Fridgoboat experience

[Boyd]

Hi All:

I saw the Fridgoboat unit at the boat show which uses a sintered keel cooler type heat sink. While very compact and certainly attractive as a replacement for my 20 year old A-B unit I am concerned about potential problems, especially with marine growth on the keel cooler. Fridgoboat says it stays to hot for things to grow. Since mine is not going to function 24-7 I am wondering how that is going to work.

Anyone have one of these? How well do they work?

Thanks

Boyd
s/v Tern
CD30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

[Zeida]

Hi, Boyd...

I have a Frigoboat unit on Bandolera. I can tell you that it is an incredible unit, in its simplicity and efficiency. I do have the keel cooler plate and have not experienced any problems at all.
Bando stays in the water at all times, and the Frigo unit stays on at all times, except when I go out of town for several days. When I come back I turn it back on, and it immediately starts again.

This unit is an older one, for it was on the boat when I bought her seven years ago. Have had years of great service out of it. I do have a diver that comes once a month to keep the hull clean.

[Bill Michne]

Boyd:

I installed a Frigoboat refrigeration system using the keel cooler option in 2003. I kept it on all the time Mintaka was in the water until last year when I moved to Oriental. Now I only turn it on a day or two before we are going out. So the bronze plate has seen both continuous and intermittent service, all in brackish water. I have had no problems whatever. Last winter I had to remove the keel cooler to do some bottom work. When reinstalled it went right back to working just fine. The keel cooler is a huge thermal advantage over an air cooled system, even when the water is warm as it gets here. It is also much simpler than a pumped water cooled system. As for performance, we have a very large ice box. Beer and soft drinks go on the bottom, fruits and vegetables go above that. Unfrozen meat goes on a shelf immediately below the evaporator unit, and frozen stuff goes inside the evaporator unit. The beer stays cold, the meat doesn't spoil, and the ice cubes are always ready for cocktail hour. We have stayed on the boat for up to 4 weeks at a time, with no problems with the unit. Can't say as much for my engine installation, but that's another story...

[Russell]

I have a Frigoboat installed as well, it came with my boat when I bought it and is at least 5 years old. I liveaboard full time and the unit has been in constant use for the last year with zero problems. I can certainly recommend it, if I bought another boat tommorow and needed to install refridgeration I would certainly go with frigoboat.

[Boyd]

With those glowing reports it looks like time to get out the CC

Thanks for the input.

Boyd
s/v Tern
CD30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

[patturner]

I also installed a frigobaot system in my CD36. I've had it for about 5 years without a hitch. I'm currently down in Mazatlan Mexico with our boat and it does just fine in the warmer waters down here. One note to frigoboat users - when I first installed my system I talked with the distributor about leaving the unit on or off when not using the boat and his suggestion was to always leave it on, even if turn down a few notches. Like diesel engines, these things work best when they're working all the time. Seals can dry out, etc. So you might think about just throwing a six pack in the fridge and leaving it turned on down low when your not on the boat. keeps everything moving.

Also, I've heard that the thermostat on these babies can be a weak link so you might also just pick up a spare to have around - I did.

Pat
________
FORD MOTOR COMPANY SPECIFICATIONS
________
Chevrolet S3X/T2X

[Russell]

I'm currently down in Mazatlan Mexico with our boat .....

Would love to see a post about your trip down the coast!