installing refer compressor shelf,, keel cooler ground etc. - 2011

   November 2011 Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

Ground wire to Frigoboat keel cooler.

Friday we worked most of the day finishing up loose ends.

 We have not connected the trouble shooting light yet which goes on “D” and the fan +.

 To determine if the unit is AEO the numbers should be 101 N0300

 We had to install the ground wire to the keel cooler. Maybe not, the refer would probably run without it but do it right so we got a 18’ 18 awg wire at Marine Exchange and had them put some ends on it for times sake.

Debbie connected the keel cooler ground wire to the engine ground wire at the shunt. 

Then Debbie connected the keel cooler ground wire to the keel cooler. Kind of a pain as it is a small connection at the bottom of the hull. Plus running the 18’ wire is always a fun task but Debbie got it run through all the spaces with no knots.

Debbie mounted the shelf for the Frigoboat unit. 

She had to drill some holes and the get the screws into place.

We then installed the feet on the Frigoboat compressor and then installed the compressor into the shelf.

 Then we placed the shelf where we thought is would best go and installed it. We did that or Debbie did that three times before we finally decide on the best spot. The hard part was trying to keep room for the propane locker. The keel cooler line is 5’ and although it seemed plenty that 5’ goes fast and did not go where we thought it would. 

Debbie at home in the lazzeretti 😍.

Once the Frigoboat compressor was in place we could connect the keel cooler and the evaporator flat plate. A scary task as a kink in any tubing meant a huge problem. 

Debbie is holding the light.

Out of all the tools we have we did not have the right size wrenches!

Thankfully Frigoboat made connecting the connections as brainless as can be. With that all done and a sigh of relief for this scary part we moved on to wiring the rest up. 

Controller wiring

 Wiring up battery to controller.

We then connected the battery wires top the controller with the 15 amp fuse.

Debbie filled the pass through hole (PVC pipe) with Dow Blew board insulation.

 Then she used the FDA approved silicone on the inside of the refer to seal it up. On the outside in the lazzeretti she used marine silicone.

 We connected the freezer thermostat wires we had made up to the compressor (AEO control box) and placed the 2 amp fuse in the T fuse block.

 It was now getting time to fire it up!
 The compressor fired up!
 This was a very happy moment for us.

 We watched the temperature of the freezer drop rather rapidly. We then turned on the refer thermostat by inserting the fuse. The fan started up and it slowly went down to temperature. It took a couple hours for this.

 The inside top of the lids and the rubber seals for the lids have not been installed yet at this point. The freezer lids got real cold and they developed condensation on the top. The freezer did hold temperature though.

 We decide the system was going to work fine but we needed to finish off the tops. At least get some insulation on the freezer side of the tops and the seals in.

 We noticed the system was running off the batteries. We did this by watching the solar controller. We decide the controller was not plugged in properly and so removed the fuse from the controller to house batteries and the plugged the controller in again. This time it fired off using the 110 volt shore power!

 Now we decide to just leave the fuse out until we get things straighten out with the refer.

 We reluctantly turned it off.