Do you run your refrigerator all season?

kkalsch

kkalsch

Member
Aug 3, 2010
376
Pine Knoll Shores NC
Boat Info
2016 Sea Hunt Gamefish 27
Engines
Fuel Sipping Yamaha F150's 4 stroke
If your slipped on power do you let the fridge run all season long (on 110 volt power)? or do just run it when using the boat (weekends)
I like to run it all season long -is that bad for it? I am shortening its life span?
 
I run mine all season long, but do try and keep only items that won't spoil if we do lose power.
 
I only turn on the fridge in the cocpit when we are on the boat, since it gets very warm in up there and i find the fridge cycles on constantly. I keep the fridge in the salon on 24/7. I find the freezer in the salon causes alot of condensation, and water accumulation below it, so I try to turn that off, if we wont be back for a week or two.
 
Except during the winter, our fridge is always on. We normally only leave beverages on board.
Boat is two years old and never had a problem with it.
 
I usually only leave mine on when I'm using the boat. I don't like to stay plugged in much when I'm away from the boat because I want to try to avoid electolysis.
Then again, just about everyone on my canal stays plugged in most of the time so I'm probably not doing much to help myself anyway.
 
We leave them on the entire time we are in the water. Mid April to Mid October. We try and keep them relatively filled. Of course the cockpit fridge is the beverage/beer fridge. That HAS to be kept cold AND filled!
 
I let 'em run all season, I never touch them, they run all the time, including on 12 volt away from the dock.
 
For the 5 month season we get here, I have always left the fridge on. I will turn it to 2 when we leave for the week since it wont get opened. We also remove anything that may spoil due to lack of power.
 
I only run mine while I am at the boat. There was an issue once where it was very windy and my shore power came undone. Since my 12v switch for the fridge was on, my fridge kept running and drained my batteries. Not fun when I had to wait awhile for the batteries to recharge to be able to start the engine.
 
24/7/365. We keep some food and drink stuff in the refrig and freezer in the salon so we keep them on. The fridge and freezer on the salon are almost never on because we never use them and they're just a drain on the batteries when we're on the hook.
 
Yes, 6 months a year it is on...

Two fail safes to check your fridge.

1. On the boat I have a 120v clock that is on the coffee pot. If it is flashing when we get back to the boat we know the power was off...

step 2

Take an Ice cube and place it in a Ziploc bag then in your freezer. If you know the power was off and the ice cube has melted then you need to start over with perishables left in your fridge.

Just what I do and no issues as of yet!
 
Pyrojodge said:
Yes, 6 months a year it is on...

Two fail safes to check your fridge.

1. On the boat I have a 120v clock that is on the coffee pot. If it is flashing when we get back to the boat we know the power was off...

step 2

Take an Ice cube and place it in a Ziploc bag then in your freezer. If you know the power was off and the ice cube has melted then you need to start over with perishables left in your fridge.

Just what I do and no issues as of yet!
Click to expand...

We do the exact same thing, in our case we use the microwave clock... Use to do the ice cube one too but just havn't got around to it yet this year.:grin:
 
Since I bought my boat last July, my salon and cockpit fridge have been left on continously. I run the cockpit fridge on 2 and salon on 3 when I am away. When I get to the boat i might turn them both to 3-4 if I load a bunch of stuff.

I keep drinks topside so cold beer has to be on hand at all times, I guess as hot as it gets with full navy canvas that little fridge is working hard and I will end up having to replace it someday. Oh well, the price of cold beer whenever I want may be high, but its a price I must pay.

Power on my dock is included with the slip fee, so it doesn't matter to me if they run all the time.
 
Great idea guys on the ice cube. I'm going to use that. I leave mine on all the time. I'd think you could end up with mildew issues if u turned it off without somehow cracking the doors. Also...my service guy said they were meant to run and leaving it off can do even more damage. The coolant has something in it that helps keep everything sealed tight...gaskets and all. If left off...the gaskets don't get the lubrication.
 
i run mine on all time only winter its not neccesary to use refr. because the outside temp is enough to make drinks cold, but after March i use 7/24 on because its good feeling when you come boat you can find cold Beer at marina my 220v make it work all time , but its a good idea to put ice cube into the ziploc bag because on the boat i run on 1 so the ice melted and spoils in to the refr. maybe this is the reason my rusted refr,

i want to paint it but i dont know how to take off it ?
 
Thank you......on it is! and BTW the ice cube trick is a great idea! I am going to put one in next weekend.......
 
Last edited:
kkalsch said:
Thank you......on it is! and BTW the ice cube trick is a great idea! I am going to put one in next weekend.......
Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah the ice cube trick is simple and doesn't take a lot of space. Plus it gives you piece of mind that you won't get food poisoning.:thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,247
Messages
1,429,264
Members
61,128
Latest member
greenworld
Back
Top