Another refridge question-leave on or off?

[Bob F]

Just bought a '98 376. I live in Phoenix but the boat is in San Diego. During the winter/fall/spring I get over to use (stay on board) the boat 2-3 days per month. Am I better off to leave this system on 24/7? Or turn if off when I leave? Its an Adler-Barber water cooled. I know the water cooling is probably not needed most the time in SD, except on some warm summer days. But your post on whether to leave it running (with water off) would be appreciated.Bob

 

[Steve]

Cold Beer?

Your answer lies in what you want. If you want cold beer as soon as you come on board, and don't want to stop for cold ones on the way, then leave it on. Assuming that your 110VAC charger works, and you don't have too many power outages, it shouldn't be a problem. I turn mine off in the winter because I can just leave anything in the cabin and hope it doesn't get too cold. In the spring, summer

 

[Steve Winkle]

Me, too!

Steve,I had the same question when I got my 380 last fall. The consensus was to leave it on all the time. Since then, I've followed that advice and have found that the freezer and refrigerator temperatures have remained fairly constant (Freezer @ 28 and Fridge @ 35). Since I leave the boat plugged into shore power, there is virtually no battery drain and, as the other Steve says, the drinks are already cold when I walk on board.Regards,Steve

 

[Steve Dion]

and the steves say...............

Leave it on! Be sure to turn off the pump off. You don't want to take a chance of sucking up something in the marina while you are not there an possibly burning up the pump.Nothing like a cold beer after driving for 5 or 6 hours through that hot desert. We also leave the mustard, mayo etc. on the boat so we do not need to haul ALL that crap back and forth. We leave our on 24 x 7 year round. Just to add something here. You really need to worry more about the battery charger than you do the refrigeration. I assume (really not sure on you model) that this is a DC unit! If you are leaving the charger plugged in to keep the batteries topped off, you need to be sure that you have a "Smart Charger" that is not going to boil your batteries away.If you are not sure about the charger, then you may want to reconsider leaving the refrigeration running.

 

[Bob Frye]

Cold Beer wins

Having a cold one waiting is a priority, especially after that drive! I'll need to check on the refridge power. I hope its AC/DC. I assume if I turn off the DC breaker and it will run while the boat's plugged in it's both.