Ice box cold plate

[Frank Langer]

Hi Brett, long time ago, I added an inch of foil-face rigid foam insulation to the inside 'roof' of our ice box. Also to the underside of the removable lid. EY had not done this. Makes a noticeable difference in maintaining the cold.

If, perchance, your ice box has an open hose draining melt water (and most of the cold air....) into the bilge, put a cork in it.

Another thing I did, after reading up on heat transfer into these little boxes was to put some thin soft foam "weather tape" on the underside of the lid edges where it rests on the internal flange. That makes a large difference. This considerably reduces the amount of outside moisture sneaking in to condense on the coils and ice them up.
Our '88 model has about 1.5 inches of rigid foam glued to the outside, but like you I have added another inch of closed cell foam to the three sides that I can reach.

It's kind of "a game of inches" where you just keep sealing it better and insulating it better and then...... one weekend cruise you notice that the reefer compressor is running well under half the time and your food is at 38 degrees, ... and.... life is good! The Admiral is happy, and you open a bottle of chilled wine.
Salud!!

Also, to prevent unnecessary opening of the lid to check on the little cheap thermometer I had left inside, I bought a little sender and remote display from Camping World so we can monitor the inside box temp while sitting at the nav table, just like real "yacht owners" might do!

Good luck, and here's to future cold drinks!

Brett,
There is a product that I saw in a hardware store that was about 1/4" thick and was intended to stick on the inside of an ice box, and provided good insulation. My wife didn't want to give up even a 1/4" of our refrigerator, so we didn't buy it. It might be a good solution for you.
Frank

 

[Sailingfun]

After very careful consideration, I decide to get an Engel icebox. It's basically the same without the hassle to run and install things inside the icebox.
I fact, I would love to remove the whole ice box thing and simply install an Engel freezer there.

 

[Chris Mc.]

Spray foam insulation (aerosol can) works really well and with the applicator straw, can be “squirted” where needed. I haven’t had the need for my ice box but I’ve used it with cheap coolers. Simply drilled small holes where needed and filled it with non-expanding insulation.
Just an idea in case you decide to ride it out.

 

[Christian Williams]

Refrigeration is a huge luxury. But if sticking with ice, buy blocks of it. Ice cubes are useless. Blocks last days in most sailboat iceboxes.

 

[wynkoop]

Loren-

Thanks so much for those tips. Looks like I need a cork and to insulate a bit more. I really like the seal around the edge of the lid.

 

[wynkoop]

Double Tap to use spray foam one needs some sort of access. In the 27 there is only access to two sides of the icebox unless one starts cutting bulkheads and the hull liner as far as I can tell.

 

[Chris Mc.]

Double Tap to use spray foam one needs some sort of access. In the 27 there is only access to two sides of the icebox unless one starts cutting bulkheads and the hull liner as far as I can tell.

1/4” drill bit and drilled from the inside and then seal the holes w/epoxy or silicon. Merely suggestions.

 

[wynkoop]

We are talking a large void and a great amount of foam to fill it from what I can tell. No real way to assure spray foam will adhere to the icebox. I also do not know if anything runs through there that I might not want foamed in place. I may know more about the void in the summer as it is looking more and more like I am going to have to get back there to discover what water damage I may have in that area since the wooden bulkhead aft of that area, which is glassed in, is showing signs of water damage.

 

[CTOlsen]

I installed an Isotherm SP unit about 8 years ago. It's been keeping my beer cold ever since, problem free. They are available through Defender Industries and other on-line sources, and can be installed without a professional installer.
Isotherm 2051 Compact SP Water Cooled Refrigeration Component System | Defender Marine

 

[Loren Beach]

I installed an Isotherm SP unit about 8 years ago. It's been keeping my beer cold ever since, problem free. They are available through Defender Industries and other on-line sources, and can be installed without a professional installer.
Isotherm 2051 Compact SP Water Cooled Refrigeration Component System | Defender Marine

Close fit under that sink. The copper lines must be close to the sink bottom. Can you adjust the setting on the 'stat and freeze the whole box??


Regarding the install, we would have to add several hundred $ for the haullout charge to replace the old sink thruhull. Looks like you would lose the option of shutting that particular thruhull, also. The fitting seems sturdy, but some friends of ours, living aboard down in SoCal about 20 years ago, had one of these (it was new on the market and quite a trick idea at the time) -- there might not have been an anode provided for it, and the internal tubing corroded thru & the coolant was lost.
Not sure what they replaced it with, either.

 

[CTOlsen]

Our unit fit nicely just forward of the sink opening. The install required poking a ~1" hole through the side of the ice box in order to allow the C134 lines to penetrate to the evaporator. Also, needed to increase the through hull seacock opening to accommodate the larger drain (and combination condenser). Of course, this requires haul out.
There are several combinations of this set up. You can choose between a combo freezer/refer, or just refer evaporator. We use the refer, but drinks on the bottom are normally frozen. We can run this unit all day and all night with hardly any draw from the batteries- the only load is the tiny compressor. If you didn't know there was a refer unit on board, you would surely not hear one in the silence of night at a still mooring.

 

[wynkoop]

Craig how big are your batteries?

 

[CTOlsen]

I have a pair of group 27 AGM batteries. They're on their 3rd season.
The biggest load on the batteries was during starting. I had a short to ground, which forced me to replace batteries every other year. After replacing the entire wiring harness, and adding a slave relay, my problems were solved.

 

[Tom Metzger]

I have a Dometic Cold Machine, 10-year-old version. It does make ice cubes in the vertical trays if you give it a day or two.

Liking my martinis cold I found that by covering the evaporator box on my Dometic (Adler Barbour) Cold Machine I could make ice easily over night. [The Admiral didn't like the large gin bottle in the small fridge on an E-34.]

I used 1/8" plexiglass with cleats on the bottom to keep it from sliding away in a seaway.