Hello,
I recently bought a 6 year old cruiser which has a Isotherm CR65 installed topside (there is a larger fridge in the cabin). I connected shore power the other day and turned on both fridge's. The one in the cabin cooled to around 40degrees, but the CR65 only went down to about 55degrees. The CR65 is getting power (both AC and DC), the compressor is on, the fan is on, the evaporator is cold to the touch (so refrigerant is getting to it). I pulled the fridge and found it was sitting in a hard plastic enclosure that surrounded it. The box was warm to the touch near the compressor so I am thinking it is not getting adequate air flow across the coils. To test that theory I left the fridge on the deck and powered on, if it cools to 40 degrees or so by tomorrow then I am confident it is a airflow issue.
The question I have is, why would there be a hard plastic enclusre surrounding the fridge and why would there be no air holes near the compressor? Any guesses? The AC/DC wiring runs out through a hole in the box so I am guessing it came that way from the boat manufacture (Larson). I was initially thinking it could have been installed to protect the fridge from the weather but the entire enclosure/fridge slides into a opening in the hull (there is a sink above the fridge). Any reason why I shouldn't either remove the box completely or cut the back of it off?
Thanks
Tim
I recently bought a 6 year old cruiser which has a Isotherm CR65 installed topside (there is a larger fridge in the cabin). I connected shore power the other day and turned on both fridge's. The one in the cabin cooled to around 40degrees, but the CR65 only went down to about 55degrees. The CR65 is getting power (both AC and DC), the compressor is on, the fan is on, the evaporator is cold to the touch (so refrigerant is getting to it). I pulled the fridge and found it was sitting in a hard plastic enclosure that surrounded it. The box was warm to the touch near the compressor so I am thinking it is not getting adequate air flow across the coils. To test that theory I left the fridge on the deck and powered on, if it cools to 40 degrees or so by tomorrow then I am confident it is a airflow issue.
The question I have is, why would there be a hard plastic enclusre surrounding the fridge and why would there be no air holes near the compressor? Any guesses? The AC/DC wiring runs out through a hole in the box so I am guessing it came that way from the boat manufacture (Larson). I was initially thinking it could have been installed to protect the fridge from the weather but the entire enclosure/fridge slides into a opening in the hull (there is a sink above the fridge). Any reason why I shouldn't either remove the box completely or cut the back of it off?
Thanks
Tim