sorry for the confusion … I am not changing “from” Sea Frost, I am swapping my much older (maybe 15 years old and probably failed) SF compressor for a new one from Sea Frost. Cleve knows me well, he has been very helpful to me for years, I like his systems, I have two of them, I think they’re great. FWIW, I don’t know yet why the compressor failed … perhaps I let the charge get too low, perhaps there was a sudden leak I didn’t catch in time, perhaps after 15 years it was “time”.

I am a HUGE fan of Engine Driven refrigeration, I don’t know why more cruisers don’t have it. We also have a 12 V Sea Frost system, a Freezer Bin, in combo with the ED and separate Holding Plate our refrigeration works quite well, I’m very happy.

Yes, I always keep the Sea Frost belt as loose as possible, “just enough” as SG (and Richard) recommend. I start loose and will set it to where it just stops squealing. I keep it as loose as possible so I won’t damage the engine drive, it is considerably looser than my ALT belt.

And yes, this set-up has worked without problems for many years, so Dave has a point. We use the ED a lot, certainly every day we move and on some that we don’t, if we’re cruising 100 days a year, my guess is we average 75 days of ED running 1-2 hours/day. I need to replace the compressor and have always thought it should be attached to the engine, so now would be a good time … but if it gets complicated, it should be fine as it was.

Idler is a good idea, sounds like something I should look into.

Hey there Richard, thanks for chiming in … I tried to buy your book a few years ago, could not find it, now I see it !

PS > the engine is a 1986 Yanmar 4JHE w/4000 hours