My refrigeration does not work quite well enough. Beer is cold but not quite cold enough. I believe I have one of the Adler Barbour(AB) Cold Machines. The evaporator works well too but it is tucked in an aft part of the ice box compartment. The cold air can not be transfered to the whole ice box well. I think I could solve my problem by moving the evaporator into the main part of the ice box. This is how my Catalina 30 was set up - it worked great. This would mean that the evaporator would have to be verticle. Can you take a horitonal evaporator and position it on its end? The reason I ask is because I know AB sells verticle and horizontal evaporators. Hate to buy a new evaporator if I don't need one. I did try insulating the outside of the box and new door seals but this only helped a little. Thanks for the comments/suggestions.
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You might try a fan....
Sometimes air circulation is the problem. Try a battery operated camping fan first. If that solves the problem, hardwire a small 12v computer cooling fan. These can usually be picked up free as scrap from one of your techie friends and only draw minimal current. Hook it into your compressor circuit and it will only run when the compressor does.
Sometimes air circulation is the problem. Try a battery operated camping fan first. If that solves the problem, hardwire a small 12v computer cooling fan. These can usually be picked up free as scrap from one of your techie friends and only draw minimal current. Hook it into your compressor circuit and it will only run when the compressor does.
Try an easier and cheaper approach:
Obtain a pancake (computer) fan and mount it to the evaporator with cable ties so that it blows into the fridge compartment. Works great and uses very little power. You can mount an evaporator in any orientation, it is just a length of tubing with fins that the refrigerant "squirts" into from the calibrated orifice or thermal expansion valve, depending on your system. As it leaves its high pressure environment and rushes into the void caused by the larger diameter tubing and the suction of the compressor, the refrigerant expands from a high pressure liquid into a low pressure vapor, and so absorbs heat from the environment (your col box, in this case. It doesn't care whether the evaporator is up, down or sideways, it'll still do the same thing. edited to add: Chris Burti posted as I was writing. We agree, and nice suggestion on wiring the fan to the compressor circuit.
Obtain a pancake (computer) fan and mount it to the evaporator with cable ties so that it blows into the fridge compartment. Works great and uses very little power. You can mount an evaporator in any orientation, it is just a length of tubing with fins that the refrigerant "squirts" into from the calibrated orifice or thermal expansion valve, depending on your system. As it leaves its high pressure environment and rushes into the void caused by the larger diameter tubing and the suction of the compressor, the refrigerant expands from a high pressure liquid into a low pressure vapor, and so absorbs heat from the environment (your col box, in this case. It doesn't care whether the evaporator is up, down or sideways, it'll still do the same thing. edited to add: Chris Burti posted as I was writing. We agree, and nice suggestion on wiring the fan to the compressor circuit.
add a fan
Do I understand correctly that you have a dual compartment setup with the evaporator in the freezer part and a partition between the freezer and the fridge? If so, you might consider adding a thermostatically controlled fan in the partition. We need those beer cans as cold as possible. Edit: I know I hit submit a while ago, it appears to have hung and not posted. But looks like we are all on the same page about the fan.
Do I understand correctly that you have a dual compartment setup with the evaporator in the freezer part and a partition between the freezer and the fridge? If so, you might consider adding a thermostatically controlled fan in the partition. We need those beer cans as cold as possible. Edit: I know I hit submit a while ago, it appears to have hung and not posted. But looks like we are all on the same page about the fan.
Further clarification from Pat
No I don't have 2 compartments, but the evaporator sits high in the ice box into what seems like a cut out made especially for the evaporator. It allows access to open the freezer door to remove the ice cube trays. Thats all I use the freezer for. Yes the evaporator gets icy & frosty cold. Yes the condenser gets hot but I don't think this is an issue. I could provide some better airflow to make it work less I guess but the fan does work. I like the suggestions for the computer fan. I would just have to decide on where to mount it. Thanks again guys.
No I don't have 2 compartments, but the evaporator sits high in the ice box into what seems like a cut out made especially for the evaporator. It allows access to open the freezer door to remove the ice cube trays. Thats all I use the freezer for. Yes the evaporator gets icy & frosty cold. Yes the condenser gets hot but I don't think this is an issue. I could provide some better airflow to make it work less I guess but the fan does work. I like the suggestions for the computer fan. I would just have to decide on where to mount it. Thanks again guys.
Boy, I really hate beer thats not cold enough
Warm beer is a real bummer. I would go first with the fan idea. The little computer fans are cheap, and work well.
Warm beer is a real bummer. I would go first with the fan idea. The little computer fans are cheap, and work well.
battery fan
They sell a battery operated fan for ice boxes that runs an amazingly long time on (I think) 2 D cells. I used one in an icebox on a house boat. I had little faith in it when I bought it, but was very pleasantly surprised when it worked very well.
They sell a battery operated fan for ice boxes that runs an amazingly long time on (I think) 2 D cells. I used one in an icebox on a house boat. I had little faith in it when I bought it, but was very pleasantly surprised when it worked very well.
I have found that boat refrigeration is not like home.
If you put warm beer in it, it will take almost forever to chill it. If you continually open it to check on the beer, it will never be cold. I know this is basic stuff, but if the box is open, it can't cool and it's recovery time is much longer than the average home refrig. The plate to air needs to be undisturbed to allow it to do it's job. One thing that kills a refrig, is pulling stuff out for a meal and letting it out too long so that when you put it back, the refrig is working on restoring the temp to the item you had out instead of making beer cold. Moving air does help both in and out of the box. I don't your experience on a boat with refrigeration. If it is limited, I hope the above was helpful. Just some thoughts. r.w.landau
If you put warm beer in it, it will take almost forever to chill it. If you continually open it to check on the beer, it will never be cold. I know this is basic stuff, but if the box is open, it can't cool and it's recovery time is much longer than the average home refrig. The plate to air needs to be undisturbed to allow it to do it's job. One thing that kills a refrig, is pulling stuff out for a meal and letting it out too long so that when you put it back, the refrig is working on restoring the temp to the item you had out instead of making beer cold. Moving air does help both in and out of the box. I don't your experience on a boat with refrigeration. If it is limited, I hope the above was helpful. Just some thoughts. r.w.landau
Refridge
It helps to have a small fan to circulate the cold air. I have a C36, and the "ice box" is probably similar to the C30. We use a small fan that holds 2 D cells, and moves the air from the bottom to the top. This helps keep things at the upper levels colder.
It helps to have a small fan to circulate the cold air. I have a C36, and the "ice box" is probably similar to the C30. We use a small fan that holds 2 D cells, and moves the air from the bottom to the top. This helps keep things at the upper levels colder.
Put a few beers in the evaporator
and they'll chill realy fine. Depends on how quickly you consume the brew. Be creative. It's a boat
and they'll chill realy fine. Depends on how quickly you consume the brew. Be creative. It's a boat
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