned it to draw air through the condenser which is what the original did. It starts up ok but the compressor kicks out within a few seconds. Fan still runs. I turned the fan around to blow through the condenser and same thing. Either way, I can feel a lot of air moving through it. I'll try it again in a few days. This fan is ~80cfm fan and draws very little current. Under 1/2a. wonder if the controller is interpreting "no fan" since it draws very little current????? Since the original still "runs" I"m going to reinstall it and see what happens. wondering if some other problem cropped up by coincidence......