‘Kekoa’ – 47′ vessel with recent Combi IV installation.
I am more than happy with the installation and the after sales service, which has been excellent. JEC has been on hand to fix the minor problems that have eventuated, but they didn’t cause me any down time.
The space savings are remarkable, being such a compact unit, with everything incorporated into one. On a smaller vessel, it allows room for more important things.
I can see huge potential for the product and it is well ahead of it’s time – it’s sure to become the standard in years to come.
Captain Luke Fallon
GFV Kekoa
In fact, production boat builders could learn a lot from the amazingly simple systems on Kekoa. Where as many reported Yankee battle wagons are reliant on 240V power and a genset or two to run everything from fridges to bait tank pumps, O'Brien prefers virtually infallible (or is that inFallonible?) DC systems. "The only reason you have to run the generator on Kekoa is for the air-conditioning and half the fridges" explains Capt Fallon as we scuttle through the accommodating engine room that, compared to his previous boat, is a dream for the full-time skipper to work in. Should your generator give up the ghost mid-charter, no worries, you can carry on fishing and living aboard.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other smart things about Kekoa. A JEC Combi multiple water-cooled marine condensing unit is used for the air-con, water maker, onboard gurney or pressure washer and bait freezers. An engine-driven compressor powers all he boat's freezers, instead of a generator. The dual-core system can be run off the engine.
Blue Water Magazine
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614KB
BlueWater Boats & Sportsfishing Magazine, Issue 63, 'Master Craft' by David Lockwood www.bluewatermag.com.au
O'Brien Boats selected to install the JEC Combi system in the last two 47ft game fishing vessels launched – Sir Reel and Kekoa. We chose the Combi system for these vessels primarily for the space savings it would provide and the efficiencies of DC power. I've never seen marine refrigeration cool freezer deck boxes from 35° to -20° in just 80 minutes. Over a heavy tackle marlin season of seventy days with 60% full deck boxes, we found that seven hours of trawling was sufficient to freeze the eutectic freezer boxes without needing additional refrigeration overnight. Some other advantages we found is that you can reduce the size of the generator needed for AC power and there are also no problems with compressor surges popping out circuit breakers on shore due to the soft-start feature of the Combi. You can draw about about 50% more power from a circuit breaker, which means that you can run more appliances without any problems. I would recommend anybody installing marine refrigeration to consider the JEC Combi System.
Peter O'Brien
Boat Builder
O'Brien Boats Pty. Ltd.
www.obrienboats.com.au
'Sir Reel' – 47' vessel with recent Combi IV installation.
I used the Combi unit during the Cairns Black Marlin season on the Great Barrier Reef everyday for 3 months in 2006 and I must say the unit worked like a charm. It was the first real test for the unit and although as expected we did have a few teething problems, the overall performance of the unit was exceptional. The Combi is one of the best engineered pieces of equipment I have ever seen and is so well made it should be in service for many years. I especially like the compactness of the unit and the weight savings made by only having one unit instead of four stand alones. This is extremely important in a 14 metre game boat. In addition, the after sales service from both Paul Jindra from JEC and Peter O'Brien from O'Brien Boats was outstanding and nothing was a problem.
Captain Laurie Wright
GFV Sir Reel
Australian Fishing Expeditions
www.australianfishingexpeditions.com