Max Burton fridge/freezer

[SternWake]

One of my Online contacts has a Norcold with a Sawfuji from perhaps mid eighties, early 90's.


He recently replaced all the capacitors and started it up slowly on AC, using a Variac, and it worked properly.

He reported the sound level as being VERY quiet.  I had warned him of the possibility of it being a noise and vibration machine, and he inspected the compressor mounting method and bushings and found them lacking and spent some time making sure it was isolated as intended beforehand.

While I spent much time trying to quieten mine, apparently my compressor was just not well balanced and perhaps the rubber isolation method employed was not the right density for the frequency it was trying to dampen.  There are wide reports of Sawafjui compressors either being quiet or, not so much.

I think there will be some variation of the noise levels on all fridges, even of the same make and model in this regard, but the more data the better.  Is there an App for measuring DB's via a smartphone?  Perhaps we can accumulate data points to help future fridge buyers in their product decision.

 

[regis101]

Yep.  Yep.  And yep.  
One of my first thoughts is how does the compressor mount?  My line of work has me playing with large(ish) transformers in the electrical construction industry.  One of the pre-checks is whether or not the winding encapsule is snubber mounted and with a tag stating to loosen mounting bolts before energizing due to pre-shipping procedure. blah blah.

I see that this fridge/freezer gets its noise from the compressor and the cooling fan.  The external skeletal venting covering is plastic and shows room for improvement.  

After I get over the cooling temp learning curve, I'll investigate additional sound proofing.  Or not.  It's not that bad.

This style of cooling appliance has no internal circulating fan.  So... I have to learn that things at the bottom of the basket will be colder than things near the top.  Case in point.  The thermo placed at the bottom can read 30* while the thermo placed at the lid can read 45* .  What the...?

It's been running for two full days with a bag of apples on house current.  It's actually a bit quieter now vs when first lit up.  I'm glad I bought this.  It's much better than the many years of accumulated ice purchases.  Now onto the Solar but I don't want to hi-jack this thread .

Peace, ~RL

 

[SternWake]

My Norcold had a passive condenser and a fan which would only come on if the temperature in the area exceeded 115F or something like that..


I basically powered this 24v fan on 12v always and had very good ventilation of it.  I had hooked up 2 louder  60MM fans to come on switched by fridge electronics, but only heard them fire up once on a very hot day, and found my wiring to 24v fan had been compromised.

My danfoss powered vitrifrigo has a radiator type of condenser with a 120mm computer fan mounted to it.

Some might prefer the passive condenser rather than one with a fan, but not me.  The danfoss's condenser allowed me to suck coolest possible ambient air from van floor, filter it, then force it through the condenser once, and out of the immediate area  of the cooling unit.

I also run a 12v 0.03 amp 40MM fan inside my  front loader fridge which runs 24/7 and blows into the freezer compartment . I tapped into the LED light for power  It keeps the internal box temps within 3 degrees of each other taking readings everywhere within with my IR temp gun, where without it there was a 15 degree difference from warmest to coolest spot like you measured.  Also the internal fan allows me to use a setting of ~2.3 of 7 to maintain 32.5f, where as without this fan I need a setting of almost 4 of 7, and the coldest parts would be 25f and the warmest spot would be 39.  With the fan and a setting of 2.3 of 7 and coldest is 29.5 and warmest is 33f.

Regis, sounds like you got some DIY skills, and intentions.

The 12v 120MM Noctua NF-f12 fan draws only 0.05 amps and is very quiet as long as there is no restriction directly behind the fan blades.  I bet you could mount if to force cooler air into the cooling unit area and overall the fridge would use less battery power as the duty cycle would be shorter when the compressor runs.  Switching it to come on with compressor might be trickier.

 The Noctua fans also come with two inline resistor cables to slow and quieten the fan even more, as well as reduce the amp draw, and the 'ultra low noise cable' makes the fan basically silent.  It moves 53cfm without the cables.  Huge volumes of air movement are not required, just make it so the condenser is not baking in air itself has not already heated, will make a big improvement in its efficiency.  Many people give fridge coolling unit ventilation no thought at all, or restrict it due to interior ergonomics.

I never bothered employing the resistor cables on my Noctua NF-f12 moiunted on my condenser, as i cannot hear the fan anyway in my cabinet, and its 0.05 amp draw is much less than the 0.12 amps of the fan that came installed on the fridge.  The original fan was mounted to pull air through condenser, I mounted Noctua to push air through it, and this lesser CFM and amp draw fan instantly reduced the duty cycle, and was significantly quieter, and draws ~70% less juice to do so.

They might be 'just fine' out of the box, but with a little spit and polish can be so much better than 'just fine'

 

[tx2sturgis]

Looks like a nice unit for the price, and yes the Max Burton products (mainly simple cooking and heating appliances that run on 12v) have been in truck stops for years, mostly geared to those of us living a 24/7 mobile lifestyle.

I have a question....how sturdy is the lid? From the pictures it looks a bit...flimsy.

Any chest-type cooler I use needs to be strong enough to function as a stool or chair for sitting on, and that one doesnt look like it would handle my weight. I guess you could build up a plywood top with a cushion, that might work.

My Yeti's will handle me standing on them or sitting...I've even jumped on it!

Not an issue for 99% of the buyers, but for me, it matters.

Thanks!

 

[regis101]

I have confidence to stand on it.  The Coleman 70qt has more bounce.  The lid is hard plastic.  It seats firmly on the deck.  The hinges are plastic, spring loaded and uses a steel ~1/8" hinge pin.  The four pins on the body are 3/16". The lid hinges from either side or removes.  This is a 3 hun dollar delivered to my door portable fridge freezer.  If I respect it, it should last a good while.  
Burning up bandwidth here.  Sorry Bob

 

[Ballenxj]

I have confidence to stand on it. 

These are pics of the Max Burton?

 

[regis101]

Ah, yes. Is this a trick question?

 

[Ballenxj]

  Is this a trick question?

  Yes, apparently it is. Actually, I've not seen detail shots of it before.

 

[regis101]

No worries. Just funnin' ya.
This is the 37 qt model. Lemme know if anyone needs more pic's.

 

[Tomcor]

So can both sections be set to just a fridge? Can you program the small side to be a freezer and the big side to be a fridge? How does the temperature programming work?

 

[mayble]

I just got the bigger Max Burton (53 qt) about a week ago.  Two sections, one temperature control.
The control is for the larger section, and the smaller section runs warmer.  You can have a large(ish) freezer and tiny frig section, or a larger frig and tiny "cooler than a hot van but warmer than a frig" section (good for meds and such).
I'm experimenting with a bit of foam in the larger section, keeping frozen stuff on the bottom and other stuff above it.  It looks like it will work fairly well but it's a PITA to get to the ice cubes on the bottom; a couple of baskets or trays will make that easier.
For $359 it was worth a try and I'm not a bit disappointed.  It seems sturdy and it's quiet.  So far so good.

 

[anm]

Ciggy plug rant # 659384

This one will be short.

They suck.
...

I agree with SternWake on this, cigar lighters were made to light cigars, not power crucial — possibly high current — equipment 24/7. So I cut the cigar lighter socket off the AC power supply and the plug off the freezer cable and put Anderson PowerPole connectors on both as well as putting the same connectors on both sides of the power meter I bought. Then I ran a wire from an unused fuse on the Blue Seas fuse block to where the freezer will be and put an APP connector on it too.
The Anderson PowerPole connectors are a little finicky to crimp, insert into the terminals into plastic housings, slip the dovetails together, and insert the roll pin. I also added a short length of heat shrink around each APP connector for security. I made sure I made each connector identical so they would be completely interchangeable — I can plug the freezer into an AC outlet, or with the cigar plug on it into a cigar lighter socket, or connect it directly to the house-wiring in my van, and I can put the power meter into the line in any of these configurations.
I've been using the 37qt Max Burton for over a month now and it has been running as expected, even the sometimes hot van temperatures don't seem to effect it too much as long as I don't open and close it excessively, and with the Anderson PowerPole connectors I don't have to worry about the cigar lighter plug coming loose...

 

[SternWake]

APPs are pretty darn good I agree, but can be finicky on crimping on the 45 amp versions. I've never used the roll pins or their locking devices. I've found that when the connector might be unplugged from wire weight or other physical stress on the wire, then a paper clamp/ binder clip works pretty well at keeping them together.

My outdoor APP's get 'amazing goop' covering the backside where the wires enter the connector, and the contacts themselves are stuffed with Dielectric grease

Hooking the wattmeter inline on any device via the APP's is great. Especially on a charging source.

 

[John61CT]

How would these go as a dedicated freezer, enough oomph in hot weather do you think?

Hooking the wattmeter inline on any device via the APP's is great. Especially on a charging source.

Which wattmeter do you use for that? Do you think it's more accurate than the clamping style?

 

[anm]

APPs are pretty darn good I agree, but can be finicky on crimping on the 45 amp versions.  I've never used the roll pins or their locking devices.  I've found that when the connector might be unplugged from wire weight or other physical stress on the wire,  then a paper clamp/ binder clip works pretty well at keeping them together.

My outdoor APP's get 'amazing goop' covering the backside where the wires enter the connector, and the contacts themselves are stuffed with Dielectric grease

Hooking the wattmeter inline on any device via the APP's is great.  Especially on a charging source.

One thing I really liked about the Anderson PowerPole (other than they really work!) was the fact that any of these connecters — 15a, 30a, and 45a will fit in the same plastic housing, and a 45a connecter can be mated with a 15a or 30a connector. Size doesn't matter! Of course the 30a connector can't handle the current of a 45a connector, but they work when joining wires of different sizes — the power meter had 10awg wire where as the Max Burton wire was 16awg (I think...)...

 

[Silver6gen]

Ok so I must have bought one of the first Max burton 37qt's when they came out.  I couldn't find a single word mentioned about them anywhere on the interwebs.  Just the sales literature.

Well either way I pulled the trigger and I have to say that I've been thoroughly impressed.  I usually have it set to about 18 degrees F on the control panel, it holds a range of 15-23 based on my wireless calibrated thermometer that I stuck inside the freezer section.  

I have added insulation. I added a base layer of reflectix, on the top, sides and bottom.  Then I provide an air gap with 1/2" styrofoam strips which are sheathed by another layer of reflectix.  Rough calcs say it should add about another R-10 to the system, YMMV.  I did notice that it helped reduce the duty cycle during the hot days.  I also keep two decent size ice packs, misc food and drinks in the freezer to provide some thermal mass.  I'd estimate that on average its at 75% capacity.

On the power front my rig has a dual battery setup, but even with that it sits for weeks at a time so I installed a 100w  (21.5v Open) solar panel to the roof.  Its peak output is around 5-6amps under direct sunlight.  I installed "max" and he has been running since I bought him in March 2017.  24/7 with the very occasional break. 

So now with the back story out of the way let me relay my experiences:

1) The insulative quality of the base unit is not adequate for hot climates, you may be able to retrofit an Engle insulation bag for it.  
2) Its fairly quiet
3) With my solar setup I've never had to link my Aux battery to turn over the engine. Even after weeks of not driving.
4) The display is BRIGHT, would love it if there was a photocell to kick it down at night
5) Occasionally it will go into a Fault Mode where it blinks the CAUTION light three times consecutively.  NOTE: I couldn't find anything pertaining to this unit/ manufacturer regarding this trouble code.  However I did come across a note in a Dometic manual that three blinks means 'overpressure / compressor stall'.  It always clears itself and kicks back up in a couple minutes, I've noticed this happens more if you 'hard shut down' the unit by unplugging it during its cycle.  Perhaps its how the compressor parks itself, or its just waiting for the condensers pressure to normalize.  I stopped caring after a couple weeks when I noticed it didn't impact its performance.
6) I gave it a true test last week, 110 degrees outside which logged 130 degrees in the car.  The items inside Max were still frozen, albeit the compressor sounded like it was protesting the working conditions.  I believe it was running 80-90% (normal is like 20-30%) duty cycle during these times and it was left in those conditions for 3 days.  Once I came home I shut it down and gave the old guy a rest.

Overall I'm very very impressed. 
Heres the rig Max lives in:

Here Max is:

 

[John61CT]

Excellent, thanks for the report.

Isn't at least one side "hot", exhaust air needing to be vented away rather than enclosed?

I always visualises 4-5 sides of, rigid foam in a space where the unit slides in, with the hot side facing an outbound vent.

I figured batteries, inverter, any other heat-producing devices would be situated to share that vented/exhaust space.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Heres the rig Max lives in:

Thats a very nice looking four-by...I can't tell exactly what it is...the hood louvers might be a hint to someone familiar...its it a Land Rover?

I notice that you have the exact same little tunable CB antenna as I have on the fender lip. They work fairly well!

Oh yeah, thanks for the write-up on the MB fridge....I see those occasionally in the truck stops....I might have to end up with one.

 

[Ballenxj]

Ok so I must have bought one of the first Max burton 37qt's when they came out.  I couldn't find a single word mentioned about them anywhere on the interwebs.  Just the sales literature.
<--------->
Overall I'm very very impressed.

Thanks for your report and opinion. Engel may have a serious competitor here.

 

[jimindenver]

Thank you for the report. I have been telling people about them just based on this thread and the initial price was nothing short of wow. Last I looked they were up to $399 which is still a lot less than what I paid for a Engel. At the original price I wanted to buy one just to test it out but I don't have any more room nor do I need the space for food.

I am interested in how the fridge side was doing when it was so hot in the truck.