This is just to pass on something concerning the wire controling your refrigeration should you have one. My hull # 1056 and I might suspect all MKl's as well and some or all MKll may have a similar situation unless you already caught on and made the change. Perhaps it has been mentioned in a previous thread as there have been many concerning refrigeration. About two years ago I decided that I would replace the original AB system with a new one which has the LED light which blinks to a pattern to tell you what is going wrong should there be a problem. I was sitting in the cockpit and could hear it going on and off frquently and decided to look into the locker to see what was going on. The light was blinking single flash and occasisonall there would be a 2 flash cycle. Single meaning voltage drop and 2 flashes saying compressor could not start. Both patterns indicating that continuous operation would lead to a early demise of the system. I did start the engine and the warning led did stop. That all made sense as my link monitor says my battery bank is about 12.7V without the engine and about 14.4 with it running. I assumed that what I was experiencing was about a 2V drop from the refrige switch to the compresser unit with the original wire.
So I checked the AB installation manual and it indicated that 17' would be the max run for #10 so I got 20' new tin coated stranded duplex #10 to run. Friday evening I was pulling the new wire through while pulling the old wire out and got over by the drawer under the galley where I pulled it out and realized 20' was not long enough.
Well, there are options here such as running #8 and putting in a junction box, but my feeling for the most part is it should be #8 right to the end, but you do have to step it down to a #10 at the end where it enters the AB unit. Long story short it takes 25' of wire to reach from the refrig switch to the compressor in the locker. 25' of #10 wire really is inadequate which I suspect creates many of the issues people have had with the unit. I will tell you it seems to be running perfectly now with the new wire(Duplex #8). I believe I read in Kollmans forum that it should run approx 10 min. and be off about 8 min which when I timed it was pretty close to the mark. The next part is the actuall exchanger should be frosted all the way around and front to back, she was. When running it my link monitor indicated about 4.3 amps draw. My calculation would be 5/6X4.3=3.6 amps/hour draw on the batteries. That seems to be in line with what I have read thus far.
Gary Bain
S/V "Gone With The Wind"
Catalina 36', Hull #: 1056, Year: 1990, Engine: M-35
Standard Rig
Moored: Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Home: Auburn, Maine
The PO put the compressor under the sink so the wire run is short
Bill Miller
S/V Lorraine
Pacific Northwest,Sound Sound
Grapeview,Wa
1990 Mk1
Gary, I have been thinking about this problem. We have seen our compressor start and stop several times in a few seconds but only on the hottest days when it's running more than normal. Not sure what's causing that but I suspected possibly voltage drop. I need to empty out the locker and set up a monitor at the compressor to see what's happening to confirm the voltage though.
In terms of solutions that don't involve going to a lot heavier wire, I was thinking about installing a solenoid at the engine and use that to feed the compressor. I have a manual combiner switch there and I can get the high amp feed from the house bank off that. So in effect, that would split the wiring run in half. My idea is to use the existing 10 gauge wire to the low amp side of the solenoid, and then run a new line from the solenoid to the compressor on the high amp side. There should be little voltage drop from this setup. The downside is it introduces another possible point of failure.
The wiring at the power panel on that set of circuits gets warm when the fridge is under load, something that has always made me think the wiring is undersized for the run length. The 10 gauge wire that's in there is from 1995 and it looks more like a current 12 gauge wire, defnitely does not look as robust as current 10 gauge wire is. For sure these specs have changed over the years, I bought two spools of brand new marine DC wire at a bankruptcy sale for a chandlery, they were dated from the early 90s. I thought they were 12 gauge, I was surprised to see 10 gauge printed on the wiring. Compared to new 10 gauge the conductors are definitely smaller.
Bud, that makes sense as an alternate solution.
If your MKll is setup like the MKl the wire is too....oo long for the load. I did not check any other source for length of run for wire, but feel AB must have some insight with their system. 17' max was the max length for #10 and 27' for #8. I used 25' and that was just about right. I looked for an alternate run but could not find an easy way and decided to just bite the bullet and purchase the #8 wire. Based on the AB LED source code and the way it acted it definitly was a voltage drop and when I found the original wire to be a minimum 25' it indicated to me that some of the issues with refrigeration come with the boat. Perhaps the older AB's performed with this circumstance. My guess though with the number of posts concerning this subject it is an inherant design problem. In my most humble opinion I never heard it run so well as it did Sat afternoon after I completed the wire exchange. Now if I can decrease the demand some by lid improvements, which I'm working on, I'll be a "Lucky Duck"!
Gary Bain
S/V "Gone With The Wind"
Catalina 36', Hull #: 1056, Year: 1990, Engine: M-35
Standard Rig
Moored: Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Home: Auburn, Maine
We had much the same issues, I haven't replaced the OEM wiring, yet:
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Stu Jackson 07-03-2013 11:41 am
"Y" Electrical Connectors What's been your experience with these connectors? I paralleled the power wires to our refrigeration unit and still have experienced low voltage at the compressor/electronic module when on battery only power (works fine when plugged in or the alternator running).
Benny17441 07-03-2013 01:08 pm
Re: "Y" Electrical Connectors How new or old is the refrigeration unit? With a multimeter check the voltage reaching the unit. If it is within the input range indicated by the manufacturer specs then it could likely be a tired compressor that seems to work well when it gets the extra voltage kick from the charger or alternator. If the voltage reaching the unit is low then the problem will be in the wiring either from excesive resistance or a small power drain. Don't forget the wiring to "ground". If it is a case of power drop in the wiring I would suggest re-wiring the circuit as opposed to try and enhance the existing.
mitiempo 07-04-2013 12:38 am
1 Attachment(s)StuWhich connectors do you mean? These?
Maine Sail 07-04-2013 05:04 am
#1 I really dislike the three-way connectors as the grommet or rivet used often tends to get loose over time.#2 I dislike running additional parallel wires even more. They do not always work the way you would expect them to. Both wires will have different resistances due to corrosion, terminations etc.. Any wire that deserves being bigger to correct for voltage drop also deserve a new run with the proper sized wire and properly installed terminals.#3 Check the running voltage at the compressor end then check the battery voltage at the battery terminals. Are they the same? How much difference?#4 Under load put the + of the meter at one end of the wire and the - at the other end. Do you see a reading? How much?#5 Does this compressor go straight to the battery or through a DC panel relying on all those additional connections?#6 How old are the batteries? What is the voltage under a 10A +/- load for 2-3 hours, the next morning etc. etc.. Has the voltage always been this low or are the batteries aging?
Stu Jackson 07-04-2013 09:12 am
Re: "Y" Electrical Connectors Thanks to you both, will check it out. Brian, yup.
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)