Steve
Guru
When leaving the boat idle but on shore power for a couple of weeks or more is it better to turn the fridge off or leave it running, or does it matter? Ours is a VitriFrigo about 3 years old if that makes any difference.
Thanks
Thanks
Refrigerator, leave on or off?
- Thread starter Steve
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psneeld
Guru
Rumour has it, leave it running....but have never seen a scientific comparison to yes or no.
Basic experience says some thing run lightly but continously keep seals and such in better shape than not running them.
But where does general wear and tear catch up.
Me, I roll the dice on leave it running as many household fridges have lasted several decades non stop.
Basic experience says some thing run lightly but continously keep seals and such in better shape than not running them.
But where does general wear and tear catch up.
Me, I roll the dice on leave it running as many household fridges have lasted several decades non stop.
O C Diver
Guru
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Lots of anecdotal evidence both ways. If anything were to be effected, it would be the compressor. Most of the refrigerator failure threads don't seem to be about the compressor going bad. I tend to turn mine off only because of the crappy freezer door seal on my Norcold turns my freezer into a snow maker. If not for that, I would leave it on.
Ted
Ted
psneeld
Guru
I love throwing that big chunk of ice off the bottom of the freezer in the water every couple of weeks.
I always think the local fish think it's the start of a new ice age.....
markpierce
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I keep the refrigerator on while the boat is idle at the home dock as I boat one to three times a month and appreciate cold drinks. When the inverter is on the fritz, it is off with the door open.
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Quite so. I had this exact discussion with a marine fridge tech just recently, as we have a Danfoss compressor driven 12v fridge, with a good reputation, a conversion Waeco pack I used myself to adapt a previously eutectic, but very well-built fridge to 12v. We used to leave it on for the 'seals and stuff', and to keep some drinks cold for when I worked on it, and to have an already cold fridge to load when we were going out. However, we sometimes did not go out for some quite long periods, and recently because it was on the market, and some damned boat tyre kicker left the door ajar, (un-noticed by the broker showing them over), it was running continuously for up to 2 weeks before I discovered it, and it went from working perfectly to no gas during that time.
The fridge tech found the prolonged heat & vibrations had cracked a solder joint on a pipe near the compressor, which has fortunately been able to be re-soldered, and now it works fine again. When I put this same question the OP raised to him, he said if (like Mark, and no doubt many others), you go out regularly, then leave it on, because it takes time to drag the temp down, and leaving stuff in it, and the door not being opened all the time, the run time is much reduced. However, he also said if it sits for quite long periods unused, then best turned off. I hope that helps.
