Pensacola FL Sailing Blog - sailingnightwatch

Refrigerator. We installed the ac/dc stand up Norcold model that had been original equipment on the boat. They are proud of their product. About $1000.00. Had a $400 repair after about 3 years and then the compressor died after 5 years. Researched and found that was not abnormal. Time to shop. (One thing that happened during this time, inverters got bigger, better and a lot cheaper.) Kenmore – think Sears, makes a small apartment frig that was ½ inch to high of my opening. Remove the roller/levelers and it fits. Running through the inverter it uses about the same amount of power. Costs $300. In comparison, I conceder that a through away. I only wish it came with black plastic front and side panels. It would better match the Force 10 Stove and the microwave. It is a white-white. Matches the fire extinguisher perfectly.Inverters. As time has gone on I went from a small inverter that might run a hand tool to a 1800 watt inverter that runs all I want including the frig, 2 TV’s and a home theater system. I know, the cheap inverters will destroy my electronics. We are out sailing, at most, a week at a time because of our work schedules. I am on my second home theater system only because a port was open and a wave was blown onto the CD part of the system. The salt water ate the physical changer. New one is 6 years old. The main TV is a 19” that was my son-in-laws that he bought used when he was a freshman in college. It is at least 15 years old, survived a hurricane on the boat, one in a FEMA trailer that blew over and the TV bounced from one end of the trailer to the other. I want a flat screen so bad, and this thing (It’s a Sanyo) refuses to die. It got hit by the same wave that did in the home theater system and all it did was wash 10 years of dust off the picture tube. It has had hundreds of hours on a square wave inverter and it loves the stuff. I have recharged our cell phones and the lap top with the inverter and no problems to date. I have read many articles that say with the cheap inverter’s sine wave, I will fry the electronics. OK, when? Am I just lucky? Is there something I do not know?