Man, this is the best video ever about fridges/compressor/soldering pipes and everything! Literally, this single video answered all the questions I had and gave me all the advice I needed to run my own rv fridge system! Subscribed on the fly!
Generally agree; good information, well-presented -- or well-enough presented. Video work was scatty, though. Very off-putting. I was tempted to hang up several times. A little planning would have helped e.g. Put the backside of the fridge in the sun and, on the deck, sorted tools to one side, outgoing compressor to the other, and largely limit camera movements to pans left and right. The visual roller-coaster suggested a lack of self-awareness. I learned quite a bit, despite that kvetch, so liked the video.
If you can't find a true 12vDC Compressor for the fridge, convert the existing control circuit to run from the 12vDC battery and use the controllers compressor relay (or wire a new one) to turn on the Inverter instead of the compressor and wire the compressor directly to the inverter's 110vAC output. That way the inverter is only running when the fridge is cooling. And don't use a model that has self defrosting.. total waste of power. For what it's worth, for off-grid or solar, I'd recommend using a small chest freezer @ fridge temps rather than an upright. You don't lose your cool when the door opens.
lostsignalreception now that’s smart ! Originally I was going to go with a converted chest freezer but they just take up too much space in a van. Another option is just buying a 12v compressor fridge in China because they’re dirt cheap. I’m there now and we’re getting ripped off in the west.
@@MrAllinclubs I ran this setup myself in an old camper. I used a separate temp controller to run a cheap chest freezer @ fridge temps. (checkout homebrew sites for the temp controller mod). Sorry, no video though. There are so many variables now (mosfet vs relay etc.) That I don't think anyone would make a video. But you're basically inserting the Inverter between the control board and the compressor. Using the control to turn on the inverter when the compressor needs to run. I now run a dedicated Whynter 12v fridge in the camper. Way more efficient but had to sacrifice capacity.
@@The411 Cool thanks , does that Whynter 12v have a compressor unit like Danfoss 12v where someone would be able to take it out and install in a standup type fridge?
@@MrAllinclubs I dont think so. the unit is small, even the 65 Quart one. The idea behind the Wynter unit is you dont lose your cold air when opening as it's a chest type.
now i'll give you a pro tip on those danfoss systems, the gas capacity is really small inside, 2 grams more or less make it go out of his efficiency point, it works but wil consume alot more power. So after you determined the right rpm of the compressor (as i said below with a resistor on the thermostat) you forget about pressure and weight and only use a thermometer on the evaporator on the point the thermostat stay (the hottest point), start charging the gas with small bursts untill see the temperature drop, give it 2 min to stabilise between bursts, at one point after pushing gas the temperature will go up instead of going down, you stop and just discharge a small amount. That is the sweet point and the right amount of gas of that system...
when you want to use sollar directly there is another code of the electronic unit that work directly on the sollar, also if you don't want a battery there are the euthethic evaporators that accumulate cold inside and slowly release it the night....
Hi, please remember when converting a previously AC fridge to DC, the thermostat may arc/weld itself in on position. You should attach a properly spec'd capacitor across the thermostat switch. Or build a DC solid state thermostat, or purchase a DC thermostat. Also some fridges have AC condenser cooling and / or internal AC motor driven fans that must be changed over to DC fans.
Dude, This was very educational, even if you feel it was messy. I am doing different (a water chiller system), yet this gave me a lot of insight of how to handle compressors.
Here in the states at O Rileys and some other car parts stores they loan out evacuation pumps. It also may be a good idea to add a filter dryer to protect the compressor.
@@InflamedBallz Yes eventually planning on converting 9 refrigerator/freezers. We have HAfunland.com a off grid funpark in the Fingerlakes of upstate NY which we made from scratch. . We make ol fashion ice cream and wood fired pizza:) We also have an off grid homestead built out of recycled cargo containers.We did all our own work we are not rich folks. We also do contracting. Like yourself we also make documentary films. Just finished a 10 part docu-series on curing cancer naturally. Have posted the first 4 parts and the rest within a month. Its called Natural Medicine Detective. (Jeff and Jodi Films) I notice you go by the handle Kundalini Kid:) That is so cool and we have been to India. Made a film of us helping out an a orphanage there (Love U Kids ALWAYS) is the film. If you ever over this way please stop in for a free pizza and ice cream. BTW I imagine you do a fair amount of meditating? I have been studying eastern mysticism heavily and LOVE IT!!! Your fine video helped us to realize we can inexpensively convert many existing AC ref/freezers ourselves!!!. Thank you and you did an absolutely excellent video on how to do it!!!!
the danfoss bd35f and bd50f are the most efficient small compressors you might find. A modern marvel, inside that small box you have an atomic power plant :) In order to get it efficient working they wound the brushelss dc motor (keep in mind that they where designed 25years ago), the dc motor work between 60 and 96v depending on the rpm you make it work, somme of them have a small board on the compressor to change the rpm, with no resistor between the C and T terminals of the thermostat will run at 2500rpm...
32 year experienced appliance repair man here. I am looking into several apps, for dan foss comps.. but i gotta set alot of things straight here. 1. r134a is also ozone depleting, and will soon be replaced with a new refrigerant, butane based. coming soon.. sux.. at any rate, purposely blowing out refrigerants is a fineable even in the USA. it violates epa bs regs. 2. most bad units you are talking about here, have evaporator leaks, 10x compared to compressor failures. do not buy a used one, unless you are technically savy enough to know what is wrong.. ie just buy new r134a one, or working used r134a unit.. 3. yes silver solder will work, what you are saying to use is plumbing solder. slv15 is fine for copper to copper, 45percent slv or better is for steel to copper.. brazed... plumbing solder has lower strength, psi strength. no biggy on lowside. easily blown out on high side. see difference between "sweating" and "brazing". 4. yes you can use store bought r134a.. there is a big but here... as many experienced hva techs have a hard time charging refrigerators, as they are used to pounds, where refs use ounces. a small one like you have in video uses 3 ounces or less. full size modern refs only use 5 to 5.5 ozs of r134a. 1/4 oz short, and you got problems. 1/4 oz over and you got problems. 5. many are run by a electronic control now. only convert one that works off of a hydraulic thermostat. 6. BTU's.. If you put a dc comp with a 300 BTU output into a ac unit rated for a 500 or 600 BTU unit.. Yes you can make it cool ... some.. and erratically. same if you put one in that is too big. there is a sweet spot you gotta hit. or you will waste alot of time and money chasing the rabbit. generally what you are saying here is good. experiment try. if you hit it right you are a awesome.. most are going to fail miserably trying to do this, and waste more money than if they had just bought a dc fridge. what you are posting here should not be attempted by anyone with no electrical , mechanical, nor refrigeration experience, generally speaking, unless you are willing to fail alot, while learning.. having said all of that, your theory and post is sound,IF, fundamentals of refrigeration are followed.. otherwise for many it will be a expensive rabbit hole. there are many other technical aspects that i won't bore you with. and please do not take this as a negative post.. this is just for all to be aware there are many variables that will apply here. I do like your over all view. but imo this will be beyond most dyiers without certain technical expertise. or a willingness to learn alot threw failing first. keep trying though.. imo limit it to certain btu units that will work off a certain sized unit. good luck. and always say oops out loud, when you accidentally release refrigerant ;)
Thanks John, good advice for all. I'm an electrician & wondering what you think of swapping out one of these compressors on a China made mini retro fridge. Going off of memory here but I think it's a Galaxy that Home Depot carried a few years back. I know it has some weird freon in it I hadn't heard of like r600 maybe. I know the 600 is right. I'm building a Sprinter van & this little fridge/freezer is perfect size. (5 cu.ft. + or - ) Will all of the 600 come out when vacuumed out ? Any recommendations on what size danfoss/secop compressor to order ? Probably look on ebay. Thanks in advance 1 tradesman to another. 30 years I.B.E.W. 👍
@@vanlifebiker i was ibew back in 89 when i started with ge in albany. yah r600 is the new butane based refridgerant that will be in all residential refers soon. I am not up on the specks of it yet, I just know it is coming soon. I doubt it is a direct r134a replacement so units will probably have different sized capillary tubes that are or were r600. just as the cap diameter is different in r12 and r134a systems. i would stay with a r134a system as they have been around for 25 years, and everyone knows it. I would not trust any thing made in china. every thing i worked on from there is of poor quality, poor materials, and questionable workmanship. look up hobotech. he just did a review on a new r134a dc system and gave it high marks. i do not believe it has a danfoss comp in it though, but i believe its going for low $300's
@@mogg9408 Well when I seen the price it SCREAMED CHINA 😂 So I looked into it & yep they are made in China. Chest type I really don't want. We have a chest freezer here at the house & it never fails when we want something it's at the bottom of course. My Sprinter van is a high top so I can stand up in it which is great. Plenty of room for a up right & I'm not apposed to putting out the $1500 for a good one but nothing is in stock at the moment anywhere hardly. It's like this or nothin is your choice. The boss (wife) likes the retro style as well & those can't be found at all. Unique out of Canada is what I wanted in the retro style but nothing in stock anywhere. I came across this compressor swap out video & thought this could be the solution & save a few bucks too. Like I said I have this China made retro style fridge already & I could do the swap maybe. Oh FYI that link you recommended is not only made in China, it's out of stock too. 😂 So, I guess you're saying this won't work swapping from the r600 120V to the 134A 12V compressor ? I have solar & inverter & battery bank set up in the van already. I just wanted to be able to shut off the inverter & conserve that energy at the same time by swapping to a 12V set up. I guess I will just have to wait til things get back in stock from Canada or deal with what I've got. Thanks for your expertise. Saved me some headaches. 😎👍
XRP DT yah if it’s China avoid. I haven’t worked on a r600 unit. I sincerely doubt you can put r134a in it and run it efficiently. If the current unit you have works as is. I would run it threw a inverter. There is a young fellow that does slot of rv solar vids. Yes. Power wise it will be less efficient but a jackery with solar may handle it. Until you see a good deal on a used or new dc model you want. If you get used stick with 134a and avoid the old ammonia ones. Dangerous Good luck. I wish I could recommend the danfoss 134a comp for it. I just don’t have specks on attempting that. R134a reacts badly with certain refridgerant oils not made for 134a. In old r12 units it gets acidic. Thus my caution at this time as r600 units are very new and untested imo. Good luck
couple things, 1 Chest fridges/freezers are way more efficient then standups. Cold air falls to the lowest point, open a standup and all the cold is just pouring out onto the floor. This is why people get Chest style ones. If you are looking to make the MOST efficient fridge to run off solar/12v. Installing a DC Danfoss compressor is only 1/2 of the equation. Like I explained earlier Chest are better. Also between Fridges and Freezers, Freezers are better at holding in the cold. They have thicker walls to hold the cold inside. So, if you take your DC Danfoss compressor AND a Chest Freezer, and connect the power supply through a temperature gauge, one that can be set to Fridge levels, you now have the absolute best of all world. A LARGE DC, Efficient Fridge.
chests are definitely the most efficient style of fridge, but not everyone has the space for one or wants to have the added inconvenience of having one in their van or RV. often people have to make invasive modifications to their stock van to make them fit and put them on sliders. Making one yourself it is almost impossible to source a donor chest fridge that has favourable dimensions for mobile living. the molds they use for portable 12v fridges are sized much better for mobile living than household chest freezers. personally I prefer the convenience of a stand-up style fridge with a bigger consumption. cheers brother
@@InflamedBallz hi friend can you explain where you got the valve on top of the refrigerant/what type of valve that is/pressure gage thread size or type?
@@InflamedBallz a fridge in a van trying to be efficient is an oxymoron... That being said "duck bill vise grips" (cheap @harbor freight or amazom) turning a mini fridge into a chest style is easy with many variations possible.. if needed gut a second mini fridge to level and orientate cooling unit... The most efficient fridges have a lot of added insulation. Good luck
I was going to suggest the fridge >> chest freezer modification. Worth a try, at least, if you stand to save >$1000. Finding an appropriate volume in which to put it in a vehicle or vessel would be a problem, though. In digs, less so. The issue of the doors might be resolved by dropping the hinges out of the equation and converting the 'doors' to run on ball-bearing telescoping drawer guides/rails. Or throw together some vacuum-formed, styrofoam-filled, close-fitting 'pot-lids'.
@@michaelthibault7930 i just built a chest type cooler from 2" foam , a galv. metal box , w/1/8th ply ext. for looks...the top is foam , plus added foam pad for seating ; it fits snugly into the cooler...as i commented above , i plan to cycle frozen goods from refer in max mode ( they freeze if you build a similar foam box external to orig. box) into the cooler to defrost......my "cost should be less than 40 amp/hrs./500 W per day (?) eventually build a similar chest freezer inspired by this video.........just got a shorty dodge van , and it's requiring SERIOUS planning for storage , since i haven't yet raised the roof .
Wow, that is a fantastic effort! My only suggestion is to find a fridge that doesn't have it's condenser coils embedded in the fridge case. It doesn't make for an ideal refrigerator to put inside of a cabinet because of that. So, if you can find one with an external condenser coil....that would be an even better fridge to start with.
Yep so all of the car wrecks that happen out there in the streets won’t matter, and I had an Astro van about a 84 model, it had the r12 in it, all I did was vacuum out the system and recharge it with r134, and it worked perfectly, and had no problems, in a matter of fact it cooled much better!
That label on the fridge that says what kind of refrigerant to use also tells you how much it needs, usually in grams or ounces. Simply weight your refrigerant bottle before and during the fill up and when it loses that much weight you know you have enough.
Last year I built my own fridge cabinet in my van. I bought a working donor fridge for $20, i took out the evaporator and installed it in the cabinet that i built. I located the compressor and condenser under the van. I have the compressor hooked up onto an inverter, not very efficient like you mentioned.. im considering switching to 12v compressor from china.
Hey thanks so much for the vid! I looking to move my DC Compressor a few feet from its current location for sound proofing. Wondering if it's as simple as cutting the piping and adding 2 quick release valves and a few extra feet of piping?
@4:11 you show the hold compressor witch seems to be meant to run with R600, then at 8:24 the back of the fridge show R134a. We now often find fridge with R600. Can they be converted with the BD35 danfoss comlpressor ? What about the refrigerant to be used ?
Moisture freezing in the system is not the problem. The oil in compressors is hydrophobic and absorbs the moisture which in turn creates an acid that will destroy the compressor from within. That's why a good vacuum has to be pulled on the system. In a vacuum, any moisture will boil, turn to steam and be sucked out by the pump.
Actually it's moisture that absorbs in the oil and then freezes and blocks the capillary and stops the fridge working as soon as it gets cold. Usually its compressor burn out that causes acidic oils
Hello good video, I have a compresor Secop BDF35-HD, and my frigde is 87 L two door, my question is what capilare do I use for my frigde, thank you for your information.
I'm way late to this party, but that isn't the "silver solder" that hvac folks refer to. At a minimimum you're going to want something like stay brite, which is like 5% or so silver and still works with a weak torch, but many techs will insist on 45% higher requiring mapp or even acetylene to braze it on. The stuff you have just has enough smidge of silver to use the word and dupe people. Can you use it? Sure, obviously. But you aren't getting the benefits of silver, namely higher strength and vibration / fatigue resistance. Otherwise, fantastic vid!
Thank u for taking the time to explain the steps & theory of making ur own compressor fridge/freezer. I learned it's possible to make one yourself. If u had showed in the video step by step how u did each process, that would help me better. Especially since I know nothing about fridg/freezer. Also the video volume is to low. I had to turn my TV way up to hear u.
A “perfect vacuum” is 0 µm. You will not be able to pull a vacuum or charge the system with the fitting that you have. It does not depressed to Schrader valve.
The 101N0400 model inverter unit for the bd35f can be connected directly to the solar panel even without a buck converter. But if you get clouds or coverage and the voltage and the current drops too low, the compressor will stop, which is typically why these systems use a battery or a ultra-capacitor bank as a buffer. The link below is their different inverter units. The solar panel needs to be rated to provide enough current to run the compressor. assets.danfoss.com/documents/DOC024186435113/DOC024186435113.pdf
@@InflamedBallz thanks a lot.. I found that the solar controller is specified for bd35f which it is about 153 watt.. could it be installed on a bigger compressor capacity? And thanks again for sufficient answer
Thank you for making this video, and thanks to you others for all the comments. Just what I need for my off grid projects & others I hope to help here.
process tube came with a universal 1/4'' r12 schrader valve brazed on. I used an automotive r12 female to r134a male quick connect retrofit adapter (low side) to connect to the gauge. something like this. most automotive stores will carry the adapter. www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/red-tek-air-conditioning-low-side-conversion-fitting-0146124p.html
if the circuit board (top control board) is fried, and not the control unit attached to the motor, then you should probably be able to just rig up an external thermostat and connect your 12v directly to the control unit to bypass the bad top control board. if the control unit attached to the motor is bad, you'll need a new controller to drive the motor. it runs on 3 phase power off the control unit, similar to an ebike motor.
Where is a decent place to have these compressers shipped to Canada? Might do Aliexpress and buy a few. Convert a few. We are running freezer and fridge off our 3000 watt pure sine.
This was an excellent video, I'm looking at the same conversion into a 240v fridge from the from my leaky 24v Chinese fridge, we had it re gassed and it only lasted 2 weeks. I got the 210litre fridge for $50 au , so wist me Lucy, the only problem is it has a fan in the freezer and I'll have to put a 24v on in.
Hi i am looking foward to do the same protect as you did in this video. I got one question and is how much time can the fridge run on the battery you have there without charging it. My protect is for a boat that has a 12v fridge, but I want to upgrade to a bigger one but the prices are really high so I want to buy a 110v bigger fridge and adapt a 12v compressor. I always have my battery charger turned on but when I am navigating it's off so that's why I am asking how long can it last without charging it thanks!
Did you end up attempting a build for your boat? The consumption of the fridge depends on the amount of insulation, the outside temperature, whether the fridge has a freezer or not, and the litre capacity of the fridge. The better the conditions, the less the compressor will cycle to maintain temps. While the compressor is on it's drawing about 60w depending on the rpm setting it's at. You wanna make sure your 12v compressor is sized properly for the system or it will be overworked.
Good video and I hope you don't take my comment as a detraction. R134 compressors have oil inside. The name of the oil is POE for short. This oil absorbs water from the air very easy. When moisture mixes with POE oil it turns to a very strong acid that will eventually cause the windings inside of the compressor to fail. So, you never want to let a system that uses R134 open to the air for more than 5 -6 minutes. In other words, you must cut and solder on each compressor line very fast to avoid moisture getting into the system, then you have to vacuum the system out with a good two stage vacuum pump for at least 10 hours. It is preferable to vacuum it out for 24 hours, those pumps are designed to run that long. This way the very low vacuum will cause all the moisture to boil out of the system preventing premature failure. If you want to make it really efficient, use cupronickel brake line to make a heat exchanger and put it in a ten gallon water tank instead of using the condenser.
how does the r12 or r22 get high in the sky to deplete the o3 ? r12 and r22 both are heavier then air as witnessed by the warnings of using in enclosed spaces ( displaces the oxyger/air in the confined areas) Or do they just...............FALL UP THERE?
KundaliniKid, How about an update on your DIY Danfoss swap. Is it still working after a year? Have you been using it every day? Been watching Craigslist, but haven't found a used Danfoss yet.
I actually sold my van along with the fridge, but it was still running great when I sold it. Any luck finding a 12v compressor? I recently purchased one in China from purswave for $90 canadian dollars. Not sure what the international shipping fees would be buying it online. You can also search classifieds for "12v" fridge and see if anyone is selling one that lost their refrigerant and needs a recharge, usually at a low price.
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Next time just replace the inverter's on/off switch with the thermostat... and you saved yourself quite a buck.
@@chasewatkins3096 if you have to ask that question you should stay clear of anything close to mains voltages... untill you learned enough about electricity, electric circuits and electricity safety
As you implied the new compressor is most likely AC and it only has an efficient inverter coming along. My question is why didn't you try to use only the inverter in new compressor and incorporate it with your fridge's existing compressor?
The compressor powered by a BDLC direct current motor. The inverter that comes with the danfoss powers the brushless motor at around 30v+ dc, so connecting the danfoss inverter unit to a standard 110v fridge compressor would either damage the inverter unit or the compressor itself.
4:30 - How did you collect the old refrigerant?... You should mention that the refrigerant is toxic (but low) and it is illegal to release the green house refrigerant at open air with out a proper machine to collect it. 6:10 - you pick the refrigerant based on what danfoss tells you, one can not just simply use a butane refrigerant with an A/C compressor specifically designed for 134A or what not.
WARNING. Do NOT do this if the compressor/refrigerator says R290 or R600. R290 is propane and R600 is butane. Both are highly combustible. If you see any warning about fire or explosion, they speak for themselves. Otherwise, thank you for the video! Just trying to look out for the DIY-ers out there.
hello :) you look very knowledgable with fridges :) i have the same compressor in my vitrifrigo i90 fridge, i have it new since 3 years( so no warrenty anymore ) since that long it took to make my van ready :s. i have it plugged in, and fridge is cooling just fine, but it keeps on . so it turns the compressor on it becomes warm, the fridge inside is the right cool temp. the compressor turns off.. but within a minute of 4, it turns back on for a minute or 5, than back of, and so on.. even after one night it keeps on turning on.. the seals are brandnew, the fridge is brandnew :) do you have maybe any idea what it could be ? it's on a 12v battery. Thanks in advance
Brilliant video. One of my pipes broke. Now I know how to fix it. I can only find r134a with leak repair in the EU. Is it really that bad? Also could you share a link of the quick connect? Not sure what to order. Many thanks again
This why standard refrigerant is not available to buy for the public. Actually you should not be able to buy gas at all but some slips through the net.
You are obviously very knowedgeable and I most def learned from this video but I would have learned more if you actually recorded you doing every step instead of only explaining it though. Anyway thanks for the share!
great video, but don't try it, they'll waste your money, if you don't believe it then go ahead. You do not use right refrigerant gas, welding, correct pipe, vacuum, charge, pressure, etc, it is a different capillary gas r290, or r600, the working pressures totally different from r134, this job its possible what you are doing but you cannot skip the basic technical steps .. I I'm sure that's cool but that doesn't mean it's okay, it will only work for a while. look there is something simpler and much cheaper take a 300w peak start inverter, some real 130w , 150w, use the original refrigerator thermostat to turn the linverter on and off so it will not be on all the time just when the unit calls for cold. use the two cables that are connected to the compressor starter, the 115v output of the inverter to the compressor starter, the 115v ac plug of the refrigerator to 12v dc, just make sure the polarity to the inverter power input, take the 115v ac cable as reference Negative black cable, positive white cable, but check the polarity well, with this you will not spend more than $ 50 in inverter, and some $ 120 in refrigerator. I'm refrigeration, electric, electronic tech.. good luck and thanks.
use the two cables that are connected to the compressor starter, the 115v output of the inverter to the compressor starter, the 115v ac plug of the refrigerator to 12v dc, just make sure the polarity to the inverter power input, take the 115v ac cable as reference Negative black cable, positive white cable, but check the polarity Connect inverter to battery, output of inverter to refrigerator starter. The 115 volt refrigerator plug to dc? When you connect the inverter to the starter on the refrigerator wouldn’t that bypass the refrigerator plug?
thanks for the comment Toyin. I suggest you look at the danfoss specifications for their line of compressors to see the cubic centimetre cooling capacity. In terms of sizing a condenser. If you want an estimate in terms of sizing of a condenser, I would look at the condenser sizing of similar production fridges to those within the cubic centimetre cooling capacities of danfoss's specs and take a look at the sizing of condensers on the 12v danfoss fridges sold in stores. If you want to get down to the exact sizing math, I'm probably not your guy as I'm not a refrigerator tech myself.
2:30 Watt is a rate. X number of watts per day doesn't make any sense. It's like saying I'm going a speed of 55mph per day. As a result, we have no idea what you were trying to say.
The cheapest way i can think of is you can pull vacuum and leave it for a few days and see if the pressure decreases or not. if you're trying to locate a leak they do make products with dye/uv dye but I wasn't able to source it myself.
Thank you for the video. Question about the Electronic Controller: did you say that it was an inverter? Since its input is 12 volt dc, what is its output voltage? I'm asking because in case it's output is 110 v AC, perhaps instead of replacing the compressor, all is needed would be to add this Electronic Controller, between the 12v battery and the AC compressor. What do you think?
hey thanks man. the output voltage of the danfoss inverter around 30 volts or so. but i don't think it's pure A/C that the compressor runs on but a special waveform from the inverter. you should look into it more. you can run a 110v a/c household fridge off of a standard power inverter but it will be inefficient and the inverter will use lots of power when the fridge is not running. these danfoss compressors are specially designed to have low start up current and be more efficient running of of low voltage dc power sources.
i was thinking about that,but you have to put it between the thermostat and engine,like at the danfoss compressor.All you have to do is actually place an invertor to your ac110v compressor.Is same thing without paying that amount of money on the danfos compressor.
No the danfoss compressor is like a variable frequency/ voltage drive inverter for the compressor. Very efficient like a miniature mini- split A/C system. Great video by a very smart young man.
Uzi, you mentioned the output of the Danfoss controller, is this something you looked any further into? It would be interesting to see if your suggestion could work to simply plug the Danfoss controller into a standard fridge compressor. I've done some testing of the Danfoss controller on the bench with and I only seem to see 9v AC which surely can't be right?
uzi aloush the danfoss compressor itself has a 30-volt, 3-phase ac motor hermetically sealed inside it. the controller is a VFD (variable frequency drive) with a 12-24vdc input. the controller monitors the load on the motor and adjusts the frequency to keep the current draw as low as possible without stalling the motor, so the motor uses as little power as possible. that's what makes the danfoss system work so efficiently. for this reason it would be impossible to use the danfoss controller with any high-voltage ac compressor.
Hey Philco72, you can look at the cubic cm of the fridge and compare it to the danfoss specification sheet for how many cubic cm each compressor model is suited for cooling.
Stay tuned in the coming months. I got my hands on another 12v compressor unit to make a more professional video that will be step-by-step. Just need to get back to Canada first!
I will give you my final thought first and that is I like this video very much. thank you. What follows is what I wrote after watching only about one third of the video, but I wanted to keep it in. So..... So what did you do with the old refrigerant? I hope you didn't just release it into the atmosphere. That stuff is killing the planet. You should redo this video, which is a good video, and show how to capture the old refrigerant and store it. If done correctly, it can also be used to refill the new system. It is required by most governments to capture the old stuff and not let it escape. Also, I don't think you did a vacuum of the system, or did you and I missed it? I only know about this stuff because I tried to fix my own truck's AC and none of the auto AC repair places would capture my old refrigerant for less than fifty US dollars. In my humble opinion, ALLL smog check places should be required to do this free of charge and make it so they get to keep the refrigerant and sell it back to the government sort of like the CRV on bottles and cans. Recycling centers are paid by California for the CRV container plus they get to keep the materials and sell it to someone who will reuse it in a new product. So its a win-win-win scenario. And wouldn't you know it. I paused the video so I could write all this, and When I returned you were going over what I just said. My impatience again. Carry On
that's totally possible. they sell kits where you can buy the evaporator and the compressor with press fittings that are already pre charged so you can put them in any box you want but they're pricey.
@@InflamedBallz Yep, very pricey. I really enjoyed this video, just to get an idea how to make a Danfoss work with the icebox in my 25' sailboat. I know I'll have more modifications to make than using a pre-existing box, but this was good solid info for me. I'm probably going to end up fashioning a new box out of fiberglass, as the existing icebox is tiny. Still switching over to the Danfoss system will beat the hell out of taking the dinghy in every day for ice! Thanks much for the vid! I have a little better handle on what I need to do now!
The Danfrost is just a AC Compressor with a Inverter mounted to it. Where can I find a proper DC Inverter. (Meaning where the motor actually runs on DC voltage and not AC)
@@samueladitya1729 I am looking for pure DC driven Compressor (dont want to go through an inverter) Solar Panel = DC to Batteries store DC now you have to covert DC to AC (220 or 110) loosing about 30% energy in the process
@@philliplabuschagne5508 ST14DC12H looks nice. it's 12v BLDC motor which mean 3 phase permanent magnet motor with 3 phase inverter. pretty small size for the output.
I just use butane lighter grade has to be filtered and I recharge just using the vapour they don't need much I pull a vacuum first it's a very good refrigerant and cheap to. Have you ever tried it. I use LPG gas in my car aircon it works the best I only put about 400 grams in the car one it's super cold. But always pull a vacuum first.
it's not from what I understand. it has different windings from a household compressor to operate at a lower voltage. it also operates at variable speeds and is 3 phase.
I don't know what the model of the compressor used in the video is but I know the Danfoss bd35f compressor is dc powered. The converter on the side of the compressor is actually a brush-less speed controller and the compressor its self has a BLDC (Brush-less DC) motor inside not an ac one. Although if you wanted to you could probably make it run on a vfd off of ac power.
The only one glaringly big problem with this video is that its totally illegal to do unless you have an Fgas certificate and are licensed as a business as a refrigerant handling company. So it’s definitely not DIY unless you want to pay £1000 for a weeks training and then buy all the gear to do it. This should not be on here. Massive fines from the EA in the Uk if you are found handling refrigerants illegally. Nobody should legally sell refrigerant to anyone without a refrigerant handling certificate and through normal channels this is the case.
Do you want to make a video how to dispose of refrigerant safely .There is a lot of free fridge donation. I would have liked to have dismantled a compressor from the refrigerator but for safety reasons I do not do it because I do not know how to evacuate the refrigerant in a safe way.
I tried this conversion using a 12v Danfoss compressor and a pretty much identical fridge/freezer to the one used here in the video. The "donor" unit was fully working on 240v AC before I chopped out the original compressor so I know it was fine before starting the conversion. So far I've not been able to get it fully working, the fridge holds gas properly and the compressor will run correctly but it's not cooling well at all, the freezer works great but the fridge isn't cooling plus the compressor gets really hot, it has never reached temperature and cut out on the thermostat as it should do so far. Anyone know what I might have done wrong? Too much gas, too little gas? Maybe the wrong gas? Maybe the compressor isn't working properly, it runs and makes pressure, I tested it before installation? Maybe the compressor isn't powerful enough for a fridge/freezer, it was originally out of an under counter marine fridge with small ice box? The fridge should use R600a but the compressor uses R134a, I used R134a to charge the fridge, should I try R600a instead?
Your doner fridge probably used a fan to circulate air between the freezer and fridge. That fan would be an ac motor... if you figure out where that fan is you may be able to swap it for a dc fan but idk
Are you saying you can't install an R134a compressor on a previously r600 fridge? I can't see why you can't do that and install R134a refrigerant. Why wouldn't that work?@@Az-hn7xi
Man, this is the best video ever about fridges/compressor/soldering pipes and everything!
Literally, this single video answered all the questions I had and gave me all the advice I needed to run my own rv fridge system! Subscribed on the fly!
Generally agree; good information, well-presented -- or well-enough presented. Video work was scatty, though. Very off-putting. I was tempted to hang up several times. A little planning would have helped e.g. Put the backside of the fridge in the sun and, on the deck, sorted tools to one side, outgoing compressor to the other, and largely limit camera movements to pans left and right. The visual roller-coaster suggested a lack of self-awareness.
I learned quite a bit, despite that kvetch, so liked the video.
If you can't find a true 12vDC Compressor for the fridge, convert the existing control circuit to run from the 12vDC battery and use the controllers compressor relay (or wire a new one) to turn on the Inverter instead of the compressor and wire the compressor directly to the inverter's 110vAC output. That way the inverter is only running when the fridge is cooling. And don't use a model that has self defrosting.. total waste of power. For what it's worth, for off-grid or solar, I'd recommend using a small chest freezer @ fridge temps rather than an upright. You don't lose your cool when the door opens.
lostsignalreception now that’s smart ! Originally I was going to go with a converted chest freezer but they just take up too much space in a van. Another option is just buying a 12v compressor fridge in China because they’re dirt cheap. I’m there now and we’re getting ripped off in the west.
Have you seen this done ? Sounds like a pretty great way is there a video on this? thanks
@@MrAllinclubs I ran this setup myself in an old camper. I used a separate temp controller to run a cheap chest freezer @ fridge temps. (checkout homebrew sites for the temp controller mod). Sorry, no video though. There are so many variables now (mosfet vs relay etc.) That I don't think anyone would make a video. But you're basically inserting the Inverter between the control board and the compressor. Using the control to turn on the inverter when the compressor needs to run. I now run a dedicated Whynter 12v fridge in the camper. Way more efficient but had to sacrifice capacity.
@@The411 Cool thanks , does that Whynter 12v have a compressor unit like Danfoss 12v where someone would be able to take it out and install in a standup type fridge?
@@MrAllinclubs I dont think so. the unit is small, even the 65 Quart one. The idea behind the Wynter unit is you dont lose your cold air when opening as it's a chest type.
now i'll give you a pro tip on those danfoss systems, the gas capacity is really small inside, 2 grams more or less make it go out of his efficiency point, it works but wil consume alot more power. So after you determined the right rpm of the compressor (as i said below with a resistor on the thermostat) you forget about pressure and weight and only use a thermometer on the evaporator on the point the thermostat stay (the hottest point), start charging the gas with small bursts untill see the temperature drop, give it 2 min to stabilise between bursts, at one point after pushing gas the temperature will go up instead of going down, you stop and just discharge a small amount. That is the sweet point and the right amount of gas of that system...
otherwise the power consumption will be like even 30% more...
also if you don't change the filter, when you do the vacum heat it well with the blow torch, will get the moisture out...
when you have sweat on the return line there is too much gas...
when you want to use sollar directly there is another code of the electronic unit that work directly on the sollar, also if you don't want a battery there are the euthethic evaporators that accumulate cold inside and slowly release it the night....
then get the inverter and thats it, put wire on a thermostat to turn on the inverter and subsequently a fridge
Hi, please remember when converting a previously AC fridge to DC, the thermostat may arc/weld itself in on position. You should
attach a properly spec'd capacitor across the thermostat switch. Or build a DC solid state thermostat, or purchase a DC thermostat. Also some fridges have AC condenser cooling and / or internal AC motor driven fans that must be changed over to DC fans.
Dude, This was very educational, even if you feel it was messy. I am doing different (a water chiller system), yet this gave me a lot of insight of how to handle compressors.
Here in the states at O Rileys and some other car parts stores they loan out evacuation pumps.
It also may be a good idea to add a filter dryer to protect the compressor.
What a great video man. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
6:30 Thank you so much for mentioning stop leak. I made this mistake once. Stop leak should be called stop compressor.
Dealing with refrigerant is dangerous take precautions you don't want to freeze your eyeballs.
I thought you done a good job making this video , save a lot of money doing what you done . Thanks for sharing .
I was hoping to hear you fire it up. Excellent tutorial. Danfoss compressors new on ebay around $200 USD. This is right up my alley.
Be really careful everyone that you aren't buying a fake Danfoss via ebay. A lot of problems there with higher end fakes of everything.
Excellent!!! Thank you very, very much!!!! You made a huge difference in our life!!!
Are you planning to make one?
@@InflamedBallz Yes eventually planning on converting 9 refrigerator/freezers. We have HAfunland.com a off grid funpark in the Fingerlakes of upstate NY which we made from scratch. . We make ol fashion ice cream and wood fired pizza:) We also have an off grid homestead built out of recycled cargo containers.We did all our own work we are not rich folks. We also do contracting. Like yourself we also make documentary films. Just finished a 10 part docu-series on curing cancer naturally. Have posted the first 4 parts and the rest within a month. Its called Natural Medicine Detective. (Jeff and Jodi Films) I notice you go by the handle Kundalini Kid:) That is so cool and we have been to India. Made a film of us helping out an a orphanage there (Love U Kids ALWAYS) is the film. If you ever over this way please stop in for a free pizza and ice cream. BTW I imagine you do a fair amount of meditating? I have been studying eastern mysticism heavily and LOVE IT!!! Your fine video helped us to realize we can inexpensively convert many existing AC ref/freezers ourselves!!!. Thank you and you did an absolutely excellent video on how to do it!!!!
the danfoss bd35f and bd50f are the most efficient small compressors you might find. A modern marvel, inside that small box you have an atomic power plant :) In order to get it efficient working they wound the brushelss dc motor (keep in mind that they where designed 25years ago), the dc motor work between 60 and 96v depending on the rpm you make it work, somme of them have a small board on the compressor to change the rpm, with no resistor between the C and T terminals of the thermostat will run at 2500rpm...
Which 24V compressor would you suggest for a 12 cubic feet fridge? I want to convert galanz retro fridge to 24Vdc
Actually the danfoss is a dmsecond best... the best is the Fugawi swing compressor used in engle refrigerators.. it only has 1 moving part
@@jbird6048 I’ve googled Fugawi Swing Compressor DC, and get ZERO results …. ?
@@StansE250 try Sawafuji swing compressor..Engle uses them..sorry my memory.if Japanese names isnt the best
32 year experienced appliance repair man here. I am looking into several apps, for dan foss comps.. but i gotta set alot of things straight here. 1. r134a is also ozone depleting, and will soon be replaced with a new refrigerant, butane based. coming soon.. sux.. at any rate, purposely blowing out refrigerants is a fineable even in the USA. it violates epa bs regs. 2. most bad units you are talking about here, have evaporator leaks, 10x compared to compressor failures. do not buy a used one, unless you are technically savy enough to know what is wrong.. ie just buy new r134a one, or working used r134a unit.. 3. yes silver solder will work, what you are saying to use is plumbing solder. slv15 is fine for copper to copper, 45percent slv or better is for steel to copper.. brazed... plumbing solder has lower strength, psi strength. no biggy on lowside. easily blown out on high side. see difference between "sweating" and "brazing". 4. yes you can use store bought r134a.. there is a big but here... as many experienced hva techs have a hard time charging refrigerators, as they are used to pounds, where refs use ounces. a small one like you have in video uses 3 ounces or less. full size modern refs only use 5 to 5.5 ozs of r134a. 1/4 oz short, and you got problems. 1/4 oz over and you got problems. 5. many are run by a electronic control now. only convert one that works off of a hydraulic thermostat. 6. BTU's.. If you put a dc comp with a 300 BTU output into a ac unit rated for a 500 or 600 BTU unit.. Yes you can make it cool ... some.. and erratically. same if you put one in that is too big. there is a sweet spot you gotta hit. or you will waste alot of time and money chasing the rabbit. generally what you are saying here is good. experiment try. if you hit it right you are a awesome.. most are going to fail miserably trying to do this, and waste more money than if they had just bought a dc fridge. what you are posting here should not be attempted by anyone with no electrical , mechanical, nor refrigeration experience, generally speaking, unless you are willing to fail alot, while learning.. having said all of that, your theory and post is sound,IF, fundamentals of refrigeration are followed.. otherwise for many it will be a expensive rabbit hole. there are many other technical aspects that i won't bore you with. and please do not take this as a negative post.. this is just for all to be aware there are many variables that will apply here. I do like your over all view. but imo this will be beyond most dyiers without certain technical expertise. or a willingness to learn alot threw failing first. keep trying though.. imo limit it to certain btu units that will work off a certain sized unit. good luck. and always say oops out loud, when you accidentally release refrigerant ;)
Thanks John, good advice for all. I'm an electrician & wondering what you think of swapping out one of these compressors on a China made mini retro fridge. Going off of memory here but I think it's a Galaxy that Home Depot carried a few years back. I know it has some weird freon in it I hadn't heard of like r600 maybe. I know the 600 is right. I'm building a Sprinter van & this little fridge/freezer is perfect size. (5 cu.ft. + or - )
Will all of the 600 come out when vacuumed out ? Any recommendations on what size danfoss/secop compressor to order ? Probably look on ebay. Thanks in advance 1 tradesman to another. 30 years I.B.E.W. 👍
@@vanlifebiker i was ibew back in 89 when i started with ge in albany. yah r600 is the new butane based refridgerant that will be in all residential refers soon. I am not up on the specks of it yet, I just know it is coming soon. I doubt it is a direct r134a replacement so units will probably have different sized capillary tubes that are or were r600. just as the cap diameter is different in r12 and r134a systems. i would stay with a r134a system as they have been around for 25 years, and everyone knows it. I would not trust any thing made in china. every thing i worked on from there is of poor quality, poor materials, and questionable workmanship. look up hobotech. he just did a review on a new r134a dc system and gave it high marks. i do not believe it has a danfoss comp in it though, but i believe its going for low $300's
@@vanlifebiker i would give this unit a go. th-cam.com/video/NPf3kIs60YA/w-d-xo.html
@@mogg9408 Well when I seen the price it SCREAMED CHINA 😂 So I looked into it & yep they are made in China. Chest type I really don't want. We have a chest freezer here at the house & it never fails when we want something it's at the bottom of course. My Sprinter van is a high top so I can stand up in it which is great. Plenty of room for a up right & I'm not apposed to putting out the $1500 for a good one but nothing is in stock at the moment anywhere hardly. It's like this or nothin is your choice. The boss (wife) likes the retro style as well & those can't be found at all. Unique out of Canada is what I wanted in the retro style but nothing in stock anywhere. I came across this compressor swap out video & thought this could be the solution & save a few bucks too. Like I said I have this China made retro style fridge already & I could do the swap maybe. Oh FYI that link you recommended is not only made in China, it's out of stock too. 😂 So, I guess you're saying this won't work swapping from the r600 120V to the 134A 12V compressor ?
I have solar & inverter & battery bank set up in the van already. I just wanted to be able to shut off the inverter & conserve that energy at the same time by swapping to a 12V set up. I guess I will just have to wait til things get back in stock from Canada or deal with what I've got. Thanks for your expertise. Saved me some headaches. 😎👍
XRP DT yah if it’s China avoid. I haven’t worked on a r600 unit. I sincerely doubt you can put r134a in it and run it efficiently. If the current unit you have works as is. I would run it threw a inverter. There is a young fellow that does slot of rv solar vids. Yes. Power wise it will be less efficient but a jackery with solar may handle it. Until you see a good deal on a used or new dc model you want. If you get used stick with 134a and avoid the old ammonia ones. Dangerous Good luck. I wish I could recommend the danfoss 134a comp for it. I just don’t have specks on attempting that. R134a reacts badly with certain refridgerant oils not made for 134a. In old r12 units it gets acidic. Thus my caution at this time as r600 units are very new and untested imo. Good luck
Exact Project that I’ve been contemplating ! Thanks !
Refrigeration compressors also need oil. I am not sure how you check the oil level, perhaps some one who knows can chime in.
couple things, 1 Chest fridges/freezers are way more efficient then standups. Cold air falls to the lowest point, open a standup and all the cold is just pouring out onto the floor. This is why people get Chest style ones.
If you are looking to make the MOST efficient fridge to run off solar/12v. Installing a DC Danfoss compressor is only 1/2 of the equation. Like I explained earlier Chest are better. Also between Fridges and Freezers, Freezers are better at holding in the cold. They have thicker walls to hold the cold inside. So, if you take your DC Danfoss compressor AND a Chest Freezer, and connect the power supply through a temperature gauge, one that can be set to Fridge levels, you now have the absolute best of all world. A LARGE DC, Efficient Fridge.
chests are definitely the most efficient style of fridge, but not everyone has the space for one or wants to have the added inconvenience of having one in their van or RV. often people have to make invasive modifications to their stock van to make them fit and put them on sliders. Making one yourself it is almost impossible to source a donor chest fridge that has favourable dimensions for mobile living. the molds they use for portable 12v fridges are sized much better for mobile living than household chest freezers. personally I prefer the convenience of a stand-up style fridge with a bigger consumption. cheers brother
@@InflamedBallz hi friend can you explain where you got the valve on top of the refrigerant/what type of valve that is/pressure gage thread size or type?
@@InflamedBallz a fridge in a van trying to be efficient is an oxymoron...
That being said "duck bill vise grips" (cheap @harbor freight or amazom) turning a mini fridge into a chest style is easy with many variations possible.. if needed gut a second mini fridge to level and orientate cooling unit...
The most efficient fridges have a lot of added insulation. Good luck
I was going to suggest the fridge >> chest freezer modification. Worth a try, at least, if you stand to save >$1000. Finding an appropriate volume in which to put it in a vehicle or vessel would be a problem, though. In digs, less so. The issue of the doors might be resolved by dropping the hinges out of the equation and converting the 'doors' to run on ball-bearing telescoping drawer guides/rails. Or throw together some vacuum-formed, styrofoam-filled, close-fitting 'pot-lids'.
@@michaelthibault7930 i just built a chest type cooler from 2" foam , a galv. metal box , w/1/8th ply ext. for looks...the top is foam , plus added foam pad for seating ; it fits snugly into the cooler...as i commented above , i plan to cycle frozen goods from refer in max mode ( they freeze if you build a similar foam box external to orig. box) into the cooler to defrost......my "cost should be less than 40 amp/hrs./500 W per day (?) eventually build a similar chest freezer inspired by this video.........just got a shorty dodge van , and it's requiring SERIOUS planning for storage , since i haven't yet raised the roof .
Great job making the video. This has helped me a lot understanding the workings. We think a lot a like bud. Keep moving forward!
Wow, that is a fantastic effort!
My only suggestion is to find a fridge that doesn't have it's condenser coils embedded in the fridge case.
It doesn't make for an ideal refrigerator to put inside of a cabinet because of that.
So, if you can find one with an external condenser coil....that would be an even better fridge to start with.
Yep so all of the car wrecks that happen out there in the streets won’t matter, and I had an Astro van about a 84 model, it had the r12 in it, all I did was vacuum out the system and recharge it with r134, and it worked perfectly, and had no problems, in a matter of fact it cooled much better!
great video im starting a mobile food business this will help out tremendously
That label on the fridge that says what kind of refrigerant to use also tells you how much it needs, usually in grams or ounces. Simply weight your refrigerant bottle before and during the fill up and when it loses that much weight you know you have enough.
Do you get enough wind to make a vertical wind turbine worthwhile for you?
Very informative, im planning on doing this.
I've been told that they should be charged to about 2psi on the load side which is adequate.
Did you add any compressor oil?
You can use the fridge thermostat to power up the inverter instead of the motor directly .
Last year I built my own fridge cabinet in my van. I bought a working donor fridge for $20, i took out the evaporator and installed it in the cabinet that i built. I located the compressor and condenser under the van. I have the compressor hooked up onto an inverter, not very efficient like you mentioned.. im considering switching to 12v compressor from china.
I'm in the middle of doing the same thing... only I'n making a freezer
How’s it holding up 4 years later?
Hey thanks so much for the vid! I looking to move my DC Compressor a few feet from its current location for sound proofing. Wondering if it's as simple as cutting the piping and adding 2 quick release valves and a few extra feet of piping?
Very informative, I thought this was possible, now I’m going to put it to use. Thank You
@4:11 you show the hold compressor witch seems to be meant to run with R600, then at 8:24 the back of the fridge show R134a.
We now often find fridge with R600. Can they be converted with the BD35 danfoss comlpressor ? What about the refrigerant to be used ?
Could you mount the fridge horizontally like a chest freezer and mount the danfoss vertically to work?
Moisture freezing in the system is not the problem. The oil in compressors is hydrophobic and absorbs the moisture which in turn creates an acid that will destroy the compressor from within. That's why a good vacuum has to be pulled on the system. In a vacuum, any moisture will boil, turn to steam and be sucked out by the pump.
Actually it's moisture that absorbs in the oil and then freezes and blocks the capillary and stops the fridge working as soon as it gets cold. Usually its compressor burn out that causes acidic oils
Very good explanation. Thanks!
Hello good video, I have a compresor Secop BDF35-HD, and my frigde is 87 L two door, my question is what capilare do I use for my frigde, thank you for your information.
I'm way late to this party, but that isn't the "silver solder" that hvac folks refer to. At a minimimum you're going to want something like stay brite, which is like 5% or so silver and still works with a weak torch, but many techs will insist on 45% higher requiring mapp or even acetylene to braze it on. The stuff you have just has enough smidge of silver to use the word and dupe people. Can you use it? Sure, obviously. But you aren't getting the benefits of silver, namely higher strength and vibration / fatigue resistance. Otherwise, fantastic vid!
15% is the most commonly used. 45% is used for dissimilar metals and other special applications.
Thank u for taking the time to explain the steps & theory of making ur own compressor fridge/freezer. I learned it's possible to make one yourself.
If u had showed in the video step by step how u did each process, that would help me better. Especially since I know nothing about fridg/freezer. Also the video volume is to low. I had to turn my TV way up to hear u.
A “perfect vacuum” is 0 µm. You will not be able to pull a vacuum or charge the system with the fitting that you have. It does not depressed to Schrader valve.
there's a pin in the r134a quick-connector fitting that depresses the schrader valve.
Just wondering if you have any idea of an ETA when you'll be making the step-by-step video you mentioned in another post.
Waiting till I can find a relatively cheap or free donor fridge. Just got a tank yesterday for recycling the refrigerant. It's in the works.
@@InflamedBallz any idea yet if this video will be coming soon? Thanks!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙂Excellent. Plus excellent & calm voice for videos. 🙏🏻
You are a very smart young man. Well done video.
Nice job , how's it working? does in draw less watts than the 110v ?
could it be connected to a direct PV panel with a Buck converter only.. without a battery??
The 101N0400 model inverter unit for the bd35f can be connected directly to the solar panel even without a buck converter. But if you get clouds or coverage and the voltage and the current drops too low, the compressor will stop, which is typically why these systems use a battery or a ultra-capacitor bank as a buffer. The link below is their different inverter units. The solar panel needs to be rated to provide enough current to run the compressor. assets.danfoss.com/documents/DOC024186435113/DOC024186435113.pdf
@@InflamedBallz thanks a lot.. I found that the solar controller is specified for bd35f which it is about 153 watt.. could it be installed on a bigger compressor capacity? And thanks again for sufficient answer
Thank you for making this video, and thanks to you others for all the comments. Just what I need for my off grid projects & others I hope to help here.
Can you provide a set of model #'s of Danfoss compressors that will work for this purpose? I wish to build a 10-20 cu ft. chest freezer. Thanks!
Depends on how big you want. I think most common are the bd35f and bd50
I want to build 12v freezer also. Let me know what you figure.
Excellent video, one small problem, that's not silver solder, it may have some silver in it but it's not the same as silver solder.
My fridge says r600a gas to be used?
Is this what it needs or the gas you have used?
I have the Danfoss bd35f
What connection did you use on the process tube to connect the guage to charge the compressor ?
process tube came with a universal 1/4'' r12 schrader valve brazed on. I used an automotive r12 female to r134a male quick connect retrofit adapter (low side) to connect to the gauge. something like this. most automotive stores will carry the adapter. www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/red-tek-air-conditioning-low-side-conversion-fitting-0146124p.html
In Canada stuff on the shelf is hydrocarbon like you said. It's funny when we agrue with the "professionals" they don't believe be it's propane lol
if you live 3/4 the year with clouds, were are you getting your 12 volt power?
Good for sharing! I have a Domestic CFX 28 and circuit board has failed. I can salvo all parts and do what you did to put back in service
if the circuit board (top control board) is fried, and not the control unit attached to the motor, then you should probably be able to just rig up an external thermostat and connect your 12v directly to the control unit to bypass the bad top control board. if the control unit attached to the motor is bad, you'll need a new controller to drive the motor. it runs on 3 phase power off the control unit, similar to an ebike motor.
Could you add a link to where you buy.
Or even a description of the product link.
Where is a decent place to have these compressers shipped to Canada? Might do Aliexpress and buy a few. Convert a few. We are running freezer and fridge off our 3000 watt pure sine.
This was an excellent video, I'm looking at the same conversion into a 240v fridge from the from my leaky 24v Chinese fridge, we had it re gassed and it only lasted 2 weeks. I got the 210litre fridge for $50 au , so wist me Lucy, the only problem is it has a fan in the freezer and I'll have to put a 24v on in.
Hi i am looking foward to do the same protect as you did in this video. I got one question and is how much time can the fridge run on the battery you have there without charging it. My protect is for a boat that has a 12v fridge, but I want to upgrade to a bigger one but the prices are really high so I want to buy a 110v bigger fridge and adapt a 12v compressor. I always have my battery charger turned on but when I am navigating it's off so that's why I am asking how long can it last without charging it thanks!
Did you end up attempting a build for your boat? The consumption of the fridge depends on the amount of insulation, the outside temperature, whether the fridge has a freezer or not, and the litre capacity of the fridge. The better the conditions, the less the compressor will cycle to maintain temps. While the compressor is on it's drawing about 60w depending on the rpm setting it's at. You wanna make sure your 12v compressor is sized properly for the system or it will be overworked.
Good video and I hope you don't take my comment as a detraction. R134 compressors have oil inside. The name of the oil is POE for short. This oil absorbs water from the air very easy. When moisture mixes with POE oil it turns to a very strong acid that will eventually cause the windings inside of the compressor to fail. So, you never want to let a system that uses R134 open to the air for more than 5 -6 minutes. In other words, you must cut and solder on each compressor line very fast to avoid moisture getting into the system, then you have to vacuum the system out with a good two stage vacuum pump for at least 10 hours. It is preferable to vacuum it out for 24 hours, those pumps are designed to run that long. This way the very low vacuum will cause all the moisture to boil out of the system preventing premature failure. If you want to make it really efficient, use cupronickel brake line to make a heat exchanger and put it in a ten gallon water tank instead of using the condenser.
how does the r12 or r22 get high in the sky to deplete the o3 ? r12 and r22 both are heavier then air as witnessed by the warnings of using in enclosed spaces ( displaces the oxyger/air in the confined areas)
Or do they just...............FALL UP THERE?
Dupont had the patent on these, when their patent ran out they created this scare so they could sell their new product.
I have fridge with r600 gas inside,could I put bd35 danffos and r134 in?
KundaliniKid, How about an update on your DIY Danfoss swap. Is it still working after a year? Have you been using it every day? Been watching Craigslist, but haven't found a used Danfoss yet.
I actually sold my van along with the fridge, but it was still running great when I sold it. Any luck finding a 12v compressor? I recently purchased one in China from purswave for $90 canadian dollars. Not sure what the international shipping fees would be buying it online. You can also search classifieds for "12v" fridge and see if anyone is selling one that lost their refrigerant and needs a recharge, usually at a low price.
Next time just replace the inverter's on/off switch with the thermostat... and you saved yourself quite a buck.
Any tips on how to do this?
@@chasewatkins3096 if you have to ask that question you should stay clear of anything close to mains voltages... untill you learned enough about electricity, electric circuits and electricity safety
As you implied the new compressor is most likely AC and it only has an efficient inverter coming along. My question is why didn't you try to use only the inverter in new compressor and incorporate it with your fridge's existing compressor?
The compressor powered by a BDLC direct current motor. The inverter that comes with the danfoss powers the brushless motor at around 30v+ dc, so connecting the danfoss inverter unit to a standard 110v fridge compressor would either damage the inverter unit or the compressor itself.
4:30 - How did you collect the old refrigerant?... You should mention that the refrigerant is toxic (but low) and it is illegal to release the green house refrigerant at open air with out a proper machine to collect it. 6:10 - you pick the refrigerant based on what danfoss tells you, one can not just simply use a butane refrigerant with an A/C compressor specifically designed for 134A or what not.
WARNING. Do NOT do this if the compressor/refrigerator says R290 or R600. R290 is propane and R600 is butane. Both are highly combustible. If you see any warning about fire or explosion, they speak for themselves. Otherwise, thank you for the video! Just trying to look out for the DIY-ers out there.
thanks matts!
So how 50 grams of propane present any danger? Just cut off the pipes and let it go...
hello :) you look very knowledgable with fridges :)
i have the same compressor in my vitrifrigo i90 fridge, i have it new since 3 years( so no warrenty anymore ) since that long it took to make my van ready :s. i have it plugged in, and fridge is cooling just fine, but it keeps on . so it turns the compressor on it becomes warm, the fridge inside is the right cool temp. the compressor turns off.. but within a minute of 4, it turns back on for a minute or 5, than back of, and so on.. even after one night it keeps on turning on.. the seals are brandnew, the fridge is brandnew :) do you have maybe any idea what it could be ? it's on a 12v battery. Thanks in advance
Brilliant video. One of my pipes broke. Now I know how to fix it. I can only find r134a with leak repair in the EU. Is it really that bad? Also could you share a link of the quick connect? Not sure what to order. Many thanks again
If you are in the EU its illegal for you to fill it yourself unless you have an Fgas certificate and are registered as a refrigerant handler.
This why standard refrigerant is not available to buy for the public. Actually you should not be able to buy gas at all but some slips through the net.
You are obviously very knowedgeable and I most def learned from this video but I would have learned more if you actually recorded you doing every step instead of only explaining it though. Anyway thanks for the share!
great video, but don't try it, they'll waste your money, if you don't believe it then go ahead. You do not use right refrigerant gas, welding, correct pipe, vacuum, charge, pressure, etc, it is a different capillary gas r290, or r600, the working pressures totally different from r134, this job its possible what you are doing but you cannot skip the basic technical steps .. I I'm sure that's cool but that doesn't mean it's okay, it will only work for a while. look there is something simpler and much cheaper take a 300w peak start inverter, some real 130w , 150w, use the original refrigerator thermostat to turn the linverter on and off so it will not be on all the time just when the unit calls for cold. use the two cables that are connected to the compressor starter, the 115v output of the inverter to the compressor starter, the 115v ac plug of the refrigerator to 12v dc, just make sure the polarity to the inverter power input, take the 115v ac cable as reference Negative black cable, positive white cable, but check the polarity well, with this you will not spend more than $ 50 in inverter, and some $ 120 in refrigerator. I'm refrigeration, electric, electronic tech.. good luck and thanks.
use the two cables that are connected to the compressor starter, the 115v output of the inverter to the compressor starter, the 115v ac plug of the refrigerator to 12v dc, just make sure the polarity to the inverter power input, take the 115v ac cable as reference Negative black cable, positive white cable, but check the polarity
Connect inverter to battery, output of inverter to refrigerator starter.
The 115 volt refrigerator plug to dc? When you connect the inverter to the starter on the refrigerator wouldn’t that bypass the refrigerator plug?
Where to buy a 12V Danfoss compressor in Europe?
Thanks for this video. But how many Btu/hr can the compressor handle and how do I size it condenser because I want to experiment what you have done.
thanks for the comment Toyin. I suggest you look at the danfoss specifications for their line of compressors to see the cubic centimetre cooling capacity. In terms of sizing a condenser. If you want an estimate in terms of sizing of a condenser, I would look at the condenser sizing of similar production fridges to those within the cubic centimetre cooling capacities of danfoss's specs and take a look at the sizing of condensers on the 12v danfoss fridges sold in stores. If you want to get down to the exact sizing math, I'm probably not your guy as I'm not a refrigerator tech myself.
2:30 Watt is a rate. X number of watts per day doesn't make any sense. It's like saying I'm going a speed of 55mph per day. As a result, we have no idea what you were trying to say.
Good job man!
Great how-to vid! Very valuable info :D
Quality content as always!
can you test the lines by filling them with something cheaper (that shows leaks well) ?
The cheapest way i can think of is you can pull vacuum and leave it for a few days and see if the pressure decreases or not. if you're trying to locate a leak they do make products with dye/uv dye but I wasn't able to source it myself.
Nitrogen is whats normally used.
@@JM-yx1lm You can also pressurize it with air... as long as you vacuum it back out before it contaminates the ester oil
Hi great video thank you I live in Langley how would you like to come to Langley and install one for me seriously
Thank you for the video. Question about the Electronic Controller: did you say that it was an inverter? Since its input is 12 volt dc, what is its output voltage? I'm asking because in case it's output is 110 v AC, perhaps instead of replacing the compressor, all is needed would be to add this Electronic Controller, between the 12v battery and the AC compressor. What do you think?
hey thanks man. the output voltage of the danfoss inverter around 30 volts or so. but i don't think it's pure A/C that the compressor runs on but a special waveform from the inverter. you should look into it more. you can run a 110v a/c household fridge off of a standard power inverter but it will be inefficient and the inverter will use lots of power when the fridge is not running. these danfoss compressors are specially designed to have low start up current and be more efficient running of of low voltage dc power sources.
i was thinking about that,but you have to put it between the thermostat and engine,like at the danfoss compressor.All you have to do is actually place an invertor to your ac110v compressor.Is same thing without paying that amount of money on the danfos compressor.
No the danfoss compressor is like a variable frequency/ voltage drive inverter for the compressor. Very efficient like a miniature mini- split A/C system.
Great video by a very smart young man.
Uzi, you mentioned the output of the Danfoss controller, is this something you looked any further into? It would be interesting to see if your suggestion could work to simply plug the Danfoss controller into a standard fridge compressor. I've done some testing of the Danfoss controller on the bench with and I only seem to see 9v AC which surely can't be right?
uzi aloush the danfoss compressor itself has a 30-volt, 3-phase ac motor hermetically sealed inside it. the controller is a VFD (variable frequency drive) with a 12-24vdc input. the controller monitors the load on the motor and adjusts the frequency to keep the current draw as low as possible without stalling the motor, so the motor uses as little power as possible. that's what makes the danfoss system work so efficiently. for this reason it would be impossible to use the danfoss controller with any high-voltage ac compressor.
How do I size the correct compressor bd35 or bd 50 for a 4.4 cu Sanyo Sr-433S fridge ?
Hey Philco72, you can look at the cubic cm of the fridge and compare it to the danfoss specification sheet for how many cubic cm each compressor model is suited for cooling.
The Danfoss is also manufacturend in China afaik.
Under secop
could it be used in a small deep freezer?
the BD35F can cool up to a 80L freezer, if you want to go larger you'll have to look into the bd50f or some of compressor line by Purswave
Excellent! But I wish you film the conversion & soldering process as well.
And afaik you should weight the agent while filling up.
Stay tuned in the coming months. I got my hands on another 12v compressor unit to make a more professional video that will be step-by-step. Just need to get back to Canada first!
Well done, thanks for the video.
What about oil?
I will give you my final thought first and that is I like this video very much. thank you. What follows is what I wrote after watching only about one third of the video, but I wanted to keep it in. So.....
So what did you do with the old refrigerant? I hope you didn't just release it into the atmosphere. That stuff is killing the planet. You should redo this video, which is a good video, and show how to capture the old refrigerant and store it. If done correctly, it can also be used to refill the new system. It is required by most governments to capture the old stuff and not let it escape.
Also, I don't think you did a vacuum of the system, or did you and I missed it? I only know about this stuff because I tried to fix my own truck's AC and none of the auto AC repair places would capture my old refrigerant for less than fifty US dollars. In my humble opinion, ALLL smog check places should be required to do this free of charge and make it so they get to keep the refrigerant and sell it back to the government sort of like the CRV on bottles and cans. Recycling centers are paid by California for the CRV container plus they get to keep the materials and sell it to someone who will reuse it in a new product. So its a win-win-win scenario.
And wouldn't you know it. I paused the video so I could write all this, and When I returned you were going over what I just said. My impatience again. Carry On
Nice vid!!!
You need a vacuum pump to vacuum the sytem before filling!
Link de compra ???
Hi, Full of Knowledge Video I want to buy large quantity of Fridge compressors for export. Suggest me please where i cant find at good price.
Still interested? I have 5 or 6 used ones but I can get a bunch more. Any size I can get them for you
Ok, you totally skpped the part about changing the interior and exterior fans to 12 volts
Don... Great job. How about a building a complete new system separated from freezer/frig for homemade boxes made to fit in RV's or boats?
that's totally possible. they sell kits where you can buy the evaporator and the compressor with press fittings that are already pre charged so you can put them in any box you want but they're pricey.
@@InflamedBallz Yep, very pricey.
I really enjoyed this video, just to get an idea how to make a Danfoss work with the icebox in my 25' sailboat. I know I'll have more modifications to make than using a pre-existing box, but this was good solid info for me. I'm probably going to end up fashioning a new box out of fiberglass, as the existing icebox is tiny. Still switching over to the Danfoss system will beat the hell out of taking the dinghy in every day for ice!
Thanks much for the vid! I have a little better handle on what I need to do now!
The Danfrost is just a AC Compressor with a Inverter mounted to it. Where can I find a proper DC Inverter. (Meaning where the motor actually runs on DC voltage and not AC)
Why you want DC it has carbon brush
@@samueladitya1729 I am looking for pure DC driven Compressor (dont want to go through an inverter) Solar Panel = DC to Batteries store DC now you have to covert DC to AC (220 or 110) loosing about 30% energy in the process
@@philliplabuschagne5508 ST14DC12H looks nice. it's 12v BLDC motor which mean 3 phase permanent magnet motor with 3 phase inverter. pretty small size for the output.
@@philliplabuschagne5508 did you ever find anything?
R290 works just fine.
How about the wiring
you need a R600a compressor to run propane/isobutane refrigerant
I just use butane lighter grade has to be filtered and I recharge just using the vapour they don't need much I pull a vacuum first it's a very good refrigerant and cheap to. Have you ever tried it. I use LPG gas in my car aircon it works the best I only put about 400 grams in the car one it's super cold. But always pull a vacuum first.
So That’s just a compress with a built in converter🤔
Where is the savings in electric? It’s still a 115v compressor!
it's not from what I understand. it has different windings from a household compressor to operate at a lower voltage. it also operates at variable speeds and is 3 phase.
I don't know what the model of the compressor used in the video is but I know the Danfoss bd35f compressor is dc powered. The converter on the side of the compressor is actually a brush-less speed controller and the compressor its self has a BLDC (Brush-less DC) motor inside not an ac one. Although if you wanted to you could probably make it run on a vfd off of ac power.
Joshua Kiser probably not. The three phase brushless motors require a speed controller to operate.
The only one glaringly big problem with this video is that its totally illegal to do unless you have an Fgas certificate and are licensed as a business as a refrigerant handling company. So it’s definitely not DIY unless you want to pay £1000 for a weeks training and then buy all the gear to do it. This should not be on here. Massive fines from the EA in the Uk if you are found handling refrigerants illegally. Nobody should legally sell refrigerant to anyone without a refrigerant handling certificate and through normal channels this is the case.
Do you want to make a video how to dispose of refrigerant safely .There is a lot of free fridge donation. I would have liked to have dismantled a compressor from the refrigerator but for safety reasons I do not do it because I do not know how to evacuate the refrigerant in a safe way.
I tried this conversion using a 12v Danfoss compressor and a pretty much identical fridge/freezer to the one used here in the video. The "donor" unit was fully working on 240v AC before I chopped out the original compressor so I know it was fine before starting the conversion.
So far I've not been able to get it fully working, the fridge holds gas properly and the compressor will run correctly but it's not cooling well at all, the freezer works great but the fridge isn't cooling plus the compressor gets really hot, it has never reached temperature and cut out on the thermostat as it should do so far.
Anyone know what I might have done wrong?
Too much gas, too little gas?
Maybe the wrong gas?
Maybe the compressor isn't working properly, it runs and makes pressure, I tested it before installation?
Maybe the compressor isn't powerful enough for a fridge/freezer, it was originally out of an under counter marine fridge with small ice box?
The fridge should use R600a but the compressor uses R134a, I used R134a to charge the fridge, should I try R600a instead?
Might be an issue that requires some compressor oil when topping in the new gas.
Your doner fridge probably used a fan to circulate air between the freezer and fridge. That fan would be an ac motor... if you figure out where that fan is you may be able to swap it for a dc fan but idk
you cannot use 134a on a r600 fridge.
Are you saying you can't install an R134a compressor on a previously r600 fridge? I can't see why you can't do that and install R134a refrigerant. Why wouldn't that work?@@Az-hn7xi
Walmart Canada sells refrigerant but its for cars here, not sure what the number is off the top of my head
Most cars use r134a, same as in this dude's fridge, my danfoss compressor and my 110v mini fridge.
Cool video !
Vacume process 14:30