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Refrigerator Space

joerun26

Member II
The previous owner added an evaporator to the aft ice chest on our '87 35-III to use as a refrigerator. I'm looking for some suggestions (and hopefully pics) of well organized use of this space. I'm open to moving the evap to better accomodate additional insulation, shelfing etc.. Probably don't need all this space as a fridge either - just enough to handle a few days of food and goodies (the beer normally goes in the forward ice chest) .:)

The "before" picture is attached...

Thanks for any suggestions..
Joe
"Tenacious"
 

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treilley

Sustaining Partner
Our '85 35-3 has the evaporator on the port side of the space. There is another lexan shelf that goes along the stbd side of the IB. I plan on adding a few more shelves to help keep the space organized. I can post a photo if you like.

We use the forward IB for dry storage.

BTW, if you do not have long arms, stuff can disappear back into the aft sections of the IB.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Two types of evaporators

When considering the best use of the limited cubic space inside your ice box, remember that there are two kinds of evaporator plates - the flat kind and the box/enclosed kind. The later often have a hinged lid and can maintain frozen items inside.

The plate, whether straight or bent to go around a corner like we did for our IB, can also make cubes if you get the ice cube vertical tray that mounts against the face of it. We wanted the most "open range" area inside our IB and chose not to get the "box" evaporator version.

Since the refrigerant lines come precharged, one could, in theory, just interchange a box for a plate, or vice versa.
Re-routing the copper tubing is Very Fiddley Work, I would note, from experience gained in our installation! Some swearing will be involved.
:)
Loren
ps: Yup, I did have to mount the 'stat upside down to fit the chosen location...
 

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Cory B

Sustaining Member
Shelves

Our 35-III has the evaporator (flat plate Norcold) on the port side, and has an L shaped Lexan shelf running down the starboard side and aft. Even with the shelves things can go disappearing in there, and its on my list of things to do to come up with a better shelf configuration. I'll see if I can get a picture in a few days.

-Cory
E35-III #163
 
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Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Do these fridges need....

Do these fridges need any kind of maintenance other than keeping them clean and odour free? I have a Norcold which looks similar to the pictures above, but no manual with it.
Thanks for any tips.
Frank.
 

joerun26

Member II
Thanks for the replys. Looks like the flat plates would serve my needs better, but I've also on a few occasions used the freezer. Tim and Cory - please post any pics if you can.

Thanks again..
joe
 

jkm

Member III
Make sure the compressor is well ventilated!

Doesn't hurt to insulate the box inside and if possible add insulation on the exterior.

John
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
Here are some photos. The top shelf is two pieces.
 

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Kim Schoedel

Member III
When I did the conversion, I decided to utlilize that "very hard to reach space for shorter people" aft area of the aft IB. And we wanted to be able to keep a few items frozen like Dove Bars and meat. So we went with the freezer box with the lid and I mounted it in the V area angled up. This leaves the larger area of the box open for food. I kept the long shelf on the starboard and supported the aft end with a nice stainless steel mount. Had to remove the little aft end shelf.

We still use the small IB as an IB. Cold beer and pop on ice is a must on our boat.

I don't have any pic's but will try to get some next time at the boat.
 

WBurgner

Member III
Insulation Improvements

What have people done to improve the insulation of the ice box/refrigurator? I do not see a what to add insulation to the exterior of the box. If added to the interior, what was used and how was it sealed to make it a surface that would be moisture proof and easy to clean?
 

jkm

Member III
Bill

Put insulation into the search box and you'll find numerous threads on improving the insulation.

John
 

joerun26

Member II
Nice !!!

Nicely done Kim ..

Thanks to you and all others for giving me some great ideas on better utilitization of my fridge space.

Joe
 

Kim Schoedel

Member III
You are welcome Joe. I had to put some thought into the placement of the freezer box. Very happy I placed it back into that V shaped area. It keeps the main area open and easier for us to get stuff in and out. It is hard to tell from the photo's but we can put a few things under the freezer box that we need to keep frozen or semi frozen for a couple of days. The rest of the large area stays at your typical refrigerator temp. We just use the small ice box forward of the stove for beverages and keep them cool with baged ice, blue ice and frozen water bottles. Got to have cold beer on ice. It is also handy to be able to leave some meat frozen in the freezer part when we are not at the boat.
 

joerun26

Member II
Compressor Location ....

I should have included this with my original post, but Johns reply made me rethink. Where have you found to be the best compressor location. Mine in on a shelf tucked way back in the lazarette and I don't think the ventilation around it is sufficient. It cycles frequently and doesn't always deliver the desired performance. I had it checked for freon leaks, but tec didnt find any (also didn't comment on the compressor location).

Thanks again.
joe
 

RON CARTER

Member I
Refrigeration/Ice

We were planning to install refrig last year in AZGARD, 35-3 1983, but somehow became involved in many days of cruising San Juan Islands, so will try again.. All the fotos have answered many questions for me except my concern for keeping bagged ice near to frozen in the refrig unit ? Whats your experience ? Will it keep reasonably well if placed next to or under either the flat plates or the bin type evaporator ?.... I am likely purchasing NovaKool as they are located in Vancouver area Thanks Ron
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Ron, we have a Norcold system (not Novacool), but ours will keep ice and other frozen items in a frozen state if we place them near the frozen plate. We have been very satisfied with our unit.
Frank.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Yup, the ice will maintain...

Ron, We were pleasantly surprised to find that a large plastic lidded container with about 8# of cubes poured into it still had most of them frozen after 5 days in our Frigoboat refrigerator.
I worried unnessesarily about how soon cubes would melt when the whole box is kept at 33 degrees...
:rolleyes:

As noted in the thread on installing our reefer, we have an L-shaped evaporator and no freezer, per se.

Sidebar: I should note that last summer I managed to overload the box with pop, beer and food... and this reduced circulation around the thermostat probe (that's our theory, anyway)... and broke three cans of diet coke... :cool:
After hearing what was probably not the first faint "whoosh" of a pop can rupture, I lifted the lid and found globs of frozen pop stuck to the inner lining in several places! Dumb luck that no other containers broke before we discovered the problem and turned down the thermostat.

That little reefer unit is really efficient!
:)

Loren
 
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RON CARTER

Member I
Ron, we have a Norcold system (not Novacool), but ours will keep ice and other frozen items in a frozen state if we place them near the frozen plate. We have been very satisfied with our unit.
Frank.

Frank, I would like to go with Norcold instead of NovaKool, due to uprite design of compressor and fact that is is both DC and AC, and price is couple hundred less, but little concerned that only supplier locally is West Marine. Where did you purchase , and how old is unit ?? Regards Ron
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Ron,

Our Norcold refrigerator came with the boat when we bought it. Records left by the previous owner show that it was bought in 2000 but does not state where he bought it, though he lived in California.

However, this company is still in business and a search on their website will show locations of their service centres, where you could get additional information.

Sorry I can't help more.

Frank.
 
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