Can't find a suitable replacement to purchase for my original WAECO CB-40 Refrigerator. Isotherm Bi-41 or Dometic CB-040 looks like suitable substitutes, but none are in stock in the USA. No one will repair the old fridge. Compressor works, but not cooling (probable due a freon leak. Maybe there is a compressor, condenser, evaporator kit but can't find one on Defender's website. Any suggestions or recommendations? Boat is a 31 foot, Hunter, 2006.
Replacement WAECO CB-40
- Thread starter swiniarski
- Start date
Yea just been through the same thing with 2 x waeco cb-40 chest freezer a 1 x 110l upright unit. One of the CB40's had a gas leak and the upright also. The other CB40 was working fine. These units were all struggling in the tropics where I generally cruise so I was keen to improve on the situation. Bottom line seemed to be that the gas lines running between from cabinets to compressor is aluminum not copper and it gets brittle crusty and fragile. So any movement after a few years tends to create an issue. Then welding the alloy tubing which also has the capillary inside is a challenge and likely to break again somewhere else. In my case the CB40's had over the years with a bit of defrost and cleaning water that often was in the bottom escaped between the black plastic bottom and the stainless sides, so now there was moisture in the insulation which decreases their efficiencies. Finally, I had Corian lids on the freezers, and they had warped with the heat which in turn made the seals less efficient. In all to resolve all of that properly was shaping up to be difficult and expensive. I had come across a number of people on Cats whom had replaced their marine fridges with typical domestic fridge freezers, all of whom said there was no additional power losses. I could replace all my marine 12v fridge & freezers (3 units) with 1 domestic unit for about $500-$600 aud, vers maybe fixing one of my CB-40 gas leaks for about the $300 mark and then its sill 15years old and has the other problems. In the end I pulled out the originals and replaced with a single domestic unit.Refrigeration | Screensaver (wordpress.com)
It wont quite look as good sadly and I have yet to do the finishing wood work around it, and even then it still wont look as good, but it does work a whole lot better, and even on inverter permanently its using less power.
If you really want to fix what you have, you would need to pull it completely apart, replace lines and evaporator with coper version, redo the insulation and I would seal up the bottom of the CB-40's so no moisture gets to the insulation, and I would also insulate the outside of the CB40's, especially if your in any sort of warm to tropical climate. PS My freezer now goes to -14c in about 18minutes when empty. I could never get the top of my CB-40's below about 5C no matter how long I ran it.
PS pitty you not nearby I have the same gear which I will see the lot for about $300, roughly.
It wont quite look as good sadly and I have yet to do the finishing wood work around it, and even then it still wont look as good, but it does work a whole lot better, and even on inverter permanently its using less power.
If you really want to fix what you have, you would need to pull it completely apart, replace lines and evaporator with coper version, redo the insulation and I would seal up the bottom of the CB-40's so no moisture gets to the insulation, and I would also insulate the outside of the CB40's, especially if your in any sort of warm to tropical climate. PS My freezer now goes to -14c in about 18minutes when empty. I could never get the top of my CB-40's below about 5C no matter how long I ran it.
PS pitty you not nearby I have the same gear which I will see the lot for about $300, roughly.
Defender has this unit in stock that might work for your boat. This is the one that I used to replace our dead unit.
Adler Barbour ColdMachine CU-100 Condensing Unit - 755400000
Performance, efficiency, and quality are hallmarks of the Adler/Barbour ColdMachine Kits by Dometic. The Adler/Barbour ColdMachine CU-100 Condensing Unit is air-cooled, provides up to 15 cu. ft. of refrigeration and works with a variety of 100-Series evap
Dig a bit deeper for a marine refrigeration repair company that can recharge your system. It does sound like it is low on refrigerant. How old is your system? Is it definitely freon or something else?
If you do replace your system with a new one that I posted above from Defender Marine, your evaporator (the cold plate inside your fridge) may not be compatible. I did my replacement myself, but I went with a complete system; compressor, condenser and evaporator. It was basically plug and play following the installation instructions. Here is an article I wrote about my situation: Hunter 42 Owner Modifications and Upgrades
I just went through having to replace the one on our 36ft 2004 Hunter. We went through Novakool and they had one called the hunter special. We are expecting it to arrive Friday. Nice folks.
I do know ours couldnt be repaired as their wasnt a setup to recharge on it, hence the replacement.
I do know ours couldnt be repaired as their wasnt a setup to recharge on it, hence the replacement.