ice-box upgrade

[sailing42]

I'm in the process of repairing the galley in my Ericson 27 and need to repair/upgrade the ice box. Have tried to find more info on this site but drew a blank. I would like to install more insulation on the sides and the top. the top is quite poorly constructed with a thin piece of plywood and a large gap between it and the shelving. (evident once all the wood trim is removed)
I can see how to attach some insulation to the outside of the ice box on three sides but do I remove the top completely and start over? Also what is the most suitable foam for the upgrade, am thinking in terms of adding 2 inches thick with a thin plywood skin on the outside to protect it . I have not yet got to the hull side but due to the weird angles inside the ice box I think there is already some foam there. I am just wondering if there is anybody that has done this and how they went about it.
Thanks
John

 

[Sven]

You might want to take a look at Nigel Calder's "Refrigeration for Pleasureboats". He discusses construction options and methods as well as cooling options.


-Sven

 

[davisr]

John,

You cooler issue on your E27 sounds similar to mine on my E25. There is no space available in my cabinet to increase the amount of insulation. That's just the way it was made. The lid is an attractive piece of woodwork, but without seals and without insulation, it seems to provide little in the way of long-term cooling of food, say, with a block of ice in the bottom. I would guess that a block might not last longer than 36 hours.

Currently, I am researching my options for an electrical upgrade project. The cooler issue is something I have taken into consideration. I will probably just live with the cooler for the next year or two. Ultimately, I can see myself buying a portable DC refrigerator and securing it in the space beneath the companionway stairs. I could thus store meat, milk, etc. in the fridge and use the existing, easy-access built-in cooler for the good stuff - beer.

That's one reason why I'm wanting to use two Trojan T-105s as my bank. The 225 amp hours are more than I need at present. They will, though, allow me some room to grow. A single gel-cell would cost me the same amount, but would give me less than half the amp hours.

Does the cooler space in this picture look similar to that in the E27?

Roscoe

 

[davisr]

John,

You cooler issue on your E27 sounds similar to mine on my E25. There is no space available in my cabinet to increase the amount of insulation. That's just the way it was made. The lid is an attractive piece of woodwork, but without seals and without insulation, it seems to provide little in the way of long-term cooling of food, say, with a block of ice in the bottom. I would guess that a block might not last longer than 36 hours.

Currently, I am researching my options for an electrical upgrade project. The cooler issue is something I have taken into consideration. I will probably just live with the cooler for the next year or two. Ultimately, I can see myself buying a portable DC refrigerator and securing it in the space beneath the companionway stairs. I could thus store meat, milk, etc. in the fridge and use the existing, easy-access built-in cooler for the good stuff - beer.

That's one reason why I'm wanting to use two Trojan T-105s as my bank. The 225 amp hours are more than I need at present. They will, though, allow me some room to grow. A single gel-cell would cost me the same amount, but would give me less than half the amp hours.

Does the cooler space in this picture look similar to that in the E27?

Roscoe

 

[sailing42]

ice box cont.

Thanks Sven, will look for Nigel's book at the library. I have a couple of my own books that describe various ways to do this but was hoping that I could see what someone had done on a boat similar to mine. I have had a good look at my setup and figured that the easiest would be to start over. As the previous owner had decided to stick some grey formica (in many different pieces ) on the countertop with some pieces bulging up the whole lot has to be removed and the countertop has to be re-done. I will cut a large hole in the countertop, remove the bottom of the ice-box and sides and start over.My setup looks similar to yours Roscoe, will try to include a picture when I get back to the boat. The galley is on the opposite side but the ice box is also stuck aft in the corner. We thougt about a refrigerated cooler running off the battery bank but we have a system that seems to work fine for our time on the boat - usually no longer than four days. We keep a few 2l plastic milk jugs filled with water in the freezer at home and use these as our ice blocks on the boat. They do not fill the ice box with water as they melt (slowly) and as a bounus you also have some extra water. We are re-doing this ice box as the boat had sat for about 2 or more years before we bought it and amongst a whole lot of things it was in a very bad condition .

 

[davisr]

Thanks, John, for the tip on using frozen jugs of water in place of ice blocks so as to prevent water from filling up the bottom of the ice box. Good luck with the renovation. Roscoe.