Proof you don't need water cooling !!!

[ColdEH]

Proof you don't need water cooling in the tropics!!! and who wants it



Finished the test .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCL21E5gg8A&t=48s

Regards

[admiralslater]

Nice video ,if you where to run the system as a fridge what do you think the amp hours would be . I ask as I want to run this off a 200 amper bank that is charged by 150 watts of solar . I sit on a mooring with some access to shore power .

[Typhoon]

Originally Posted by admiralslater

Nice video ,if you where to run the system as a fridge what do you think the amp hours would be . I ask as I want to run this off a 200 amper bank that is charged by 150 watts of solar . I sit on a mooring with some access to shore power .

I did actually run this as a fridge for 3 days after I did the freezer test .

Once the system warmed up from freezer mode it settled in at 5ah in 24 hrs



this is at the 48 hr point as shown



These were the amp hours used , the top number is the voltage .

temperatures were set 1 to 3'C or 34 to 38'f

2.5 cubic foot box with R30 insulation

Regards

[StuM]

Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine

I did actually run this as a fridge for 3 days after I did the freezer test .

Once the system warmed up from freezer mode it settled in at 5ah in 24 hrs



this is at the 48 hr point as shown



These were the amp hours used , the top number is the voltage .

temperatures were set 1 to 3'C or 34 to 38'f

2.5 cubic foot box with R30 insulation

Regards

O.A.T. ?
Was the box opened at all during the test to simulate normal conditions? If so - top or side opening, how frequently and for how long?

[Typhoon]

Originally Posted by StuM

O.A.T. ?
Was the box opened at all during the test to simulate normal conditions? If so - top or side opening, how frequently and for how long?

Box was left closed for the test . I let it run for a day before resetting the amp hour meter just to make sure It had settled . Also the box was empty and a top loader.

The box is not perfect, I'm sure if it had a liner and vapor barriers it would have performed even better .

Regards John

[admiralslater]

I have been re thinking my power ,solar ,refrigeration set up .As noted earlier I tried to run a 5+ amphr load off 225 amps of battery charged almost completely by 150 watts of solar . This does not really work .If your system is as even close to as good as your test shows I might be able to use your system with out having to by new panels and double the size of my house bank . Does this sound reasonable?

[Typhoon]

Originally Posted by admiralslater

I have been re thinking my power ,solar ,refrigeration set up .As noted earlier I tried to run a 5+ amphr load off 225 amps of battery charged almost completely by 150 watts of solar . This does not really work .If your system is as even close to as good as your test shows I might be able to use your system with out having to by new panels and double the size of my house bank . Does this sound reasonable?

Hi Admiral .

The tests I did are spot on , they are not marketing hype . Thats why we made the videos. I have two of these systems running on my boat for almost a year now , one in a 8 square foot box and the other as a freezer around the same size of the one in the video , I think the one on my boat is a little bit bigger but it has R40 insulation. I loaded some pics on my blog on the website about building new doors out of Aerogel and I will be posting more things this week about re-insulating without tearing the whole Galley apart.

I will also be posting results of a year long test on the 8 foot box shortly.

Off the top of my head the 8 foot box with r30 has been averaging under 20ah a day at 12v and the deep freeze (-18'C) is running at a steady 4 amp hours a day , no really,,, 4 amp hours a day . Mind you it is well insulated small 2.5 Square foot box with an Aerogel door and the weather has been cold. My lights on board have been using more power then both my refrigeration systems combined. The boat inside temperature never drops below 22'C . We keep our boat in the water year around here in Toronto and split our time between the house and the boat all year. So these systems get full time use.

Of course insulation plays a big factor in any setup and for results like mine you would have to have similar insulation , but I use these tests as benchmarks for people to calculate what results they may actually get .

One other thing that saves a lot of energy is the fact that these system are controlled by box temperature not by evaporator temperature. So where a typical evaporator system may cycle 150 times in 24 hours ours cycles 24 or about once an hour. You cant do this unless you use a holding plate or a TXV with a flat plate . Also you have direct control over your box temperature swings , you can keep them within one degree if you like, or, like me, you can set them at three degrees. You can tinker with that yourself easily on the digital thermostat until you find what works best in your box, for efficiency.

Almost forgot to mention , copper has twice the thermal conductivity of aluminum and 10 times that of stainless steel. The plates are all copper and the condenser is all copper including the fins. The fans are super efficient as well , at .03 of an amp each . All this adds up to huge savings in power consumption. And we do it with any electronic doodads that can break and take down your system . These systems are not cheap to build but us boaters need the best ! Refrigeration systems on boats have always been notoriously troublesome. Those days are over !

So if you think your system will work from my tests then it probably will , the system really works as good as I tested it.

Regards John ColdEh

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine

One other thing that saves a lot of energy is the fact that these system are controlled by box temperature not by evaporator temperature. So where a typical evaporator system may cycle 150 times in 24 hours ours cycles 24 or about once an hour. You cant do this unless you use a holding plate or a TXV with a flat plate .

John, is this not true of most systems? We have a temperature control mounted separately from the Isotherm cold plate which presumably controls the actual fridge temperature.

Pete

[Typhoon]

Hi Pete . If you have a digital controller , take a look at it , it will probably have two leads , one shows your box temp and the other will control the compressor . There will also be some sort of hysteresis in the system to prevent short cycling .

Regards John

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine

Hi Pete . If you have a digital controller , take a look at it , it will probably have two leads , one shows your box temp and the other will control the compressor . There will also be some sort of hysteresis in the system to prevent short cycling .

Regards John

Eek no, its working so I am leaving well alone There is a controller which came as part of the kit for a cool box. Has a round dial to change the temperature and seems to work well. Impressed with the figures you have managed to achieve though.

Pete

[Typhoon]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Eek no, its working so I am leaving well alone There is a controller which came as part of the kit for a cool box. Has a round dial to change the temperature and seems to work well. Impressed with the figures you have managed to achieve though.

Pete

Thanks Pete , took about a year to get the design right and source all the parts.

I didn't post every thing on the forums , but it really was an interesting project and a steep learning curve .

I'm just happy that maybe I can help people with there refrigeration troubles. Rich Boren of Technautics and I are the only ones that offer a DC refrigeration system that utilizes a Thermostatic Expansion Valve . At least that I know of . It really helps free up many different design benefits. One being that you can run strictly on air cooling in any temperature, and the another is that these things are dead nuts reliable . The list goes on , but thats for another post .

Regards John.