The refrigerator on our yr 2000 Passage 450 has inexplicably stopped circulating seawater, apparently causing the compressor/pump to switch itself off after a few seconds every time I try to power up the fridge. As the dealer did not supply us with a fridge manual, it's difficult to diagnose the problem. I've tried cleaning the filter just after the pickup seacock - to no avail. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Try This
Open the thru-hull with strainer removed to see if the intake is blocked. If not, you probably need to replace pump.
Open the thru-hull with strainer removed to see if the intake is blocked. If not, you probably need to replace pump.
Refrig Problems
Clean the sea water filter pump once a week. I tis not self priming. Take off the hose after the filter and force water into the lines. I put a check valve in the water line between the filter and the pump. Since the pump is not self priming this keeps the water from exiting the system during filter cleaning. Therefor priming is NOT required. I have 2 problems with my refrig., air leaks and freon leaks. When properly charged with freon and all air leaks eliminated I can get 13 – 15 deg. F in the freezer. The freon leaks in my case required a new compressor, under warranty. I am still evaluating the repair to be sure it finally works OK. There could be 2 sources of air leaks, the 3 doors not sealing properly and / or the inside plastic cabinet not sealed properly. Air leaks cause excessive frost build up and this causes a blockage of the fan opening that draws cold air into the refrig. compartment resulting in a warm refrig.. Use a mirror and a flashlight to view the inside top edges of the entire refrig.-freezer cabinet. In my 410 the front inside top of the plastic shell above the evaporator plate had “0” caulking to seal the cabinet. Forcing rope caulking into the gap solved that problem. For the 3 doors use a small paint brush to wet the top white plastic surfaces of the refrig. and freezer, where the black insulation touches down , one or two lengths at a time, with a light coating of alcohol. Allow the doors to close via the force of the latches, do NOT push the doors shut with excessive force. If required use a flashlight to see where the alcohol wets the black door insulation. Dry spots are air leaks. Remove the lid pistons to view the rear ends of both top doors when fully open. Where the insulation has dry spots pull open the black insulation from the back and insert the appropriate length of adhesive backed ¼” X 1/8” thick foam weather striping. Check again to be sure the repair allows the black insulation surface to now become wet. Finally I keep 3 or 4 1 gallon bottles of spring water, frozen, in the bottom of the freezer at all times. I have the 3 foot deep freezer and this helps reduce the volume that needs to be cooled.
Clean the sea water filter pump once a week. I tis not self priming. Take off the hose after the filter and force water into the lines. I put a check valve in the water line between the filter and the pump. Since the pump is not self priming this keeps the water from exiting the system during filter cleaning. Therefor priming is NOT required. I have 2 problems with my refrig., air leaks and freon leaks. When properly charged with freon and all air leaks eliminated I can get 13 – 15 deg. F in the freezer. The freon leaks in my case required a new compressor, under warranty. I am still evaluating the repair to be sure it finally works OK. There could be 2 sources of air leaks, the 3 doors not sealing properly and / or the inside plastic cabinet not sealed properly. Air leaks cause excessive frost build up and this causes a blockage of the fan opening that draws cold air into the refrig. compartment resulting in a warm refrig.. Use a mirror and a flashlight to view the inside top edges of the entire refrig.-freezer cabinet. In my 410 the front inside top of the plastic shell above the evaporator plate had “0” caulking to seal the cabinet. Forcing rope caulking into the gap solved that problem. For the 3 doors use a small paint brush to wet the top white plastic surfaces of the refrig. and freezer, where the black insulation touches down , one or two lengths at a time, with a light coating of alcohol. Allow the doors to close via the force of the latches, do NOT push the doors shut with excessive force. If required use a flashlight to see where the alcohol wets the black door insulation. Dry spots are air leaks. Remove the lid pistons to view the rear ends of both top doors when fully open. Where the insulation has dry spots pull open the black insulation from the back and insert the appropriate length of adhesive backed ¼” X 1/8” thick foam weather striping. Check again to be sure the repair allows the black insulation surface to now become wet. Finally I keep 3 or 4 1 gallon bottles of spring water, frozen, in the bottom of the freezer at all times. I have the 3 foot deep freezer and this helps reduce the volume that needs to be cooled.
No Water OR Very Hot Water
We had a similar problem with our fridge shutting off after 30 or less seconds of operation. To check water flow I pulled off the output hose for the fridge and turned it on to be sure water was flowing through the fridge in enough quantity. I captured the water in a pitcher so I wouldn't spray the battery compartment and the back of the electrical panel. Anyway, water was flowing but the fridge was shutting down after a very short cycle. The high pressure switch was shutting the system off. After having a refridgeration person install a set of gauges we were able to see the system had been severly overcharged. Once we had gotten to warmer water, traveling south, the refrigerent could not exchange enough heat, quickly enough, to prevent the gas refrigerent from expanding. When the gas expanded the high pressure switch did it's job, it shut the system down. A less expensive or less sophisticated system may have just blown up. Bleeding the refrigerent down to acceptable operating levels solved the problem. I don't know if this will help you, but thought I would mention it in case you did have some water flow and still thought it was a water flow problem. Mike Pilolla s/v Carolina
We had a similar problem with our fridge shutting off after 30 or less seconds of operation. To check water flow I pulled off the output hose for the fridge and turned it on to be sure water was flowing through the fridge in enough quantity. I captured the water in a pitcher so I wouldn't spray the battery compartment and the back of the electrical panel. Anyway, water was flowing but the fridge was shutting down after a very short cycle. The high pressure switch was shutting the system off. After having a refridgeration person install a set of gauges we were able to see the system had been severly overcharged. Once we had gotten to warmer water, traveling south, the refrigerent could not exchange enough heat, quickly enough, to prevent the gas refrigerent from expanding. When the gas expanded the high pressure switch did it's job, it shut the system down. A less expensive or less sophisticated system may have just blown up. Bleeding the refrigerent down to acceptable operating levels solved the problem. I don't know if this will help you, but thought I would mention it in case you did have some water flow and still thought it was a water flow problem. Mike Pilolla s/v Carolina
Didn't think you needed seawater pump!
DASmith: I was under the impression that you DID NOT need to have the raw water pump going for the compressor to work. There have been many recommendations that you should NOT leave this on while in the harbor because they may suck up something. If you compressor has stopped, then it is probably a problem with the compressor. Probably too much head pressure. I'd have a specialist check this out.
DASmith: I was under the impression that you DID NOT need to have the raw water pump going for the compressor to work. There have been many recommendations that you should NOT leave this on while in the harbor because they may suck up something. If you compressor has stopped, then it is probably a problem with the compressor. Probably too much head pressure. I'd have a specialist check this out.
Refrigerator problem
Here in Florida, we used to have the same problem periodically. To trouble shoot the cause, start at the source
isconnect the hose from the thru hull, and open the thruhull valve. If not water, thruhull is plugged either by something covering the intake, or, in my case, barnicles plugging the opening - cleared by ramming a dowel thru the opening. Next is to see if water gushes into filter when top is removed. If not, hose is plugged - again in my case it was by barnicles. To remove, either try forcing a dowel thru hose, which in my case was not possible and I succeeded by pouring a 50% dilute solution of Muriatic acid thru hose - it literally eats up the barnicles. Then continue by disconnecting the entry hose to the pump and doing the same test, and finally disconnect the discharge hose from the pump and see if you get water when pump is turned on. In acuality though,start with this last step, and only if you don't get water here, do you need to do the individual steps to see where the problem is. In my case it was all of them, including the hose going from the pump to ;the compressor - again this was solved by carefully and slowly pouring acid into this hose and then flushing thorougly and quickly to avoid harming the compressor. And finally, it may acutally be a compressor problem Good luck Pete S/V KAILANI
Here in Florida, we used to have the same problem periodically. To trouble shoot the cause, start at the source
isconnect the hose from the thru hull, and open the thruhull valve. If not water, thruhull is plugged either by something covering the intake, or, in my case, barnicles plugging the opening - cleared by ramming a dowel thru the opening. Next is to see if water gushes into filter when top is removed. If not, hose is plugged - again in my case it was by barnicles. To remove, either try forcing a dowel thru hose, which in my case was not possible and I succeeded by pouring a 50% dilute solution of Muriatic acid thru hose - it literally eats up the barnicles. Then continue by disconnecting the entry hose to the pump and doing the same test, and finally disconnect the discharge hose from the pump and see if you get water when pump is turned on. In acuality though,start with this last step, and only if you don't get water here, do you need to do the individual steps to see where the problem is. In my case it was all of them, including the hose going from the pump to ;the compressor - again this was solved by carefully and slowly pouring acid into this hose and then flushing thorougly and quickly to avoid harming the compressor. And finally, it may acutally be a compressor problem Good luck Pete S/V KAILANIMaybe pump or air lock
I have had to replace the pump, it turns on but because it has a magnetically coupled impeller, it sounds like it is working but.... This happened after two years. The other possibility is that there might be an air lock in the system. Did this "no cooling water" occurred after you came back from a sail? This was a problem on older models of the 450. Look into the archives for the solution to this problem if you suspect this one.
I have had to replace the pump, it turns on but because it has a magnetically coupled impeller, it sounds like it is working but.... This happened after two years. The other possibility is that there might be an air lock in the system. Did this "no cooling water" occurred after you came back from a sail? This was a problem on older models of the 450. Look into the archives for the solution to this problem if you suspect this one.
fixed itself?
Thanks for all of the suggestions. Turns out the reefer is operating fine again without further action from me. After returning to the boat after about 5 days away I started up the system and water circulated fine - not that I'm confident the problem won't return.
Thanks for all of the suggestions. Turns out the reefer is operating fine again without further action from me. After returning to the boat after about 5 days away I started up the system and water circulated fine - not that I'm confident the problem won't return.
Is is an Adler Barbour?
A couple of things. First of all if you have an Adler Barbour Cold Machine it should run fine with just air cooling, especially if you're in a climate like Marina Del Ray. I never have to run the water pump on mine in San Diego. You didn't say if it was popping the breaker off or just switching off. If it's just switching itself off but not cooling it sounds more to me like either 1) You need to set the thermostat colder or 2) There's something wrong with the thermostat and it needs to be replaced. Mine is 4 years old and I've already had to replace the thermostat once. Try turning it on and moving the thermostat around to see if it kicks back on. One other note. The manual on mine is completely backwards as it regards the thermostat. The coldest setting is actually off and vice versa...
A couple of things. First of all if you have an Adler Barbour Cold Machine it should run fine with just air cooling, especially if you're in a climate like Marina Del Ray. I never have to run the water pump on mine in San Diego. You didn't say if it was popping the breaker off or just switching off. If it's just switching itself off but not cooling it sounds more to me like either 1) You need to set the thermostat colder or 2) There's something wrong with the thermostat and it needs to be replaced. Mine is 4 years old and I've already had to replace the thermostat once. Try turning it on and moving the thermostat around to see if it kicks back on. One other note. The manual on mine is completely backwards as it regards the thermostat. The coldest setting is actually off and vice versa...
Maybe you dont need circulation
I just had my Adler barbour unit worked on this week, and the reefer guy told me the raw water circulation was completely redundant and did not need to be used unless the ambiant temperature was 130 degrees or above. He claims this came from a conversation with the Adler Barbour people. If you can verify, perhaps you can use your unit safely without the pump Good luck !!!
I just had my Adler barbour unit worked on this week, and the reefer guy told me the raw water circulation was completely redundant and did not need to be used unless the ambiant temperature was 130 degrees or above. He claims this came from a conversation with the Adler Barbour people. If you can verify, perhaps you can use your unit safely without the pump Good luck !!!
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