We have Austrian Fans!

The fridge on a boat is always a torment one way or the other. In the first place they are by far and away the biggest consumers of power and seeing as The Bloke is a paid up member of the ‘Power Police’, he is always on the case and monitoring. I am far less attentive and and chiefly interested in the lettuce not freezing or the ice cubes failing to set for my G&T for sundowners.

Over our years afloat multiple modifications have been made for the refrigeration to work optimally. The cable run across the boat was replaced with thicker wire to reduce resistance  and consequent loss of amps between the battery and the fridge. Connectors were similarly beefed up. The original thermostat was replaced with a digital one and the display and controller installed in a visible and accessible location. The Power Policeman was well pleased. Well, until recently.

Having embarked on the project to finally extract ourselves from the Gold Coast/Moreton Bay area after 7 months of “stuff that happens", it was an annoyance to discover the fridge playing up. Why now? Zofia had been months tied up against a jetty in marinas. Getting a tradesman and spare parts etc would be more difficult with each nautical mile we sailed northward. The fridge had just been stocked up too. 

Attuned to all the noises that are ‘usual’, The Bloke notices when the fridge compressor kicks in and for how long it hums. He notices it even more at night during periods of wakefulness created by his ‘cure’. Even I noticed that the temperature numbers on the display weren’t coming down and the compressor was not going off! 

Investigation in the recess that houses the fridge ‘workings’,  accessed from under the galley sink (read contortion rewarded by limited access) indicated that the cooling fan was not running consistently. Dusting with a pipe cleaner made no significant impact nor spraying with compressed air. 

By this time we were anchored off Bongaree, a new anchorage for us, at the bottom of Bribie Island - Pumicestone Passage.  We needed a sheltered spot to wait for good weather - the right weather, to sail overnight to Double Island Point ahead of a Wide Bay Bar crossing. 

It proved a really good location to shelter from inclement weather.  Fortunately we had easy shore access and access to Post Office and shops too. An overnight internet search and an overnight Express Post package was to deliver salvation.

The Bloke decided to order 2 computer fans. His research pointed to fans that were more powerful and used less amps than a conventional Danfos refrigerator fan. These fans ticked ALL the boxes, they were in stock in Brisbane and with Bribie Island being inside the Limits of the Greater Brisbane/Moreton Bay Area, there was every possibility that delivery would indeed be overnight and not some Covid-Variation-to -service!

The fans are beauties. Even their packaging is almost ‘Apple’ quality! They had a magical impact on the existing fridge fan because it began ‘behaving’ again as the threat of replacement was a near possibility. So for now, The Bloke has installed one of the fans as a supplementary one and the fridge is now behaving very well. No frozen lettuce. Plenty of ice for drinkies. And that is why we have Austrian fans. Two of them!