Vision 42 Fridge

[Club 56]

Have the Isotherm system on our V42. 2013.
Problems with the original system which was replaced under warranty by Australian agent, Ensign.
The replacement, which was a complete new compressor and inside fridge unit has now been re-gassed twice, most recently October last year. Now in the middle of our Australian summer we are having the same issues.

Our fridge guy detects a leak in the fridge unit. Jury is out on the leak.
Has anyone had problems with the Isotherm unit? Assume Bavaria put this in most of their models.

Cheers
Club 56

[Yngmar]

Fridge leaks are usually down to poor installation, not manufacturing defects. Slow leaks like that can be very hard to find, you need a good refrigeration engineer with boat experience that will pressurize the system and look for all the leaks (could take hours). It could be that a pipe was bent too sharply during installation or routed through a bulkhead without chafe protection (check those spots).

If you find a suspect location, verify it with soapy water while the compressor runs - if there's bubbles, it is leaking. Also as boat fridges often have quick-connect couplings there can be problems with those leaking - again, soapy water will tell (if there's any refrigerant left in the system to pressurize it). Either way, the leak needs to be found and fixed before regassing again.

[Salty]

I don't know which make of refrigeration compressor I have, but Yngmar is right about the chafe protection being needed. The coolant line on my boat had been routed through a bulkhead and it chafed resulting in a microscopic hole. The whole unit was taken out and delivered to a firm of refrigeration engineers, and some £200 later the leak had been found, soldered up and regassed ready for putting back in place. That was getting on for three years ago, and up to now and thanks to the chafe protection now in place it remains ready and useable. (It's too dam cold over here at the moment to need the fridge, and that's despite the fact that it's a clear, cloudless and sunny day !!).

[ITIL MAN]

My top loading fridge has been a nightmare trying to find why it wasn’t cooling.  Had engineers out to check and re-gas and within a couple of weeks back to same problem, not cooling.

Eventually I asked a commercial engineer to come and remove the  self sealing quick couplings fittings and braze them together instead.  After being re-gassed this time it seems to have fixed it.  Doing a google search these couplings seem to appear frequently for leaking but certainly worked for me.

[Craig]

Club 56,

I'm surprised they replaced the compressor and fridge unit at the same time. This shows that the cause of the leak was not identified, and that the comments by ITIL Man and Salty probably relate to your situation.

I've met a number of Bavaria owners that have problems with the thermostat, but actual leaks, in my experience seem to be rare. The fridge in my 2010 Bav 38 now has a thermostat problem where the fridge is always on.

Craig
"Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia

[Impavidus]

My top loading fridge has been a nightmare trying to find why it wasn’t cooling.  Had engineers out to check and re-gas and within a couple of weeks back to same problem, not cooling.

Eventually I asked a commercial engineer to come and remove the  self sealing quick couplings fittings and braze them together instead.  After being re-gassed this time it seems to have fixed it.  Doing a google search these couplings seem to appear frequently for leaking but certainly worked for me.

Bin the self sealing fittings they dont self seal! Just google them...............Once set up correctly the gas should never get out or need re filling. The thermostats are normally pretty poor on Bavaria's and need replacing after a few years at a cost of £3.50 from ebay. Not heard of a compressor failure, Yet.......  I have my Grandmar's Kelvenator fridge in the garage. It was built up to a spec not down to a price for mass production. Its still works fine and keeps the bait and dog food frozen in the freezer compartment and cool in the fridge. It has a piston compressor not a diaphragm and all brazed joints. Since 1952 it has chugged away.

If Kelvenator could do it then why cant Bavaria do it now? Ans;= cost, it only has to last a year before its your problem! 

 

Ant