fridge users please help

[Sam Walker]

Hi C-Trial and the Group,
While I do not yet have a C-Dory , I have a fair amount of experience w/ a portable refrigerator . I use my AC/DC 64 qt. Engel tub style refrig. about 3 days per week . Most often it is in the DC mode in my Ford Diesel truck . Like some of the other models mentioned here it advertises a draw rate around 2 amps. I have never been able to tell if that is an average w/ a duty cycle or if it is 2 amps only while running . In any event, I have run some tests to see how long it will run on the 2 starter only (Group 65 size) truck batteries. What I have found is that I can run the refrig for about 3 days and still start the motor. Granted the starter cranks slower than normal, but it still starts. I am thinking that it should be easier to start a Honda 40 or 90 than a 7.3 L Diesel .

After using my Engel for about a year and a half, I would not go back to an ice chest. All that water mixing w/ my steaks and other goodies . My Engel is very cool. (pun intended) Also there is something about the style points awarded by having a refrig. instead of an ice box .

Engel makes several different sizes of tub units. They will also freeze if you prefer.

[Sawdust]

Howdy TyBoo Mike,

You pulled my chain, so right back. Wouldn't steer ya wrong, buddy. Those little Harley batteries in old TyBoo22 and the minimum output of the 75 Honda would make an overnighter squeeky... if nothing else in the boat runs too.

Agree that with larger cranking batteries and the output from the 130 you have a good thing going. And I'm going to do the same thing in the new Sea Salt. (Launch in the ayem!!!!)

We are starting with group 27s, and with shore power and a good battery charger I should be okay. But my next purchase (other than a whole bunch of gas) will be a little Honda 2000 gen set. Those rascals are jewels.

I'm not familiar with the unit that Jammin Dennis uses, but it could be the answer. If it works down where Jammin has been Jammin, it should be loafing up here.The math on this electrical stuff is real easy if you do math -- I don't. I do know I've been battery dead many times because of refers in my past life.

Look forward to meeting your gang when you come this way!

Dusty

[Pat Anderson]

Marineparts.com lists this puppy at $992.60 - so I think I can stand letting my steaks mix with thawed ice water for just a TAD longer...Actually, I have been thinking about some kind of false floor, so block ice can be underneath and the food up out of the water...

[Steven Dore]

My local grocery store sells 20lb blocks of packaged dry ice. Has anyone tried dry ice in the standard icebox unit? I wonder if this would keep the contents cold longer than bags of ice?

Steve

[Cheers]

I've put a 7 pound of dry ice in my cooler with 3 bags of ice - things were still cold after 3 1/2 days in boiling sun. Seems to prolong the melting.

[Molly Brown]

Hey All:
We have an AC/DC Norcold and wouldn't boat without it here in Florida. We use ours even on day trips and just got back from an 8 day trip in the Dry Tortugas and didn't stay in port at all. We've never had a dead battery but must admit that we manage ours daily and we keep the kids out of the fridge whenever possible. Those 5 day coolers sure don't work here either. Seems to work better if you keep the drain plug slightly cracked open. If anyone needs more info let us know.

[gotjm3]

Just ordered a 25 with the factory fridge, and will be cruising the Cheaspeake in the sweltering mid-atlantic summer. We'll have the Honda 150 + 15 kicker with electric start (for the bigger alternator). We'll have 3 batteries (one for kicker), but 2 connected with the typical 1, 2, or 1+2 switch to the 150 which has the 40 amp alternator. Is a separate house bank recommended somehow wired to recharge, or perhaps one deep cycle and one cranker on the 2+1 switch (my happy boater brain thinks that sounds great but my engineer brain is thinking this isn't a good idea). We'll have a gel cell on the kicker. The kicker will have a 12 amp alternator, which should give us a little bit of back up, but at this point I am not planning on having this wired into the main electrical system. Not sure how to do it if we chose to anyhow... Any all words of advice are welcome. Just want to keep the cold! Thanks and cheers.

TJ

Hailing from Middle River, MD
A drinking town with a boating problem...

[TyBoo]

TJ -

Your description of the battery setup is identical to mine, including the gel cell for the kicker that is not wired to the others.

Your other two batteries that are charged through the switch by the big Honda should both be the same size/type if you ever plan to charge them both at once. Les says the marine cranking batteries are great, and that they are sort of a step between a deep cycle and a starter. My setup has one battery for the Honda 130, and the other for the house. I have a battery combiner wired between the two (the 50 amp model of this), so when either one reaches a voltage of 13.something, indicating it is being charged, the combiner switches itself on and parallels the two batteries. That way they both get charged whether running the motor or using the on board battery charger. Some folks don't like the combiners, but I love 'em. It has always worked for me. The only thing I use the 1-2-All switch for is to disconnect the battery from the motor when left sitting for any length of time.

Your fridge will probably have the automatic switch over to AC if the shore power is plugged in. Mine is strictly DC, but when the shore power is on, the battery charger is also going, so the AC switchover is not needed. If for some reason I want to run the fridge on AC separately from the shore power, I have a little converter that I can plug it into. I have run the fridge for a good 12 hours without recharging the battery several times, and it never is a problem.

I think the gel cell (mine is actually an Optima spiral wound) for the kicker is great. It will sit for much longer periods without a recharge than a lead acid type, and generally takes a lot more abuse. But it is sitting right there for use as a jumper battery if ever needed. The chance of needing it is so slight that providing the wiring to let it switch over to the other system is a waste of time. If I ever need it, I can swap the positive cable to it in less than a minute.

Congratulations on your new boat! Let me know when you want a photo album for it, because we gotta see the pictures!

[C-WEED]

gotjm3:

I took the easy, simple, cheap poor mans route. Might give you some ideas. I have a 22 and only two batteries in the starboard lazaret. I chose a rope start kicker for maximum startability in case batteries are down/stolen? And somewhere down the road will use the kicker on another small craft.

I put aligator clamps on the charging leads and just clamp them to the steering cable in the lazaret when not used. I clamp them to the battery I want to charge when I run the kicker. This bypasses the 1-2 switch and any other engine/charging configuration you may have. If you want, you can run house items off one battery while you charge the other by using the switch for house and clamps for charging.

Not a good idea to have the clips on the same battery when the main engine is running/charging that battery. Or when using the shore power charger. So it takes a bit of disipline. As a remider/safeguard I use one fuel line for both engines. When I put the fuel line on the kicker, it reminds me to check the charging leads.

Not sure where all your batteries are located but with charging leads from your kicker being able to be connected to the other batteries: You could start the kicker on the gel and charge any other battery with the leads if needed. Or use a three position switch to route only the kicker charging to any of the three batteries instead of clamps. Then off when not used.

[flagold]

Agree with "Molly Brown" -- after having the Norcold, absolutely would not be without it.

Since I "cruise" and "anchor" on land much more than water, the Norcold really gets a workout. I have a dedicated start, and a single deep cycle for the house (80/amp/hour).

Fairly easy to manage the fridge -- power it up and set to max and get the box cold -- back down to #4
-- at night turn it off (it'll act as an ice-box overnight). In the morning -- turn it on to #4. That single battery will last over a week that way. Just a matter of power management.

All the straightline power graphs, curves, figuring, re-figuring, don't work with the Norcold. The compressor is off -- more time than it is on. It is very well insulated. It has been no problem, I run mine a lot.

As someone once said: "turn it on, use it, turn it off." Just like a Mercury.

[lloyds]

Although I am new to this site, and am still looking for a c-dory I am not new to this topic. I lived aboard a sailboat for 10 years and batteries and refrigeration were right up there in the topics list at every dock or gathering. Seldom will you see a front opening icebox or fridge on a sailboat. Those folks know their refrigeration and charging and go to extremes to manage and generate electricity. When bombardier came out with e-tec I was extremely pleased to see all those amps in from the alternator. Something like 65 amps. If I buy a c-dory with an ice box it will come out. But if I repower or power new I will try to make it e-tec and a adler-barbour or similar unit will go back in. I remember my first adler barbour I put in a sailboat. After planning my voyages around the availability of ice I was finally able to make ice, what an incredible luxury. BIG ice cubes in my drink. It is great. My last system was powered by 2 6 volt golf cart batteries. Manageable size, and they would run the compressor for at least two days at the hook without starting the diesel. Then when I did start the diesel I had a bypass on the regulator so I could charge up in an hour or so. C-dory boats are big enough, with enough storage to have some of these amenities.

[flagold]

The Norcold for my boat is one of the best additions there was. I can vouch for the 3 days on the house battery if you switch it or turn to low at night -- it does not run continuously at any setting. Ice is great -- flexibility is great. With a small generator aboard, no worries.

[ffheap]

Hi Folks,

I did not see this mentioned, but if you add a Solar Panel to your cabin top, it just might keep things cold with an AC/DC Fridge. Worth looking into.

Fred Heap

[rogerbum]

[Byrdman]

Good topic... I will have to do some searching... Pat/Daydream: we just use about 9 cans of our favorite beverage in the bottom of our "food" cooler to keep stuff out of the water. They make for a very easy cleaning shelf...grin. We also keep one cooler on board with nothing but ice in it. Open it about 2 hours after dark and transfer ice from it to the "beverage" cooler which is opened often, and the food cooler which is only opened 1 to 3 times a day depending on meals.... I have saw some real commercial grade coolers that are for real long term coolers used on the commercial fishing vessels on the Gulf Coast. They have to be tuff to take the direct sun light, heat and humidity down here. They are spendy .... I am going to have to look into this refrigerator deal. Would be nice to keep one in the back of the Excursion with condiments and stuff to make these day or two trips to the boat a little easier...and tail gateing at the football games a bit nicer too.