Inverter for icemaker
On our boat we have a genset, which is fine for the few things we need
occasional AC for (coffee pot, toaster, microwave). It's no big deal to run
it for a while when one of those items is used. But our U-Line icemaker is
also AC, and that poses a different issue. If we're cruising for a while,
it's not making/cooling ice and we don't want to just run the genset for a few
hours after cruising just to handle ice. We can move the already made ice to
the Novakool freezer (12V), but if we want to not run the genset for a couple
days, we're out of luck.
So I was wondering about installing a small inverter dedicated to the
icemaker. I don't have the manual for the icemaker handy, but the U-Line
website says "uses less electicity than a 75 watt lightbulb". I realize that
this is marketing, and it may mean "on average", so it's using 400 watts for
10 minutes/hour and nothing for the other 50. But would something like a 400W
or 700W inverter, available for $100 or less, be feasible for running the
icemaker? Is this too simple a solution?
--Terry
Silver Satin
41' President
Anacortes, WA
Terry, you don't mention if you already have an existing inverter, to power
other 110 VAC appliances without using the genset or shorepower. If so,
just add the ice-maker to the inverter output and you're in business. If
you don't have an existing inverter, I'd recommend you buy one large enough
to power all the things you'd like to run without shorepower and the genset.
You already mentioned coffee pot, toaster, microwave and to that list I'd
add the ice-maker.
I modified the wiring in our boat, with its ancient Trace U2512SB
inverter/charger to power all 110 VAC outlets in the boat (remember you
don't need to plug anything into them), the microwave, the ice-maker and a
computer. The housebank of six-volt golf-cart batteries is modest by "list"
standards, 880 amp hours, but it does the job for a couple of days without
resorting to shorepower or the genset.
Bob Peterson
47' Lien Hwa CMY
"Lopaka Nane"
San Francisco
-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Terry Sutton
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 11:51 AM
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Subject: T&T: Inverter for icemaker
On our boat we have a genset, which is fine for the few things we need
occasional AC for (coffee pot, toaster, microwave). It's no big deal to run
it for a while when one of those items is used. But our U-Line icemaker is
also AC, and that poses a different issue. If we're cruising for a while,
it's not making/cooling ice and we don't want to just run the genset for a
few hours after cruising just to handle ice. We can move the already made
ice to the Novakool freezer (12V), but if we want to not run the genset for
a couple days, we're out of luck.
So I was wondering about installing a small inverter dedicated to the
icemaker. I don't have the manual for the icemaker handy, but the U-Line
website says "uses less electicity than a 75 watt lightbulb". I realize
that this is marketing, and it may mean "on average", so it's using 400
watts for 10 minutes/hour and nothing for the other 50. But would something
like a 400W or 700W inverter, available for $100 or less, be feasible for
running the icemaker? Is this too simple a solution?
--Terry
Silver Satin
41' President
Anacortes, WA
Terry,
My philosophy re: inverters is somewhat opposite that of most. I'm a
believer in smaller dedicated inverters for specific tasks. We have one that
is dedicated to the refrigerator, a 120v only household dorm-room model,
another for the computer, another for the main cabin fans, again 120 v
household models and yet another for the, yes again 120 v household, bridge
deck stereo system.
I have also considered another inverter for our U-Line icemaker. In fact I
have already bought a unit that I found on sale at Costco several months
ago.
My concern with the icemaker is the run time as much as amperage. I know
that the fridge averages less than a 50% duty cycle. That is, it is not
running more than its running. If I take the plate rating on the fridge of
90 watts and round that off to 1 amp @ 120 volts, that equals 10 amps at 12
volts or 120 amp-hours per day at 50% run time.
That tells me that 2 golf carts should keep her going a couple of days so I
feed the fridge inverter with 4 GC batteries.
If I use the same analogy for the U-Line, its specs says 2.5 amp run current
@120 volts or 25 @12 . That's 600 amp-hours per day if the icemaker runs
100% of the time. While I'm sure it doesn't run all the time it does seem to
run more than the fridge. And that seems reasonable since its certainly
keeping its insides colder by maybe 20-30 degrees so that the ice doesn't
melt.
So--- Its not the size of the inverter that concerns me. (I believe that the
1000 watter from Costco will do the job) Its the additional 6-8 batteries
that may be needed to feed it if I want the capacity to run 2 days without
re-charging.
I'd really like to hear from someone with real world duty cycle times for a
small U-Line or similar icemaker.
Bill
Bill, I don't have the precise usage specs you seek, but I can tell you from
personal experience that the answer is 100% dependent on how much you use
ice! I know, sounds obvious. But mine runs near 100% when I've just dumped
the last bucket full of ice into one of the Igloo's, and continues to do so
until the ice-maker is full again. From then on, unless I use ice again, it
barely cycles on at all. Seems to do fine keeping the ice frozen at barely
10% duty cycle, until I use up the ice again, and then it chugs along.
My point is that you need to consider how much and how frequently you'll use
ice. For instance, if your ice-maker makes an abundant amount, as my old
Raritan Icer-ette does, I can use it to top off Igloo ice chests and still
have enough for drinks. But that pulls more watts from the housebank. So
you need to make an estimate of how much you'll use and thus how much it
will be running, before you can come up with wattage estimates.
Bob Peterson
47' Lien Hwa CMY
"Lopaka Nane"
San Francisco
-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
cooke_w@bellsouth.net
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 1:24 PM
To: TrawlerWorld
Subject: Re: T&T: Inverter for icemaker
Terry,
My philosophy re: inverters is somewhat opposite that of most. I'm a
believer in smaller dedicated inverters for specific tasks. We have one that
is dedicated to the refrigerator, a 120v only household dorm-room model,
another for the computer, another for the main cabin fans, again 120 v
household models and yet another for the, yes again 120 v household, bridge
deck stereo system.
I have also considered another inverter for our U-Line icemaker. In fact I
have already bought a unit that I found on sale at Costco several months
ago.
Bill