Cold Machine High Amps

[Carlos Intrieri]

I have installed a Cold Machine in my O´Day 37” in Brazil. After one week in service, the gas compressor stopped. The hole set was returned to West Marine that, after three months, replaced it by a new one.When put in service, it was not efficient in cooling until some more gas was fed to the unit. Just before it completed one year in operation the gas compressor overheated and stopped and the electronic control board burned.Both the compressor and electronic board were replaced and again, it presented poor efficiency when put in service until feeding the unit with some more gas to. The only difference this time was that gas feed was performed in small steps up to the point efficiency was acceptable. At this point, it was noticed that the electric current to the motor was higher than nominal: starting at 6 A and increasing up to 8 A in about one minute, when the thermal switch takes control over machine operation (seems that nominal is 5 A). If excess gas is removed in order to bring electric current back to normal, cooling efficiency drops below acceptable.Due to distance and customs bureaucracy creating difficulties to deal with service in US, I´d like to get ideas how fix it here in Brazil.

 

[Bill Thomas]

high current

The first thing to do is determine what is causing high current. The compressor draws what it draws and it is usually not possible to draw excess unless it is drastically overcharged. Put an ammeter right on the incoming 12 vdc feed AT the unit. This will eliminate any other cause of high draw downstream of the unit. Next put a gaugeset on the access valve and verify your running pressure is approx 8 psi initially, droppping to 4 to 6 after the evaporator is fully frosted. Check for excessive frost build up. indicating air leakage into the box.