My Adler Barber Cold machine (1983) has a leak where the aluminum tubing
from the evaporator joins the copper tube, which runs back to the
condenser. the existing connection appears to be some type of rubber or
plastic tubing. any way to repair this.

thanks in advance

gordon

Gordon--

My Adler Barbour Cold Machine is (was) about 3 years younger than yours, and
my advice is to replace the whole unit, condenser, evaporator, and all.
Primary reason is the old refrigerant, which is now unavailable, for
environmental reasons. You can retrofit the old units to accept the newer
refrigerants, but at a fairly high cost and only suspect reliability. I'm
in the process of replacing our A/B, and have just about settled on a unit
from Sea Freeze of America. They're $825 complete at Fisheries Supply in
Seattle--about 2/3 the cost of replacing the A/B, and equal in terms of
quality, I'm told. FWIW.

Smooth seas,

Dick Behan
M/V "Annie"


"gordon" wrote in message
...
My Adler Barber Cold machine (1983) has a leak where the aluminum tubing
from the evaporator joins the copper tube, which runs back to the
condenser. the existing connection appears to be some type of rubber or
plastic tubing. any way to repair this.

thanks in advance

gordon

The aluminum evaporators over time will corrode from the inside out or
the outside in. Aluminum evaporator repairs rarely last over a month. I
have tried the special repair materials and solders with no success, so
a replacement is the only answer. The question is do you replace the
evaporator or the complete unit? The exterior skin of these evaporators
is about the same as an aluminum drink can and it resists corrosion
only because they are painted or powder coated. Nicks, scratches or a
poor coating exposes the aluminum to the moist marine environment.
Exterior corrosion is easy to spot because the coating around the
exposed aluminum will blister. Interior corrosion is a result of poor
dehydration during manufacture and lack of filter dryer capacity. There
is a good chance that moisture can enter the system any time it is
serviced in the field. Refrigerant itself will not cause corrosion but
add oxygen from moisture and combine it with oil an acid will be
formed. Interior corrosion shows up on the exterior at first as small
bubble blisters. Interior corrosion will occur on the aluminum transfer
tube welded to the evaporator. The aluminum to copper tube joint two
feet away from the evaporator is another spot where interior corrosion
develops. Separating and repairing the tube joint is almost impossible
because the capillary tube is inside the tube joint.

The first indication that an evaporator has failed is a very slow loss
of refrigerant as the first pin hole opens. If you try to patch one of
these pin holes there will be five more holes next month, the only
repair is a replacement.

Because of the changes made on the new systems like Adler Barbour Cold
Machines, where they changed the tube connections, it is expensive to
adapt them to the older units.
This is what it would take to replace your present evaporator and
return the system to a good operating condition:
1. Buy a new evaporator and have the fittings made compatible $250 plus
labor to modify tube connectors.
2. Install a new filter dryer and maybe a service fitting, connect up
and leak test, use a vacuum pump to dehydrate the system then service
it correctly. $200 to $300 unless you have equipment and know how to do
it yourself.
3. If your system uses Freon 12 the cost to service could add $50 more.

Now after this repair, there is no guarantee that the compressor or its
electrical module is going to last. These systems can last for twenty
years if they have not been opened up but once moist air gets inside
with this kind of a failure, the systems future is questionable.
Another important cost factor is there will be no warranty if things
don't work out.

I see Dick's advice, and raise him as follows:

Buy an economy high efficiency compact mains fridge on sale.
Buy an inverter.
Hook item 2) to item 1) and put the other
$600 in the savings account.
You WILL need it.

Brian Whatcott


On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 13:17:31 -0700, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Gordon--

My Adler Barbour Cold Machine is (was) about 3 years younger than yours, and
my advice is to replace the whole unit, condenser, evaporator, and all.
Primary reason is the old refrigerant, which is now unavailable, for
environmental reasons. You can retrofit the old units to accept the newer
refrigerants, but at a fairly high cost and only suspect reliability. I'm
in the process of replacing our A/B, and have just about settled on a unit
from Sea Freeze of America. They're $825 complete at Fisheries Supply in
Seattle--about 2/3 the cost of replacing the A/B, and equal in terms of
quality, I'm told. FWIW.

Smooth seas,

Dick Behan

"gordon" wrote in message
...
My Adler Barber Cold machine (1983) has a leak where the aluminum tubing
from the evaporator join
M/V "Annie"
s the copper tube, which runs back to the
condenser. the existing connection appears to be some type of rubber or
plastic tubing. any way to repair this.

thanks in advance

gordon

I did exactly the same as you Brian, has been working perfectly for several
years now.
If anything goes wrong just get a replacement from your local fridge
supplier and if the inverter breaks, which I found is unlikely, then get a
new one from your local friendly chandler

Tony uk

"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
...

I see Dick's advice, and raise him as follows:

Buy an economy high efficiency compact mains fridge on sale.
Buy an inverter.
Hook item 2) to item 1) and put the other
$600 in the savings account.
You WILL need it.

Brian Whatcott


On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 13:17:31 -0700, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Gordon--

My Adler Barbour Cold Machine is (was) about 3 years younger than yours,
and
my advice is to replace the whole unit, condenser, evaporator, and all.
Primary reason is the old refrigerant, which is now unavailable, for
environmental reasons. You can retrofit the old units to accept the newer
refrigerants, but at a fairly high cost and only suspect reliability. I'm
in the process of replacing our A/B, and have just about settled on a unit
from Sea Freeze of America. They're $825 complete at Fisheries Supply in
Seattle--about 2/3 the cost of replacing the A/B, and equal in terms of
quality, I'm told. FWIW.

Smooth seas,

Dick Behan

"gordon" wrote in message
...
My Adler Barber Cold machine (1983) has a leak where the aluminum tubing
from the evaporator join
M/V "Annie"
s the copper tube, which runs back to the
condenser. the existing connection appears to be some type of rubber or
plastic tubing. any way to repair this.

thanks in advance

gordon

Thanks for all the info. I'm convinced now that it would not pay to fix
the evaporator. I've been studying the web page at rparts.com, I think I
could replace the evaporator and the pump(with control) . I would keep
the condenser, fan, thermostat, tubing and convert the system to
R-134a. Is this a possibility ???Do I need to flush out what's left in
the system or can I just start using r-134a. The R-12 leaked out about
12 years ago.

When you change from R-12 to R-134a (or any other type), you will
probably need to change the oil in the compressor to a different type
as well. Why not consider holding plates while you are changing things
around? I have two holding plate fridges and one low temp holding
plate freezer. They work well with about 3 hours of generator time per
day. A large inverter with suitable battery recharge capability could
replace the generator time, as could an engine driven compressor which
is even more efficient.

Gordon:

Nope. I wouldn't fuss with trying to resuscitate ANY of your old machinery.
As Wayne notes here, it all gets pretty complicated and you're still stuck
with a condenser that's 20 years old, and VERY likely to fail. And I
diverge from some of the other opinions here about depending on an inverter
to drive a 110v refrigerator. Sure, you can do it, but from what I read and
hear from friends (and have done myself) is either to stick with or switch
to a 12v refrigerator system. I recently removed a noisy smelly old genset
from my boat and installed a 1500 w inverter, which works great--unless you
leave it running for a long time, even with a light load (say a light bulb).
For short bursts--the wife cranking up the blender, or using her hair
curler--the inverter is fine, but batteries were never meant to drive a
110v. fridge. Yes, you can do so with the main engine running--but then you
may as well have the engine-driver condenser. 12v is easier, quieter,
mellower. With all due respect to those who disagree and pile the load on
an inverter: disagreement is what makes horse-racin'!

Cheers,

Dick



"gordon" wrote in message
...

Thanks for all the info. I'm convinced now that it would not pay to fix
the evaporator. I've been studying the web page at rparts.com, I think I
could replace the evaporator and the pump(with control) . I would keep
the condenser, fan, thermostat, tubing and convert the system to R-134a.
Is this a possibility ???Do I need to flush out what's left in the system
or can I just start using r-134a. The R-12 leaked out about 12 years ago.

Many compressors don't last too long when being run from a traditional
modified sinewave inverter. A true sinewave inverter is better but a DC
system is the most versital and efficient.

Doug
s/v Callista

"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
...
Gordon:

Nope. I wouldn't fuss with trying to resuscitate ANY of your old
machinery. As Wayne notes here, it all gets pretty complicated and you're
still stuck with a condenser that's 20 years old, and VERY likely to fail.
And I diverge from some of the other opinions here about depending on an
inverter to drive a 110v refrigerator. Sure, you can do it, but from what
I read and hear from friends (and have done myself) is either to stick
with or switch to a 12v refrigerator system. I recently removed a noisy
smelly old genset from my boat and installed a 1500 w inverter, which
works great--unless you leave it running for a long time, even with a
light load (say a light bulb). For short bursts--the wife cranking up the
blender, or using her hair curler--the inverter is fine, but batteries
were never meant to drive a 110v. fridge. Yes, you can do so with the
main engine running--but then you may as well have the engine-driver
condenser. 12v is easier, quieter, mellower. With all due respect to
those who disagree and pile the load on an inverter: disagreement is what
makes horse-racin'!

Cheers,

Dick



"gordon" wrote in message
...

Thanks for all the info. I'm convinced now that it would not pay to fix
the evaporator. I've been studying the web page at rparts.com, I think I
could replace the evaporator and the pump(with control) . I would keep
the condenser, fan, thermostat, tubing and convert the system to
R-134a. Is this a possibility ???Do I need to flush out what's left in
the system or can I just start using r-134a. The R-12 leaked out about 12
years ago.

"When you change from R-12 to R-134a (or any other type), you will
probably need to change the oil in the compressor to a different type
as well. Why not consider holding plates while you are changing things
around? I have two holding plate fridges and one low temp holding
plate freezer. They work well with about 3 hours of generator time per
day. A large inverter with suitable battery recharge capability could
replace the generator time, as could an engine driven compressor which
is even more efficient. "

Spam Alert:

I have a complete dual (very recent 110VAC and original Techumseh
engine drive) dual (2 of them) cold plate system available after my
refit/rebuild, for only $500. That announcement has appeared here in
the past; if you're interested, drop me a line and I'll send you the
info - but to see it, go to http://tinyurl.com/cqf38 and click on
Refrigeration. You can also see the post in rec.boats.marketplace, of
9-26-05. An hour or less of running the compressor will completely
charge the cold plates; connected to shore power at the dock, the AC
unit takes over and cycles via thermostat.

L8R

Skip, rehabbing the arm so I can refit the boat and cut the cord

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain