novacool fridge

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teamwork
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by teamwork »

I think there is already enough heat in there when generator is running, I'm going to rope locker.
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by deising »

Tim,

I have not looked into this seriously yet, as I am involved with other boat projects, but your suggestion sure makes sense for the reasons you state.
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by AMCarter3 »

The locker you refer to is not vented on my boat (I have a Webasto hydronic heater, not a genset). Therefore, the only option for venting on my boat is thru the next locker where the AUX fuel tank is (which vents air into the chain locker).
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by duetto »

the aux fuel tank locker is not vented on hull 23. not sure when that started.
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by Expatriate »

All,

This has gotten interesting for me. Sure enough, the fridge slide right out after I took out four screws. The power cable was plenty long enough for this. I was able to slide the fridge out until the front edge was even with the separator between the sinks. Plenty of room to crawl under and look into everything.

I thought that venting into the genset area would be the most energy efficient since that locker is vented. After going in there and looking, there are a lot of plenums and vents in the way. Also the genset battery is in the way. Also, on second thought there is the risk of carbon monoxide coming through. It is a remote possibility with the fan running all the time blowing into the genset locker, but I got worried about it. So now I think I will vent into the locker above the genset fuel tank. It is a lot easier.

The power cable from the panel was, I think, 14 gauge. It was spliced into the last ten feet of cable to the fridge, that allowed me to slide the fridge out. That last ten feet was ten gauge. How odd. So, since I have drug the fridge out of the hole, I will continue the ten gauge wire back to the panel. It only makes sense. So far this has proved to be easier than I thought.

I may add another fan to blow from the area under the microwave into the fridge area. I did not realize that all of this volume was interconnected. The fans are so cheap and use almost no power.

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Re: novacool fridge

Post by Expatriate »

All,

Well after some head scratching and measuring, I found that I could put the little five inch fan on the support deck for the fridge with an inch to spare fore and aft. I cut a five inch hole in the support deck behind the fridge, and mounted the fan inside the fridge compartment, blowing up. The fan now pulls air up from the locker below the fridge. I put the fan all the way back and about six inches inboard from the port side hull. That puts it directly under the hottest part of the fridge machinery on the freezer side on the left looking in. The locker under the fridge has a louvered door and there is adequate room for the air to exit by and below the stove. I set it up to run all the time.

I also put in ten gauge wire from the switch panel to the fridge. That was actually harder than installing the fan. Once again I forgot to take pictures. Sorry about that.

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Re: novacool fridge

Post by deising »

Tim,

Can you please describe the path the wiring takes from the panel to the fridge and what you needed to remove (if anything)?

Thanks!
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by Expatriate »

Duane,

I went to the distribution panel and unhooked the wire from the breaker for the fridge. Then I used quite a bit of tape to connect the existing wire to the new 10 gauge 2 conductor wire that was 30 feet long (8 gauge would be better). I went into the starboard hull aft of the steps and looked into the forward most locker and removed an access panel under the switch panel area. It took a little experimentation to find the wire that had been connected to the fridge breaker, but it was not too bad. After I got the new wire down into the lower access area, the next trick was to get it into the conduit that goes forward towards the head. It was not easy to see what was going on, but I finally got it started into the conduit. The tape joint was a great snag inducer, so try to keep that as small as possible.

Then I went into the head and removed the medicine cabinet and again started pulling wires and then going back aft to see if I had the right one. There was a lot of back and forth and some bit of snagging, but I got it to the head area in about 30 minutes from when I started. Then I had to feed it into the conduit that goes across the boat behind the seats and forward of the main table. Once I got it started in that conduit, I could go to the fridge area and pull it through (fridge had been pulled out). It seems that there are fewer wires in that conduit, so it went more smoothly. This is a job that really needs a second person!

I have been monitoring the fridge amperage. While cruising last winter in the Bahamas, the fridge routinely pulled between 5 and 6 amps and it ran all the time. It still seems to run all the time, but I have yet to see it use over 2.75 amps. Before I put in the computer fan on the fridge deck blowing up, my infrared thermometer showed 96 degrees behind the fridge with a cabin temperature of 80 degrees. With the fan back there, the temperature behind the fridge does not exceed 84 degrees. So far so good, but the real test will be living on the boat and using the fridge a lot more.

Good luck. I think this job is worth doing.

Tim
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by deising »

Thanks, Tim. That was a very detailed answer and a lot of help.
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by AMCarter3 »

My wire run was different and actually a lot easier than I anticipated. Also, I did NOT replace the existing 14 AWG wire. Instead I ran a new 10 AWG wire along the same path as the 14 AWG wire. I was then able to use BOTH wires for powering the fridge and exhaust fan. Using both wires reduces line loss even further. I attached both wires to a 6 position barrier strip screwed to the hull at the level of the bottom of the fridge. My exhaust fan power wire is attached that strip.

Starting at the barrier strip, it was easy to push the 10 AWG wire into the channel used for the 14 AWG wire into the locker under the forward salon seat area. You can easily see and pull the wire. The wired continues inside the salon port seat locker. At the aft end of the port seat locker there is a small hole that runs across the boat under the floor in front of the table to the starboard seat locker. Up this point, I did not hit any difficult snags.

Then I ran the 10 AWG wire aft through a hole in the aft wall of starboard seat locker under the floorboard (toward the helm) to the storage cabinet in the starboard berth. That portion of the wire run was a bit difficult - you need someone else to gently push the wire through a blind hole that is crowded with a LOT of wires. I had to reach my hand into the maze of wires going up into the bottom of the helm cabinet to catch the 10 AWG wire. It can be done. Once you grab the 10 AWG wire, it's easy to run it UP into the helm cabinet to the breaker panel. Voila!
Mac Carter
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by deising »

Thanks much, Mac. I just got done putting in new MFDs, RADAR, and network switches, so a little tired of wire pulling at the moment.
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by Expatriate »

Mac,

It sounds like your wiring job was easier and smarter than mine. Just reading the earlier posts, I see that the locker over the genset tank on your boat is vented. Mine is not, though it would not be hard at all to put a vent in there. They are all just a little different.

Thanks for the post.

Tim
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Re: novacool fridge

Post by AMCarter3 »

Tim, as I mentioned in an earlier message, my boat does not have a genset and my port bow locker does not have a vent. That is why I have the exhaust fan venting into the locker where the auxilary fuel tank is.
Mac Carter
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