On the punch list of repairs that were to be made on my 282 sailfish was the refrigerator. It runs but doesn't get cold. I spoke with the tech after he launched the boat and he claimed that he pulled the unit and cleaned the condenser and it seemed to run Ok after that. I just got back from spending the weekend on the boat and it still isn't right. I checked the temperature with an infrared thermometer when we got to the boat Saturday morning and and it showed around 40 degrees. We put half a dozen water bottles in there and some burger patties and a bag of salad and it never recovered from the opening of the door and adding the water and food. It was at ambient this morning after sitting all night with the door closed. I know this isnt going to cool like a household fridge but i feel that i should be able to get a little better performance than this. Am i expecting too much?? Can some one enlighten me on what is considered normal performance for one of these units? This one is 12 volts only, no AC operation. I have a battery charger that is putting 13.8 volts to each battery bank. There is 2 banks, one is 2 batteries in parallel supplying one engine and the house load and a second single battery for the other engine.
2006 sailfish refrigerator
- Thread starter used2sail
- Start date
Hookup1
GreatGrady Captain
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2007
- Messages
- 3,035
- Reaction score
- 855
- Points
- 113
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Cape May, NJ
- Model
- Islander
Hookup1
GreatGrady Captain
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2007
- Messages
- 3,035
- Reaction score
- 855
- Points
- 113
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Cape May, NJ
- Model
- Islander
Not sure exactly. A few hours maybe. I turn it on when I get to FL in the Winter and never turn it off for a month or two. It's always cold.
How high do you have the thermostat turned up? Inside next to freezer. Mine at 3/4.
It a 12vdc only unit. I made a modification documented in a GreatGrady post to convert to 120vac when AC power is present and 12 vdc when off the dock.
If your coil is clean your problem sounds like low freon. I have no idea how to add more or if its worth it to fix.
brian bunk
Active Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2005
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 8
I have a 2007 Marlin has a Isotherm Cruise 49 Elegance which is the updated version of original fridge, Upon start up @ 75 deg system will cool 20-25 deg in one hour. I cool fridge overnight load next morning with cold product stays 40 deg no problem at setting 7 in and out as needed Original frig cooled the same I had a 2005 sailfish before this and cooled similar
Get yourself a cheap analog ref thermometer stays in frig all times.
Get yourself a cheap analog ref thermometer stays in frig all times.
my fridge is 12 volt only, how does the 120V conversion work?? I'll see if i can search and find the htread that describes the conversion.
From what you gents are saying mine should pull down to temperature and its not happening, I had it running all weekend turned all the way up and i had essentially no cooling.
From what you gents are saying mine should pull down to temperature and its not happening, I had it running all weekend turned all the way up and i had essentially no cooling.
i'm thinking the marina should fix it or replace it as they committed to. I am primarily looking to confirm what constitutes normal operation before i let thme know that it still needs attention.
I did find the 120 volt conversion thread, thats very slick. If/when mine gets sorted out I'm going to look into that.
I did find the 120 volt conversion thread, thats very slick. If/when mine gets sorted out I'm going to look into that.
Hookup1
GreatGrady Captain
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2007
- Messages
- 3,035
- Reaction score
- 855
- Points
- 113
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Cape May, NJ
- Model
- Islander
Converting refrigerator from dc to ac/dc
How difficult is it to convert refrigerator from 12vdc to 110vac/12vdc. I have a 2007 marlin I run the refrigerator all summer. While at the dock I am plugged in and would rather not have battery charger on 24/7
www.greatgrady.com
When you said the marina should fix it - is this a new to you boat purchase? Was this supposed to be working when you bought it? If not what FishTails said is true. Given the age of the refrigerator it may be good money after bad.
i just bought the boat last fall. Ther was a list of repairs generated during the purchase negotiations and survey. There are few items still left outstanding and some that have been tended to. The fridge is one of the items that had allegedly been repaired; I'm thinking it needs more attention.
Hookup1
GreatGrady Captain
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2007
- Messages
- 3,035
- Reaction score
- 855
- Points
- 113
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Cape May, NJ
- Model
- Islander
I'm thinking the refrigerator is broke! Have them take it out and bench test it until it's fixed. Not that hard to do!
The refrigerator only needs a 12 vdc power supply. Depends on nothing in the boat.
Unfortunately most marinas are not capable of fixing refrigerators and ice machines. They have to bring someone it. Replacement is usual path. Best of luck!
You said the temp was 40 degrees. Was that in the freezer or just the box?.
Those fridges take a long time to cool. The amount of time also varies with the outside temps and more importantly, the cabin temps. So if you have a warm to hot cabin, how outside temps and stuff the fridge with warm items, it will take a long time to cool.
Some of the fridges will automatically shut off if the DC voltage goes below a certain value. In that case if powered only by battery with no shore power charger, the battery may can run down and cause the fridge to stop cooling.
Those fridges take a long time to cool. The amount of time also varies with the outside temps and more importantly, the cabin temps. So if you have a warm to hot cabin, how outside temps and stuff the fridge with warm items, it will take a long time to cool.
Some of the fridges will automatically shut off if the DC voltage goes below a certain value. In that case if powered only by battery with no shore power charger, the battery may can run down and cause the fridge to stop cooling.
brian bunk
Active Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2005
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 8
Isotherm Cruise 49 Elegance Refrigerator/Freezer
The Isotherm Cruise 49 Elegance Refrigerator / Freezer is a high quality, energy-efficient refrigeration system solution for your vessel. This 1.75 cubic foot unit runs on 12 / 24 VDC and 115 / 230 VAC or 12 / 24 VDC only. It has extra insulation and a fr
The Isotherm 49 works on 12v or 120v This is the one I have. It has 2 cords on it. I only use mine on 12v the 120v is not even hooked up. This is the way Grady had it wired from the factory. As I recall the Sailfish is the same 12 volt only. When working properly these little things will easily cool to 38-40 with product inside.
brian bunk
Active Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2005
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 8
I cool mine first without product inside at 75 deg in will cool 20-25 deg in one hour I would suspect if full of 24 warm Miller Lights your in for a long cool down and worse possible warm beer on the water.
If i had to guess id say that was the freezer section, I just opened the door and shot the temp with the IR thermometer. The weird thing is as i think of it the batteries had been switched off all week and looking at the wiring diagram in the manual that should de energize the fridge. If thats the case that 40 degree reading is BS. the bigger concern is that with the power switched on there was no cooling observed from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon and its not like we were opening the door frequently.
Mine is a different model, its 12 volt only. if it ends up getting replaced I'll remember your recommendation!Isotherm Cruise 49 Elegance Refrigerator/Freezer
The Isotherm Cruise 49 Elegance Refrigerator / Freezer is a high quality, energy-efficient refrigeration system solution for your vessel. This 1.75 cubic foot unit runs on 12 / 24 VDC and 115 / 230 VAC or 12 / 24 VDC only. It has extra insulation and a frdefender.com
The Isotherm 49 works on 12v or 120v This is the one I have. It has 2 cords on it. I only use mine on 12v the 120v is not even hooked up. This is the way Grady had it wired from the factory. As I recall the Sailfish is the same 12 volt only. When working properly these little things will easily cool to 38-40 with product inside.
Legend
GreatGrady Captain
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2006
- Messages
- 1,462
- Reaction score
- 201
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Southern New England
- Model
- Sailfish
I have and 04 Sailfish and my frig stopped cooling - looked into a repair and the service call was going to be close to the purchase of a new one. The new isotherm frig is the same size as the original (just DC) but it is now AC/DC. My SF was originally just DC so I added an outlet behind the frig. The 04 SF has an electrical outlet in the cabin right by the frig so it was an easy job to tap into the back of the existing outlet for power. The new frig keeps the contents really cold and if it is set to lowest cold level some of the cans will start to freeze so I set it halfway and that is perfect temp. Good luck with it.