Fridge Optimizer

[FlyWright]

Thanks for that review, Scott! I'm glad to hear it's working well for you. Sounds like you'd buy one again, if needed.

 

[FF]

You might consider inspecting the door seals.

 

[SCOTTEDAVIS]

You might consider inspecting the door seals.

LOL!

You crack me up!?

 

[FF]

"LOL!"

With the reefer closed the only way added humidity can enter the box is keeping the door open far too long while contemplating the contents or a leaky door seal that will allow warm moisture laden air to enter 24/7.

The usual simple test is to close the door seal on a dollar bill and see how easily it pulls out. The entire gasket needs to be checked.

 

[ktdtx]

A relevant writeup on another Blog:


Improving the Boat Fridge: Fridge Optimizer – Slowboat

 

[FF]

"When the boat is sitting in its slip unattended (and unheated), the compressor sometimes runs less than an hour a day. Christmas Day, with five people aboard and lots of trips into the refrigerator, it ran nearly continuously, gobbling up more than 140 amp hours in a 24 hour period."


The key use here is probably folks sticking warm liquid refills or other stuff into the box.

 

[SCOTTEDAVIS]

"LOL!"

With the reefer closed the only way added humidity can enter the box is keeping the door open far too long while contemplating the contents or a leaky door seal that will allow warm moisture laden air to enter 24/7.

The usual simple test is to close the door seal on a dollar bill and see how easily it pulls out. The entire gasket needs to be checked.

Thank you FF, but I know about the dollar bill trick and how moist air enters a fridge, my guess is most here do as well.

My unit is less then 2 years old and so seals are good.

Sometimes new technologies do work and work well.

 

[FF]

"My unit is less then 2 years old and so seals are good."


Age is never a guarantee of anything , if you did test the seals , that works.

 

[OldDan1943]

My NovaKool crapped out. Happens when I put food in it. Plate gets warm everything melts. Replace the seals had the tech out to visit me, it started working again so I watched if for a few days. It behaved properly until I put 1/2 doz eggs and some bacon in it. Then it crapped out again. SMIRK
Guess I should have never put food into it.

 

[FF]

Sounds like there might be some water in the refrigerant (a drop will do) and when the plate defrosts and needs to be cooled the drop of water freezes and plugs the pinhole or TX valve.


An inline dryer should help ..

 

[OldDan1943]

Sounds like there might be some water in the refrigerant (a drop will do) and when the plate defrosts and needs to be cooled the drop of water freezes and plugs the pinhole or TX valve.


An inline dryer should help ..

My thinking is, the NovaKool is 11 years old, the cost of labor and parts just might get real close to the price of a new fridge. They move the coils from the back to under the fridge too.

 

[Aquabelle]

The RV folks have battery powered units that operate quite a while on a couple of C cells.

About $15 or so, Seconds to install.

Shop for refrigerator battery power... on Google

Valterra Fridgecool ...
$12.10
Google Trusted StoreRV Auto P...
http://www.googleadservices.com/pag...gle&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=partsfeed_ppc
Deluxe Fridge Cool Fan ‑ ...
$12.55
Adventure RV...



http://www.googleadservices.com/pag...767f8789ac9&product_partition_id=156436178700
Camco Performance ...
$14.78
Jet.com

​

Valterra A10‑2606 ...
$16.49
eBay

​

Fridge Airator
$15.39
CampingWo

I tried the battery powered Valterra....made not a jot of difference to my Vitrifrigo. I plan to install the Optimizer when I get a chance.

 

[rsn48]

Those cheap battery fans have been around for literally decades, they were aggressively advertised in the RV industry. I've owned two and they just don't do a whole lot and the batteries wear down quickly because they are in the cold.

But lets say for the sake of the argument, these little fans did work and you are use alkaline batteries, not the old crappy ones. Over a few years, the price paid out for batteries will add up. I bought a dog light for my dog's collar for walking at night and visibility. The light cost $9, the batteries cost $9 as they weren't the standard batteries usually used. After the third replacement, I realized this little $9 light was going to cost a lot over a couple of years use. Bought a $12 rechargeable back bicycle light, and it is like the little ever ready bunny, it keeps going and going.

What I"m wondering is at what size NovaKool does the investment make sense. I have a smaller frig and a separate NovaKool freezer in another area of the boat. I did have a whole chicken freeze from the inside in the fridge which I didn't know about until I believed it had finished on the barbecue only to discover the pink inside from not cooking properly due to the freezing.

 

[Comodave]

I have had good success with our battery powered fan. It taks a D cell battery I think, maybe a C. It does move the air around enough so that the food gets evenly cooled. One battery lasts all summer for us but we only run it when we are using the fridge.

 

[FF]

"What I"m wondering is at what size NovaKool does the investment make sense."

Modern intelligent , inverter speed controlled DC fridges make sense for folks that love the anchor more than the power hose at the marina.

The units that vent directly into the cabin are probably kinder on the house batts than units that require a fan and a passage for cooling air.

Every fridge that has the space will be more efficient with more insulation.

Does that help?

 

[OldDan1943]

The one that fits into the existing hole.
The new NavaKool 6000 series have moved the coils from the back to under the freezer, venting into the room.
I understand the 9000 series is about the same size but, I do not know the difference.