Adler Barbour problem

[drchpete]

I have a Adler Barbour cu-100 which seems to be working fine but the evaporator unit is not. The model is either VD-170-8 or VD-171-8 and has 2 little fans which are supposed to circulate the air over the evaporator fins which are cold. The fans work when a pure external 12v supply is attached but not whe attached to the evaporator wires which read 11.8v only. Anyone had experience on where to start looking for teh decreased voltage and how to repair? Dometic who bought them out is of little help since the unit is discontinued.

Thanks for any help, manual, or diagrams (I have none).

Chris

 

[Bill Roosa]

hey Chris
11.8 volts should be enough to fire up the fans. I suspect that there is some corrosion in one/some of the connectors. the classic case is you measure with your high resistance volt meter (draws no current and causes no voltage drop) and everything looks fine. then you attach a load and the thing doe not work. If you attach the fans and then read the voltage across them I suspect you will get a significantly lower than 11.8 volts
Try pulling apart all the connectors and reconnecting them after giving them the eyeball for corrosion. If you test if the fans work after breaking and making the connection you will eventually track down the problem.
Remember, you have to measure voltage WITH THE LOAD APPLIED to get a true reading of what is going on.

 

[drchpete]

Bill,

If I connect the fans the snap connector covers any wiring I can use to touch the volt meter to. How do I measure voltage "across" the fan?

 

[redunculous]

Are the fans not thermostat controlled?

How do you know when they are supposed to be on - I ask because my fridge is performing poorly and I noticed the fans weren't running.

 

[drchpete]

There is a thermostat and I've tried it in every position with no luck getting the fan to run. The fins on the evaporator are cool / cold but without the fans they're just not that effective. I'm going to try tracing the wires back to the compressor unit and see where that leads me. If you find anything out let me know. I'm leaving for a 2 week vacation...with lots of ice.

 

[redunculous]

Chris

How did you get on with this?

 

[drchpete]

Chris

How did you get on with this?

I found that by running the fridge without running the freezer which share a common box wall, the fridge works beautifully. If I turn on the freezer the fridge eventually runs only intermittently. It appears that once the freezer gets very cold the fridge thermostat senses the cold from the freezer and shuts off too early. So my earlier comment of the fans not ruining at all was inaccurate. I guess I'll have to find a way to better insulate the fridge thermostat from the freezer. How...I don't know. Try running your fridge without the freezer and let me know how you fare and if you figure a way to insulate the thermostat. Good luck. Oh, below is a useful link on which I posted for advice. See the Technical forum tab on the left.

http://www.kollmann-marine.com/

 

[Bill Roosa]

If you can't get to the terminal ends to measure the voltage then try this:
Take both terminals off and measure the resistance between them. If memory serves the fan only draws about an amp so (V=IR) --> (R=V/I) --> R=12/1=12 ohms ish. Then, with the compressor on and fan disconnected, probe the units fan wires. You should get 12 volts.
I'm a little concerned that you say the condenser is cool to the touch. That would mean that no heat is being transferred. Condensers are ALWAYS at least warm when the compressor is running. Are you sure the compressor is running?

Drchpeta
Try relocating the reefer thermostat to the other side of the box or installing a small thermal wall on the thermostat so it does not "see" the cold freezer wall. A small piece of wood sticking out of the wall right next to the thermostat should suffice.