Dave Newell Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Maggy, our fridge is right at the foot of our bed and for the first few nights of use it did disturb me slightly. I've got used to it now and can sleep through it. It starts with a click and when running there is a slight hum.Ours is an IndelB not a Waeco but they are much the same in terms of technology. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 maggyd - 2013-03-04 10:15 PM The only worry I do have is! if they are noisy as I have heard somewhere else IT WILL BE GETTING SWITCHED OFF OVERNIGHT. Wont bother O.H as he has hearing aids that can be switched off but me I hear everything. >:-) :-S Hi Maggy; I would just repeat my comment on the 12v fridge thread. We switch off our charger overnight to avoid a double whammy of charger AND compressor kicking in. It works for us, alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Not seeing much evidence to support the assumed conjecture that heating has to be left on overnight to stop a compressor fridge with freezer compartment working effectively. As mentioned, we've never encountered any problems in real-world scenarios, and - judging by the lack of this ever being an issue in the history of the world ever (until now) - neither have any of the thousands of other users. It seems the Swiftie owner / owners may just have managed to induce some fringe performance in extreme and rarely encountered real-world circumstances. Probably much rarer circumstances than running out of gas in the middle of the night! As before, interesting to know, nice to be aware, but almost certainly hardly ever going to affect anyone going about their business of using a 'van to live, cook and sleep in. Incidentally, I think absorption fridges are smashing things but they are more complex and arguably more prone to failure - and the tick-tick-tick of the gas igniter used to wake me up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Dave Newell - 2013-03-04 8:19 PM Wrong Dave Mel, if you'd read Clive's post closely you'd havee seen he said "dave's" van was a transit, mine is an Iveco and I've not had a power problem I couldn't resolve myself. D. You mean, Clive has more than one mate called Dave!!!!! 8-) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Dave Newell - 2013-03-05 7:01 AM Maggy, our fridge is right at the foot of our bed and for the first few nights of use it did disturb me slightly. I've got used to it now and can sleep through it. It starts with a click and when running there is a slight hum.Ours is an IndelB not a Waeco but they are much the same in terms of technology. D. Yes Dave I know you soon get used to things :-D people were puzzled that in my youth I lived very near ICI and I didn't hear the noise it made , I had grown up with it and didnt notice it when I got married and moved away (lol) I couldn't sleep because it was too quiet!! :-D Im sure I will get used to it and as Alan has said dont run the charger at the same time. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 crinklystarfish - 2013-03-05 10:04 AM Incidentally, I think absorption fridges are smashing things but they are more complex and arguably more prone to failure - and the tick-tick-tick of the gas igniter used to wake me up... I'm sure they are very effective, and I'd certainly expect that a LARGE 3-way fridge would be less sleep disrupting than an equivalent compresor type. alan b P.S.(another advantage of a compressor fridge is it means one less source of CO) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_C Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 After reading this I thought I'd check our Waeco compressor fridge. It's been around 8C in the van today and with the fridge stat set on 3 (the usual setting) the freezer compartment is making ice nicely, and is just as cold as usual. So a low ambient temperature doesn't seem to have much, if any, effect on our fridge, which is a Waeco MDC-110 Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 So reading through all the threads it looks as if there is nothing wrong with the Waeco CR80 fridge which by the way has only a small ice box I wouldnt be using ours for anything other than keeping liquids cold and the odd frozen meal from melting!! Maybe THERE IS a fault with this mans particular fridge!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 8, 2013 Author Share Posted November 8, 2013 I've resurrected this thread to let others know that one chap on the Swift-talk forum has had a go at improving the working and noise of his Waeco fridge: Firstly I have to say that the work I have carried out will no doubt invalidate the remainder of the warranty of the fridge, but I can tell you that it is worth it for us! Also, for those of you with much more technical knowledge of refrigeration equipment than me - be gentle! There seems to be three principal issues with the Waeco CVR-80 12 volt compressor fridge: Noise of the unit when running High power consumption When ambient temperature gets low, fridge cuts out (I don't think we've noticed this) We all must understand the motivation of Swift behind not fitting a 3-way fridge to a PVC, and as owners we do benefit from cleaner lines to the outside off the vehicle and increased fridge storage capacity due to the design, but this particular model does cause us problems in an otherwise excellent van. We have been switching it off at night because of the noise, and freezing gel blocks during the day to keep the temperature right overnight, hence we can't use the freezer compartment for storing frozen products. We have looked at fitting a 3-way fridge in the van, but the cost is prohibitive (£1,000). I dealt with the first problem today, and am delighted with the improvement. There is much talk elsewhere on the subject of 'tropical' fridges, but with this particular model, designed to operate between +16 to +42 deg C, the design engineers have incorporated a 120mm fan to operate whenever the fridge is switched on. It is a 'low tech' fan made by Yate Loon, model D12BM-12. The job of this fan is to keep the evaporating grid cool when the ambient temperature is high, but it is not fitted with a thermostat or rheostat so runs at full speed whenever the fridge compressor is running. I ran the fridge for 6 hours with the fan disconnected last week (ambient temperature increased with heaters to +28 deg C) and the fridge ran perfectly. The freezer compartment was down to -21 deg C and the fridge +3 deg C within 20 minutes, and the evaporator was barely warm. I did consider fitting a thermostat and leaving the existing fan, but not sure about the 'cut-in' temperature decided to replace the fan with a quieter version. The technical information on the existing fan is: Rotation speed 1700 rpm Airflow 72 CFM Acoustical noise 34 dB I wanted to find a much quieter fan, and did not mind sacrificing a little in airflow or fan speed to get it as we don't plan to venture outside the UK for a while, and the temperatures here in the summer rarely exceed +28 deg C. In the end, after much research I fitted a Nanoxia Deep Silence Ultra Quiet 120mm fan (eBay £11) which has the following specification: Rotation speed 1300 rpm Airflow 60 CFM Acoustical noise 14 dB It was easy to remove the existing fan with just two fixing screws - I cut the wires and connected the new fan using crimped and soldered connectors leaving the original cables with spade connectors intact, fitted the new fan in exactly the same way, so a very easy fix. Success! You cannot hear the fan running, and as I knew already the compressor generates very little noise. Once refitted back into the aperture the fridge is almost inaudible - you have to strain to hear it running. It has been running now for 6 hours with the ambient temperature inside and outside the van increased artificially to +28 deg C again, and it works perfectly. Currently -22 deg C in the freezer and +2 deg C in the fridge. As far as the high energy consumption is concerned, we fitted an extra 100 Ah leisure battery some time ago, and a 100 watt solar panel more recently. Changing the fan has not altered the amps drawn by the fridge - still about 3.1 Ah when running. We have found that, after initially running the fridge down to temperature, we can leave the control knob at about 3 or 4 to achieve the desired temperature. Obviously the compressor will run for longer when it is warm, and when the door is opened often such as tea time, but we find that we can manage about four days 'off grid' before needing a charge, but by that time we usually need water and to empty the cassette, so we live with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 The explanation for what is happening is very simple. With a fridge freezer the temperature is controlled by a single thermostat that controls the fridge temperature and obviously s single chiller unit. If the external temperature is so low that the fridge does not turn the stat on the freezer will also be off. There are a few almost professional fridge freezers with separate thermostats and chiller units but they are very expensive and also very large. At home we have a Miele fridge in the kitchen and a large chest freezer of the same make in my largely unseated workshop which works just fine no matter how low the temperature drops in there. Units that electric only will suffer from this problem. Those that can run on gas or electric will suffer if run on electric but not if run on gas as the thermostat is not used when running on gas. I have a feeling that the same holds true when running on 12 volt whilst traveling but mime not sure of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Colin Leake - 2013-11-09 4:25 PM Units that electric only will suffer from this problem. Those that can run on gas or electric will suffer if run on electric but not if run on gas as the thermostat is not used when running on gas. I have a feeling that the same holds true when running on 12 volt whilst travelling but mime not sure of that. I think you will find most of the modern fridges have thermostats on on all three power sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 You may be correct but bear in mind his unit is quite old. Is suppose the best option to be sure is to as the manufacturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 I missed this first time round, 4 weeks after mel first posted we arrived home to find the fridge in 'old house' had defrosted due to low temperatures, whilst we where away in the van with a fully functioning 3 way fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Mel B - 2013-11-08 11:21 PM I've resurrected this thread to let others know that one chap on the Swift-talk forum has had a go at improving the working and noise of his Waeco fridge: Firstly I have to say that the work I have carried out will no doubt invalidate the remainder of the warranty of the fridge, but I can tell you that it is worth it for us! Also, for those of you with much more technical knowledge of refrigeration equipment than me - be gentle! There seems to be three principal issues with the Waeco CVR-80 12 volt compressor fridge: Noise of the unit when running High power consumption When ambient temperature gets low, fridge cuts out (I don't think we've noticed this) We all must understand the motivation of Swift behind not fitting a 3-way fridge to a PVC, and as owners we do benefit from cleaner lines to the outside off the vehicle and increased fridge storage capacity due to the design, but this particular model does cause us problems in an otherwise excellent van. We have been switching it off at night because of the noise, and freezing gel blocks during the day to keep the temperature right overnight, hence we can't use the freezer compartment for storing frozen products. We have looked at fitting a 3-way fridge in the van, but the cost is prohibitive (£1,000). I dealt with the first problem today, and am delighted with the improvement. There is much talk elsewhere on the subject of 'tropical' fridges, but with this particular model, designed to operate between +16 to +42 deg C, the design engineers have incorporated a 120mm fan to operate whenever the fridge is switched on. It is a 'low tech' fan made by Yate Loon, model D12BM-12. The job of this fan is to keep the evaporating grid cool when the ambient temperature is high, but it is not fitted with a thermostat or rheostat so runs at full speed whenever the fridge compressor is running. I ran the fridge for 6 hours with the fan disconnected last week (ambient temperature increased with heaters to +28 deg C) and the fridge ran perfectly. The freezer compartment was down to -21 deg C and the fridge +3 deg C within 20 minutes, and the evaporator was barely warm. I did consider fitting a thermostat and leaving the existing fan, but not sure about the 'cut-in' temperature decided to replace the fan with a quieter version. The technical information on the existing fan is: Rotation speed 1700 rpm Airflow 72 CFM Acoustical noise 34 dB I wanted to find a much quieter fan, and did not mind sacrificing a little in airflow or fan speed to get it as we don't plan to venture outside the UK for a while, and the temperatures here in the summer rarely exceed +28 deg C. In the end, after much research I fitted a Nanoxia Deep Silence Ultra Quiet 120mm fan (eBay £11) which has the following specification: Rotation speed 1300 rpm Airflow 60 CFM Acoustical noise 14 dB It was easy to remove the existing fan with just two fixing screws - I cut the wires and connected the new fan using crimped and soldered connectors leaving the original cables with spade connectors intact, fitted the new fan in exactly the same way, so a very easy fix. Success! You cannot hear the fan running, and as I knew already the compressor generates very little noise. Once refitted back into the aperture the fridge is almost inaudible - you have to strain to hear it running. It has been running now for 6 hours with the ambient temperature inside and outside the van increased artificially to +28 deg C again, and it works perfectly. Currently -22 deg C in the freezer and +2 deg C in the fridge. As far as the high energy consumption is concerned, we fitted an extra 100 Ah leisure battery some time ago, and a 100 watt solar panel more recently. Changing the fan has not altered the amps drawn by the fridge - still about 3.1 Ah when running. We have found that, after initially running the fridge down to temperature, we can leave the control knob at about 3 or 4 to achieve the desired temperature. Obviously the compressor will run for longer when it is warm, and when the door is opened often such as tea time, but we find that we can manage about four days 'off grid' before needing a charge, but by that time we usually need water and to empty the cassette, so we live with it! We would be interested to know Dave Newels thoughts on this before attempting the change? But I can say after using our van all summer it hasn't been much of a problem for me as I soon got used to the compressor starting up, but if it can be made to be almost silent it could be worth doing. The fridge itself Im very pleased with especially when parking up for longish periods I don't have to mess about with holding controls in to light gas, its just a case of pressing the button on the control panel. Why they put our fridge in is the simple fact that it is above the wardrobe and having a gas line through there along with the Sargent controls at the back of the wardrobe would be very hazardous! All in all were Very Happy bunnies :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Hi Magie, the described mod is pretty basic and if it works for the person who did itt then great. Will it work for you with your fridge? I really don't know, I don't know what make of fridge you have or how noisy it is so I can not honestly comment on whether this mod would work for you, sorry. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Hi Dave it is the same as above, our thoughts are if the manufacturer fitted that fan you would think its what's needed. We would consider fitting a quieter compatible motor if it ever becomes a problem. thanks maggy :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.