If you have an old Adler Barbour compressor unit I have a couple of suggestions. Mine is at least 30 years old, has had a lot of use and is still going strong. As mentioned, where you position the compressor makes a lot of difference: As a delivery guy, I have been flummoxed by the terrible places folks have put these devices--their job is to shed heat collected from your box. Putting them in a hot place makes them work very hard. The other thing is putting a more efficient fan on them. Some of these very early units came with an energy guzzling dc motor fan. Later versions came with a minuscule computer fan. I put a larger computer fan on my compressor and put a very small computer fan in the box (to circulate the cold off the bottom where it collects. Also, put covers over the drain holes to prevent the cold from pouring into the bilge. These efforts resulted in more than a 30% reduction in power usage. I was able to freeze everything in the box in the the tropics. It makes a difference. Of course, the folks at the boat shows will not have much incentive to tell you these cheap fixes. Much rather sell you a new system. Ray Durkee. "Velera"
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