Running Fridge w/o shore power

[aabbovet]

Hello,

Looking for some advice, this is our first season with a 2011 Cutwater 26- w solar panel, love the boat and have been doing some cruising, have been nervous about running fridge while on mooring/ hook w/out shore power and killing house battery- what has been the collective experience with run time, does the solar panel adequately replace amps? Thanks so much for any advice.

 

[knotflying]

There are tons of threads on this topic. As long as you are fully charged up, overnight and conservation of other draws you should be fine overnight. I joined my thruster battery to the house bank so we get additional amperage reserve. We are usually good for three days on the hook without power issues. And of course it all depends on how much sunlight is a available. Some people will tell you they have no problem and others will tell you there have been issues. It seems the PNW has no issues and probably during the summer the daylight is much longer. I keep our refrigerator setting at 3. Setting will make a difference also. And how much and how long you keep the refrigerator door opens has an affect. Another thing is starting out with cold and frozen food and having the refrigerator down to temperature before anchoring out. Changing your solar controller to an MPPT will make a difference as will adding another panel. I would "test" and over-nighter before I would start adding or changing things and see how it works for you.

 

[Red Raven]

It also depends on the condition of your batteries. If you still have the original batteries in your 2011 they may have degraded and not have sufficient capacity to last the night. Leave the fridge on over night with a setting at 3 after a full charge and check the battery voltage in the morning (before you have much sunlight on the panel and when the fridge or or other draws are not running). If you have better than 12.2V you should be fine. Anything lower than this and you may have reduced capacity and should have the batteries tested and possibly replaced.

Curt

 

[Seaquel]

Agree with everything Knotflying and Red Raven suggested. We too added switch to allow joining of thruster battery to house bank, and additionally added a 3rd house battery, essentially doubling our house bank from two to four AGM batteries.

When we bought Seaquel three years ago a key driver was the ability to extend the boating season from summer-only to year-round in the relative moderate PNW. Initially we experienced two issues with staying on anchor for extended periods as relates to the batteries: 1) electronics of the wonderful Webasto diesel heater are very sensitive to voltage drop; 2) excessive battery drain diminished battery life. With these steps taken, both issues resolved, and we can sit on the hook for three days in February with mid-40's outside temp and a cozy 70 degrees inside the cabin (and a very happy 1st Mate).

Despite all of the above, as relates to the question about the refer, we have learned to turn it off at night. Small step that results in big electrical savings. Night-time temps in the PNW are cool and with the refer door staying closed all night the refer temp stays adequately cold. The only concession we make is we no longer bring ice cream in the tiny freezer compartment. We've resolved this by occasionally stopping at marinas in the summer specifically for an ice cream cone treat! 😀

A part of our anchoring process is: at night, when we turn on the anchor light, we turn off the refer. In the morning, we reverse this so when we turn off the anchor light, we turn on the refer. I even place "reminder" cards at the helm to prompt this in the morning!

-Mark

 

[Markl]

Might be worth checking your fridge manual. I believe they have a feature to shut down on low voltage. Mine (2011 Ranger) won't work at some voltage level just below 12.2 so it will never kill the batteries completely. I seem to get about 24 hours out of a fully charged battery. The solar panel will prolong that but would likely need 2 panels of the factory size to sustain continuously.

 

[Red Raven]

Now that we fixed the solar panel wiring (so that 90% of the charge goes to the house) and added a second solar panel we can run the fridge and a separate chest freezer 24/7 and get fully recharged every day if it is sunny.

Curt

 

[BB marine]

Now that we fixed the solar panel wiring (so that 90% of the charge goes to the house) and added a second solar panel we can run the fridge and a separate chest freezer 24/7 and get fully recharged every day if it is sunny.

Curt

Curt,
This is off the subject. I would be interested in information on your freezer chest, capacity, manufacturer, and a review of your experiences with the freezer. We will be needed one for our future cruising.
Thank you
Brian Brown
26 Cutwater
PORT-A-GEE

 

[Red Raven]

Brian,

Here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001SNWCFO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Id4AzbF2V9M3M

It works really well and uses about the same power when set for freezing as the stock refrigerator set on 3. Even stuck down in the port side cockpit locker with stuff crammed around it. Freeze everything first and set it on 5 the first day then set it on 4 and everything stays frozen at about an average draw of 2.5 amps. I also added a piece of foam under it to reduce any vibration transfer to the boat when it runs. Really quiet now.

Curt

 

[Cutwater28GG]

resurrecting this thread for a question

For those of you who have added a switch to bring the thruster battery into the house circuit, can you share what modifications you made to the wiring to achieve this?

I want to compare notes!

 

[BB marine]

I added an extra battery switch. This is actually my inverter battery switch. I normally keep it on position( 2 ) which is house batteries. The alternator output is enough that while we are running the house batteries stay charged even while using the inverter. When we are at anchor I can use position (both) paralleling my thruster battery to my house battery if needed. My wiring is 2/O battery terminals going from pos post of each battery bank to the switch battery connection post.

 

[DBBRanger]

On my R25, I replaced the thruster on/off switch with a three position switch: off, thruster battery only, and both, which combines thruster battery and house battery. I don't have access to my wiring diagrams at the moment, but let me know if you want more details and I'll get them for you.

 

[nzfisher]

There is a very cool product available that is a fuel cell running on some sort of alcohol that can continuously charge at a rate of 80 to 140 amps of slow charge depending on model. Not much larger than a battery, Light weight easily moved in and out of the boat to your RV and about 1\2 cost of diesel generator and no noise. Saw it at the boat show yesterday now on my wish list. Made by Efoy. Any feedback from people who have them already? Might be a great solution for on the hook When sun is not available for energy assistance.

 

[ixlr8]

There is a very cool product available that is a fuel cell running on some sort of alcohol that can continuously charge at a rate of 80 to 140 amps of slow charge depending on model. Not much larger than a battery, Light weight easily moved in and out of the boat to your RV and about 1\2 cost of diesel generator and no noise. Saw it at the boat show yesterday now on my wish list. Made by Efoy. Any feedback from people who have them already? Might be a great solution for on the hook When sun is not available for energy assistance.

Cool product, minimal power production, 40 watts to 105 watts, for a lot of money.

 

[nzfisher]

Yes. Expensive but less than 1/2 diesel generator but with obvious limitations but weight, transportability and noise advantage. Definitely won’t help with hair dryer. Do you have one?

 

[ixlr8]

Yes. Expensive but less than 1/2 diesel generator but with obvious limitations but weight, transportability and noise advantage. Definitely won’t help with hair dryer. Do you have one?

No I don't have one, although fuel cells have intrigued me for years. To me there is no comparison. A Mace diesel generator, 3500 watt, is $3500, before installation. I find it hard to believe it would cost more than $1000 to install it if you have the room. I can't believe Ranger charges $15000 for the Mace 3500 watt diesel generator option. The Efoy 80 is 40 watt and the price I saw was $3000. For comparison, a 140 watt solar panel is $210. If you have lots of gray days, I would be adding a second solar panel, assuming you already have one.