Evaporator Coil Leak

Clydo · Jun 9, 2015

Refer temps

DaveJ said:
I'm sure I'm not the only one to have ever done this, but I sure felt embarrassed to tell my wife that I punctured the evaporator coil with a screw driver. The ice in the freezer section had become hard so I tried breaking it up, but while doing this I hit the side of the freezer and punctured through the aluminum! The sound of the coolant escaping told me what I had done. A couple of my 'expert' friends told me it cannot be repaired and I would need a new one ($500+). I was up for the challenge and did some researching. I used a product called JB Weld, it is a putty and there are a couple of different formulas but the one I used is for aluminum. I sanded the paint off around the puncture site, being very careful that nothing got into the cooling system. I wiped it down with acetone and applied the JB Weld. It was hard in about 10 minutes. A couple of days later I had the system filled and hoped that the patch would hold. Well, that was a week and a half ago....and all is good!

Cheers

Congratulations on repair. As long as we are on refers where do I find
temp control on my 2003 C310? Have looked in owners manual and around
refer area but no temp control knob. Maybe in front of nose? Thanks.

Clyde Thorington
C310 #245
ILEAN TOO
San Jose, CA

Andrew2132 · Jun 9, 2015

I've done the same, and repaired it the same, though I took it a step further and vacuumed the system before recharging it.

Unfortunately, for me it was not a permanent fix. It ran for about another two years, but needed frequent re-charging. Eventually, the compressor burned out.

Is your system still working?

Long Story · Jun 10, 2015

My temp control is on the back of the box, behind the coil box. Back, right corner as you face the refer...

peter_ms · Jun 10, 2015

Just a little hint to those who don't have obvious or self inflicted damage. After about 7 yrs I started having problems with my fridge.
After trying unsuccessfully to get my boat mechanic to come I bought a recharge kit with 3 cans. One was refrigerant, one was refrigerant/lubricant and the last, refrigerant/dye but no gauges on the kit.
Plan was top it with refrigerant; if it quits again try the dye.
It worked for another season and a half.
Not relishing the idea of cleaning dye up from god-knows-where the leak was; I tried to get my mechanic out. He really wasn't interested in driving 40km for this so he told me this:
When the mfgrs install the fridge; they install the evaporator and sealed tubing as a unit, then the compressor. There are two sets of fittings with a piercing mechanism. When the fittings are tightened; they pierce a disk/seal in the the matching coupling.
This connection is beetle the fridge and hull and very awkward to access.
He said a large potion of his calls are because those fittings are not secure and vibrate open a little and leak

I tightened up the rifting '. Topped it again and it has been fine sinse.

Peter

JK_Boston_Catalina310 · Jun 11, 2015

Good info Peter. How did you access those fittings to tighten them?

peter_ms · Jun 12, 2015

Over top of and behind the condenser in the stbd cockpit locker

Long Story · Jun 15, 2015

Off subject here - how long and how often does your unit cycle on average. I've been battling with repair person for three weeks now. (Long Story, but a simple charge resulted in bent lines, replaced lines and couplings and such) Now I cool well, almost two well as were freezing stuff in the lower area at setting 5. But the unit seems to be running all the time (almost 30 min out of every hour) and it is still only in the low 70's here. Not sure what will happen at anchor when it hits high 80's (this is WI remember) seem like I once read unit should only run about 20 min an hour, (two 10 min cycles)

Thanks

Russ

SawyerCurt · Jun 15, 2015

I keep my thermostat on "1" and that has always been cool enough for me, as long as I put a couple of those small freezer packs in the very bottom of the fridge (if I am keeping anything down there, otherwise I don't use them). For example, I put a plastic container of ice in there on a Saturday morning and with the fridge set to "1" half of it was still frozen Sunday afternoon. That was also with the top packed with food and drink.

Long Story · Jun 15, 2015

How often do does your unit run on that setting? When you say bottom of the fridge are you talking the cooler box itself, or all the way down at the bottom where the drain area is? (below the box in that lower area is where the water froze) We actual make ice on the boat, and keep meats and such when were up for a week. I get concerned at our current run rate that at anchor we will drain the house battery down pretty quick.

JK_Boston_Catalina310 · Jun 15, 2015

We run ours on #3. That keeps the fridge between 35-41 degrees and the freezer between 18-35 degrees. Cold enough to make ice but I wouldn't trust food older than 5-7 days. It runs about every 20 minutes for about 2-5 minutes during the summer. We have never recharge the system or anything. That is something we will probably do before crossing to the Bahamas later this year.

As far as power usage, I estimated that we'd use about 40 Amp hours a day for the fridge. Real-world data has been closer to 25 amp hours. We have 460 Amp hours on our primary bank. We can go about 5 days without recharging before we hit 50% SOC.

But with our new solar it can be a lot longer. First day of solar (yesterday) we gained about 65 amp hours. And that was with some shading issues. Fixed to a dock and one of the wires was on the panel because I still have to neaten up that part of the install.

Long Story · Jun 15, 2015

JK_Boston_Catalina310 said:
But with our new solar it can be a lot longer. First day of solar (yesterday) we gained about 65 amp hours. And that was with some shading issues. Fixed to a dock and one of the wires was on the panel because I still have to neaten up that part of the install.

You know, your giving us the big build up to get the details on this new solar unit....??? That is great, I need that upgrade.

On the subject of neat wires, you ever get an answer from your contact if it was okay to cut a 2" or so hole near the base of the mast?

Russ

JK_Boston_Catalina310 · Jun 15, 2015

Long Story said:
You know, your giving us the big build up to get the details on this new solar unit....??? That is great, I need that upgrade.

On the subject of neat wires, you ever get an answer from your contact if it was okay to cut a 2" or so hole near the base of the mast?

Russ

Nope. I sent a follow up email last week. I am going to email someone else at Catalina this week. I have 3 questions I am trying to get answered on Masts and I am not having a lot of luck from Catalina. Which is odd. Normally I get better response.

peter_ms · Jun 15, 2015

I have found them hit and miss. Sometimes no response and sometimes a phone call...

SawyerCurt · Jun 16, 2015

Long Story said:
How often do does your unit run on that setting?

It seems to run every 15-20 min or so, but honestly I've only used it for one-night overnights so I haven't paid that much attention. The next cruise we go on I'll try to pay more attention.

Long Story said:
When you say bottom of the fridge are you talking the cooler box itself, or all the way down at the bottom where the drain area is? (below the box in that lower area is where the water froze)

I mean all the way down at the bottom where the drain is. I typically stack up water bottles down there, and sometime beer. On "1" it doesn't keep that area super cold so I tend to toss a small travel ice block or two down there and then put the drinks on top. I have a small shelf that sits across the very bottom that keeps the items 1-2 inches above the actual drain hole.

Long Story said:
We actual make ice on the boat, and keep meats and such when were up for a week. I get concerned at our current run rate that at anchor we will drain the house battery down pretty quick.

I don't make ice, but I do stick cheese and meats inside the cooler box and I don't want those to freeze so that is why "1" works for me.

Long Story · Jun 17, 2015

SawyerCurt said:
I mean all the way down at the bottom where the drain is. I typically stack up water bottles down there, and sometime beer. On "1" it doesn't keep that area super cold so I tend to toss a small travel ice block or two down there and then put the drinks on top. I have a small shelf that sits across the very bottom that keeps the items 1-2 inches above the actual drain hole..

Thanks Curt, (and JK)
Have 9 days on the boat starting Friday Night - hopefully only good tails to tell upon our return. (if the rain stops and we don't get frost at night)

Russ
s/v Long Story

Long Story · Jun 17, 2015

DaveJ said:
Does anyone else have this dripping off the bottom of the door? I have always noticed it, but there is a lot more now....probably because I have the temp too low and it has been very hot/humid here lately?

Pretty common issue Dave... we greatly reduced it by taking one of those insulated shopping bags for bringing frozen stuff home in, and cut it into a sheet. I then used some weather strip molding, (removed the weather strip and clamped the bag material in it) The strip was then screwed at the top of the door opening, on the inside. (yes, yes and yes I will take some photos) This material then hangs down over the opening against the inside of the door. (gets tucked in at the bottom when we close it) It acts like the strip curtains on coolers and walk in freezers to retain the cold away from the door. We can roll it up easy enough to load or retrieve items from the fridge front door, but it cut that dripping to almost nothing. Cheap and easy fix.

Russ
s/v Long Story

Stu Jackson · Jun 17, 2015

Dave, we have learned to do "The Dollar Bill Test", but, of course, you could use a Franklin or a Grant, since you have a YACHT!!!

If a bill can slide through any "seal", it simply ain't sealin' properly.

Either fix "The Leaking Seal" or do what Russ did.

If you don't, it's just like leaving your fridge door at home partially open.

Evaporator Coil Leak

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