I have used stand-alone, air cooled, units with success. The first was an old RV propane/electric unit. Both the propane and the electric were to heat the "boiler" and thus operate the unit. Although the propane part worked well the electric parts, heater tapes on the boiler, failed before a year was up. The biggest problem was the front opening door leaking cold and the thinness of the insulation making for poor efficiency.
Next I had two Engel units, 1.5 cu/ft each, one set to zero the other to 38 deg F. These worked very well, drew 2 amps each when running but also had thin insulation having been designed for vehicle use with unlimited supply of 12 VDC. We now have two Sundanzer units, a freezer and a reefer, 5 cu/ft each, but because of 4.3" of insulation also draw 2 amps when running. We are very happy with these but do admit the may be too big for most boats. The Engel units are built in such a way as to be able to remove the machinery as a whole, opening up the possibility of making your own box with good insulation and installing the Engel machinery in that box. Also I have seen in magazines boxes like the Engel units that appear to have more insulation and plastic rather than steel shells. I recommend not using water cooled units. I have heard of lots of problems due to fouling of the seawater circuit with organisms, plus the additional load of the seawater pump. For satisfactory results no matter how you produce the cold, the box must be top opening with at least four inches of insulation. Norm S/V Bandersnatch Lying Julington Creek FL > [Original Message] > From: Ballantyne, Merrill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 11/16/2007 12:36:28 PM > Subject: [Liveaboard] refrigeration > > I would be interested in a survey of DC refrigeration systems aboard- > does anyone have any experience with the performance of Adler Barbour > systems- I am interested in different configurations of this system > that people have installed, what percentage of run-time do users > experience etc.. -thanks > > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
