Alternatives to Ozefridge

[HankOnthewater]

Originally Posted by Corndog

So into the bin it goes. I will replace it with something more reliable, hence this thread.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.
Rather than throw it in the bin, happy to take it off your hands, I will pay postage, if you send all the parts, minus the insulated box and minus the liquid I will pay an additional $300 for your effort to pack it up. Contact me via PM (private message). Can pay via paypal, internet banktransfer or credit card. Live in West Oz.

[Corndog]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

I wish you well with whatever you end up with.

Edit: have to ask, did you start this thread purely with the intention of dissing a manufacturer who would not accept responsibility for some problem years after your purchase and presumably acceptable service ?

The problems with my Ozerfridge unit didn't start years after i bought it. The unit was installed just over 2 years ago and has never run well.

But thanks for your wishes. This time around, I won't pay in full until the replacement is working within spec. Talking to an Isotherm agent, I'll get a 2 year warranty if I go with their unit which is twice the commitment than Ozefridge. This gives me some comfort.

The intention of my post is addressed in my first comment - To find an alternative. Generally, Ozefridge appear to have a good reputation, but this wasn't my experience. Clearly I'm not happy with my purchase and would not recommend them given what I've been through.

[Corndog]

Originally Posted by HankOnthewater

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.
Rather than throw it in the bin, happy to take it off your hands, I will pay postage, if you send all the parts, minus the insulated box and minus the liquid I will pay an additional $300 for your effort to pack it up. Contact me via PM (private message). Can pay via paypal, internet banktransfer or credit card. Live in West Oz.

Thanks, I'll let you know, Hank.

[jcapo]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

I believe that the ozefridge system is a capillary system so no expansion valve required. The problems that you have reported sound to me that they may be more install related, did you do the install yourself or did you have a contractor do it for you?
I have met a few boaters that have had these systems installed for many years without a hint of trouble after the initial post install tweaking, a fact that convinced me to go down that path myself after my waco turned it's toes up.

The OP said that he had "eutectic" plates and that he has been mucking about with the water/antifreeze mixture which is why I asked about which plate was not freezing and where the expansion valve is located.

[Tin Tin]

We have had Virtifrigo, Isotherm, Iceer. The first two were adequate but not brilliant with freezers struggling in the sub-tropics and last about 5 years before needing surgery. There are plenty of gripes about them on boat face book forums The Iceer was a custom job and lasted for at least 14 years without needing to be touched, I see they are still around.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by jcapo

The OP said that he had "eutectic" plates and that he has been mucking about with the water/antifreeze mixture which is why I asked about which plate was not freezing and where the expansion valve is located.

I thought about that word "plates", as in plural.
A eutectic plate is just an evaporator coil immersed in a liquid-tight container.
That said, the heat removal ability of refrigerant in an evaporator, is directly related to the expansion ratio of the refrigerant from a liquid to a gas during its travel thru the evaporator from inlet to outlet.
If the refrigerant has "used up" most of its expansion ratio in the first plate there will be little left to remove heat in the second plate.
This assumes that the condensing unit has the power to carry the load.
A "Cap Tube" system will have a different sized tube depending upon the number of evaporators, (total length of evaporator tubing,) in the system.
A system with a TXV can compensate, (within reason,) but a cap-tube system cannot compensate for different evaporator loads.
Another big deal is that all of those 12V units are really small, they don't have the power/flow rate/capacity to run large evaporators, there isn't enough "there" there.
When adding evaporator area/tubing length, those little units quickly reach the point where there just isn't enough refrigerant circulating at high enough speed and at the proper pressures to remove all the heat.
In using two eutectic plates, (depending upon size,) the system just may be overwhelmed.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Corndog

Hi Bob. Right from the get go, it used significantly more energy than expected which I believe played a role in my house batteries premature death. I upgrades the batteries (500a/h) and lived with it until I noticed it was running continuously - 24/7.



Turns out it had a gas leak which was surprising given the age so I had to pay for more gas and it was discovered it had voltage irregularities as well - sometimes as much as 1v difference between battery and compressor.



With the new gas, it's running better but it took several tries to get the anti-freeze / water ratio right for the correct phase change but I've now discovered only one freezer plate freezes and the other is liquid even thought they have identical mixture.



Another observation is the return? valve ices up sometimes but most of the time just sweats so who know whats going on.



I think I got a dud from the start but regardless, I don't have any confidence in the system coming into summer and I don't want to continue to throw money at it so looking to replace it.

Everything you describe sounds like a bad installation.

Poor insulation in the box, poor wiring to the compressor, poor mixing of the solutions, poor setting of the gas levels and poor assembly of the gas connections.

Seriously, each symptom you describe is text book.

All of these refrigeration devices use about the same amount of power to cool a given cool box. But if the insulation is poor, they will use more power. End of story.

Voltage drop between the compressor and the battery? What do you think it is? It’s a bit of wire.

Return line icing up? It’s in the manual, too much gas. The bleed procedure can be done by a child.

But hey, like others have said, if you want to sell it let us know. They are bloody brilliant devices and I’d happily buy it to gift it to friends who need one. Mine is perfect, so I don’t need another.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

I thought about that word "plates", as in plural.
A eutectic plate is just an evaporator coil immersed in a liquid-tight container.
That said, the heat removal ability of refrigerant in an evaporator, is directly related to the expansion ratio of the refrigerant from a liquid to a gas during its travel thru the evaporator from inlet to outlet.
If the refrigerant has "used up" most of its expansion ratio in the first plate there will be little left to remove heat in the second plate.
This assumes that the condensing unit has the power to carry the load.
A "Cap Tube" system will have a different sized tube depending upon the number of evaporators, (total length of evaporator tubing,) in the system.
A system with a TXV can compensate, (within reason,) but a cap-tube system cannot compensate for different evaporator loads.
Another big deal is that all of those 12V units are really small, they don't have the power/flow rate/capacity to run large evaporators, there isn't enough "there" there.
When adding evaporator area/tubing length, those little units quickly reach the point where there just isn't enough refrigerant circulating at high enough speed and at the proper pressures to remove all the heat.
In using two eutectic plates, (depending upon size,) the system just may be overwhelmed.

The Ozefridge dual plate system has a compressor well capable of freezing both tanks. The systems are sold as a matched unit, bigger compressor for two plates, smaller for single plates. (Though I think they recently phased out the smaller compressor, but don’t quote me on that.)

There’s a fresh water cooling backup option too, but I find mine rarely chooses to use it. (I’m in a pretty warm part of Australia with days over 40 degrees C too.)

As I said, these systems are sold as a package and the package is well thought out. The plates won’t overwhelm the compressor, it poor insulation and poor installation will defeat any refrigeration system.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Corndog

Hi all,



I replaced an engine driven compressor for my freezer a couple of years back with an Ozefridge eutectic system ….







…Most of the old system is still in place, just not operative.

And there it is. In other words, “I have an ancient cold box with insulation that is out of the ark and used to be powered by a 50+ HP diesel engine. Now I want a 75 watt compressor to cool the same box but it doesn’t want to.”