I have a Beneteau 49. It has been having issues with the onboard freezer. The freezer has not been able to freeze items that were put in it. It seems to get cold, but it won't freeze meat or any products. The ice trays will freeze, but it takes days, not hours. The compressor is always running and it has been checked out to be fine. Has anyone else been have any problems?
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Check for air flow
Check for air flow to the compressor. If by chance the air isn't getting over the coils the effiency will drop way off and give you those symptoms. If you don't have an issue with that then I'd have the dealer check the charge in the compressor. It's possible it wasn't fully charged at installation.
Check for air flow to the compressor. If by chance the air isn't getting over the coils the effiency will drop way off and give you those symptoms. If you don't have an issue with that then I'd have the dealer check the charge in the compressor. It's possible it wasn't fully charged at installation.
Mike
thanks Mike. the airflow seems to be good. there is a fan infront of the condenser coil and it seems to be working fine. as far as the charge, it was checked by the "factory" guy and was founf to be OK. the dealer put standoffs between the chilling plate and the freezer box in an attempt to inproove airflow around the cooling plates. this made a slight improovement, but still has not seemed to resolve the problem.
thanks Mike. the airflow seems to be good. there is a fan infront of the condenser coil and it seems to be working fine. as far as the charge, it was checked by the "factory" guy and was founf to be OK. the dealer put standoffs between the chilling plate and the freezer box in an attempt to inproove airflow around the cooling plates. this made a slight improovement, but still has not seemed to resolve the problem.
Thermostat?
Jim the only other thing I can think of at the moment would be the thermostat controls. On our B361 we have two, one in the fridge, the other in the freezer. If one of them is not properly set it can cause problems with the other. I know the 49 has a different fridge but can't recall what they did for controls. It may be worth checking if you haven't already. Mike
Jim the only other thing I can think of at the moment would be the thermostat controls. On our B361 we have two, one in the fridge, the other in the freezer. If one of them is not properly set it can cause problems with the other. I know the 49 has a different fridge but can't recall what they did for controls. It may be worth checking if you haven't already. Mike
Mike
Mike, the Beneteau 49 has a separate refrigerator with a small build in freezer. That unit is a production model from some company in Italy. It has its own thermostat located at the rear of the unit. It is basically self contained and just slides into an opening in the galley cabinetry. The freezer, on the other hand, looks to be a custom insulated box speced by Beneteau for the particular space constraints. It has a separate compressor unit that goes to a chill plate in the insulated box. This unit is also made by the same Italian company. The freezer is a top loaded box. I have suspected the thermostat and recommended that it be shorted out at the compressor unit to see what would happen. From what I can observe, the compressor is running 24X7 now, and shorting out the thermostat would not seem to add much to its run time. it seems to me as if the unit cannot keep up with the thermal load and just can't get cold enough, or should I say, not dump enough cooling, fast enough to freeze things in a reasonable time. I believe that a freezer should be able to freeze something in a reasonable amount of time and not the 36 to 48 hours this one has been taking to freeze 3 pounds of steak. All of the temperature readings in the freezer show that it is below freezing. Beneteau boats end up with some sort of "custom" shaped freezer box and i was just wondering if this problem is showing up in other 49's. They have build at lease 50 of them for 2007 and I have to believe that many are down in the islands where the outside temp is quite warm.
Mike, the Beneteau 49 has a separate refrigerator with a small build in freezer. That unit is a production model from some company in Italy. It has its own thermostat located at the rear of the unit. It is basically self contained and just slides into an opening in the galley cabinetry. The freezer, on the other hand, looks to be a custom insulated box speced by Beneteau for the particular space constraints. It has a separate compressor unit that goes to a chill plate in the insulated box. This unit is also made by the same Italian company. The freezer is a top loaded box. I have suspected the thermostat and recommended that it be shorted out at the compressor unit to see what would happen. From what I can observe, the compressor is running 24X7 now, and shorting out the thermostat would not seem to add much to its run time. it seems to me as if the unit cannot keep up with the thermal load and just can't get cold enough, or should I say, not dump enough cooling, fast enough to freeze things in a reasonable time. I believe that a freezer should be able to freeze something in a reasonable amount of time and not the 36 to 48 hours this one has been taking to freeze 3 pounds of steak. All of the temperature readings in the freezer show that it is below freezing. Beneteau boats end up with some sort of "custom" shaped freezer box and i was just wondering if this problem is showing up in other 49's. They have build at lease 50 of them for 2007 and I have to believe that many are down in the islands where the outside temp is quite warm.
Air space in the freezer
Jim, you mentioned that temps in the freezer are below the freeze point. Try placing a rack in the bottom of the freezer that will allow the air to circulate around whatever you place in there. I didn't think of it until you mentioned the air temp. We had an issue where frozen items would partially thaw even though we knew the freezer was well below freezing. What dawned on us was that our freezer at home has a rack system to allow air flow around the food, ice, etc. Without air flow whatever is sitting on the base of the box doesn't get or stay cold. I suspect that the walls are poorly insulated and contribute to the problem. We've begun to keep 2 or 3 bags of ice on the bottom and place items in the freezer in such a way as to maximize air flow and so far it seems to help. It's also allowed us to turn the thermostat back down to somewhere in the middle range. If I ever remember to measure the box I'll buy a rack to sit on the bottom. Mike
Jim, you mentioned that temps in the freezer are below the freeze point. Try placing a rack in the bottom of the freezer that will allow the air to circulate around whatever you place in there. I didn't think of it until you mentioned the air temp. We had an issue where frozen items would partially thaw even though we knew the freezer was well below freezing. What dawned on us was that our freezer at home has a rack system to allow air flow around the food, ice, etc. Without air flow whatever is sitting on the base of the box doesn't get or stay cold. I suspect that the walls are poorly insulated and contribute to the problem. We've begun to keep 2 or 3 bags of ice on the bottom and place items in the freezer in such a way as to maximize air flow and so far it seems to help. It's also allowed us to turn the thermostat back down to somewhere in the middle range. If I ever remember to measure the box I'll buy a rack to sit on the bottom. Mike
fridge unit
Hello. I have just join this page. I have Hull # 25 and had sort of the same trouble with the fridge unit. We live in Caracas Venezuela and have warm weather all around, and rely a lot on frezzer - fridge units. To make a long story short it ended that the fan was working but i was installed in a position in wich the blades couldnt spinn properly and therfore not at a full capacity. fridge was not cold enouth and compressor was always pretty hot. I removed the fan ( nasty job to remove the screws) replaced properly and got it to work properly. hope not to have many speling errors. Ciao Andres&Kiara
Hello. I have just join this page. I have Hull # 25 and had sort of the same trouble with the fridge unit. We live in Caracas Venezuela and have warm weather all around, and rely a lot on frezzer - fridge units. To make a long story short it ended that the fan was working but i was installed in a position in wich the blades couldnt spinn properly and therfore not at a full capacity. fridge was not cold enouth and compressor was always pretty hot. I removed the fan ( nasty job to remove the screws) replaced properly and got it to work properly. hope not to have many speling errors. Ciao Andres&Kiara
Moving The Fan
Hi Andres, Do you have any pictures of the fan you moved? It would be helpful if you posted them here. Thanks, Jim
Hi Andres, Do you have any pictures of the fan you moved? It would be helpful if you posted them here. Thanks, Jim
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