Water Cooling Unit...

[Michelle]

We purchased a Super Cold Machine with the additional water-cooling unit approximately 9 months ago. We cruised for about 6 months in the Northwest Caribbean and the water-unit never functioned properly, the unit would run continously. We stopped our attempts and hopes deciding that it would be much better to wait until we had a cell phone and contact customer service. When returning for hurricane season we contacted customer service for WAECO and were advised to rewire the system. Then we were faxed a diagram replacing a diagram that was distributed with the unit in which the wiring was incorrectly diagrammed. We spent much time discussing the situation on the phone with customer service representatives who insist that the unit must be wired incorrectly. The wiring is according to the diagram that was faxed to us and still the water cooling unit does not function properly. Today it was suggested by a customer service representative that we should not use the water cooling unit if the air cooled system functions well. I explained that we purchased the unit because when the air in the Carribean heats up, the efficiency of the air cooled unit declines immensely and therefore, the water cooling unit would be more efficient during these periods. (At least that is what I was informed of via WAECO sales representatives prior to purchasing the water cooling system.) So, we have spent much time, not to mention money, hauling out to place a thru-hole for the water cooling unit and our dreams of running our new refrigeration with a (supposedly) more efficient system, according to the sales representative for WAECO, have been drowned. We are not planning to sail to the States and have no intent to fly. Where do we go from here?

 

[Frank Walker]

Warm Beer

Michelle, I have an older AB Super Cold system with the water cooled option and while I do not live in the Caribbean I do live in Florida. I have not been able to measure any difference in current draw between the water cooled mode and the air cooled mode. However my condensing unit is mounted in a well ventilated back lazarette under my bimini top and it just does not get that hot in that compartment. If your unit is running all the time and the evaporator is getting cold then you may need more insulation around your box. If the unit is running all the time and the evaporator is not getting cold then it may be low on freon. Also realize that these units do not typically reach the temperatures of a home freezer. 10 to 15 degrees(F) inside the evaporator is about the floor of my system now matter how long it runs.I have seen some installations where the condenser was installed in a cramped non ventilated space and there the water cooled option would probably buy something.

 

[Richard]

Air cool it in the tropics

I have spent the last two years since I retired testing 12 volt refrigeration equipment. I have just finished a 12/24 Volt Refrigeration Manual of what works and what doesn’t.The tests I ran on that unit are in the book and shows that when the seawater exceeds 80° F. the unit is more efficient on air cooling only. The secret is to make sure the air that passes through the condenser only passes through once. Air cooled condensing units need to draw air from one area and exhaust to another. There are many simple ways to achieve this; mount it low in the boat so the air is drawn in at floor level then the heat will rise overhead and dissipate, move the unit against a wall where a four inch hole can be cut, so the fan can draw directly through the hole or buy a duck kit designed for this purpose. I had one owner with the unit mounted on the floor of the engine room. He cut a hole in the floor in front of the unit and formed a plywood duct to draw the cooler air in from the bilge. For more inforemation on boat refrigeration see my web site.

 

[Larry W.]

water-cooled headaches

Michelle; The water-cooled Frigoboat unit in my Bene 40 has been nothing but a pain in the neck, especially the water cooling part. Marine critters get sucked up and clog the system. The filter is located too far from the intake. I had to replace the pump and motor as a unit, then modify my installation so it would fit. After spending too many hours of my precious cruising time running snakes and wires through the hoses, I simply disconnected the water pump at the relay and made some crude cooling fins out of aluminum foil and crimped them onto the top of the compresser. It seems to work fine. The refrig maintains 42 degrees F. on the number 3 setting. The unit doesn't get too hot (I live in Southern California where an air temp of 85 degrees F is rare) For the separate freezer part, I left the relay plugged in and when it runs it has water cooling. The refrig and the freezer shared a common water pump.