Fridge

[William Ennis]

Hello,

We have a fridge problem that will elicit some smiles, and perhaps some disbelief. We could still use some advice or thoughts.

Our P40 was built in 1984 and the original Adler Barbour Cold Machine II fridge is still working, or was until this morning. It's never failed and we do what can we can to maintain its efforts on our behalf.

It's been running for the past month, switching on and off as directed by the thermostat I awakened this morning to no fridge.

We've done these things:

VDC measured at the main +/- on the control module matches the VDC on our house bank: 13.2VDC.

We've removed and checked every wire and spade connection we can reach, other than the module-to-compressor cable. All were re-tightened after some dielectric gel was smeared on the wire or terminal.

When the breaker is switched on, the fan jerks as if it's "trying" to start, but does not maintain motion. There is a "clicking" in the lower part of the compressor, where the electric motor is. There is an 8A fluctuation that's visible on the amperage meter while the fan and motor try to start, and they seem to coincide.

The fridge is receiving current, so the fuse is good. The large amperage is characteristic of an electric motor that's not producing a back voltage while running.

It may be that the control module, which sequentially sends current to the three field coils, is shot. We spent time on checking for loose wires or wire corrosion since that could also produce a low voltage situation that would show this pattern.

Most of you would simply say, "hey, you've gotten your use out it!", and that's right, but we're in the South Pacific and a fridge is highly valued. A cold beer on a hot day is the least of reasons, but important.

I don't feel that the unit is toast. Refrigeration is not my forte, so I'm not going to break anything open, and I'm sure that this thing has no repairable parts, anyway. Regardless, I've started my search for a replacement for next season,

Does anyone know something that I can test? Something that I might have missed?

Thanks for the help.

Bill
SV Wings
P40 1984








“The climate law is surrender. Nature doesn’t bargain, and you can’t make deals with physics.” Greta Thunberg to EU Committee on Climate Change

[Larry Rovin]

On our '87 P40, the fridge was controlled by the breaker on the panel, which fed current to a solenoid mounted near the compressor that actually controlled current to the fridge. The solenoid malfunctioned. If you have that wiring setup, try bypassing the solenoid.

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[Jim DeLong]

Bill, I also have a P40 built in 1984 and just had a similar problem two-weeks ago which is eerie. My symptoms were not exactly the same, though. The fan would cycle on for about 30-60 seconds and then shut-off. It continued to go through that cycle. The actual unit had three blinking lights. I called the manufacturer who said the problem sounded like the compressor control module. I replaced it and now have cold beer and ice cubes.

Hope that helps a bit.

Good luck.

Jim

SV Anthem