Part II: Converting to Refrigeration
Skip Baker, White Cap, #3
I have the biggest top loading Norcold unit in my boat. It will keep the temp below 40 degrees for as hot as my boat has ever gotten. Although the drain on the battery is substantial, I have found that by setting the fridge at just above freezing in the early morning while charging batteries will keep the cooler below 40 degrees for a day of sailing if the fridge is not opened too often.
The only problem is that the fridge takes up the entire area where the sink once was and I have not found a proper area to reinstall it. I am thinking about building a cooler that will allow the sink to fit in and buying one of Norcolds installation units. The units have an external compression unit which can be mounted near the fridge and an L shaped cooling plate which bolts onto two sides of the icebox. Since my present unit is Freon filled, I will probably have to purchase a new system when the present one needs repair anyway.
Rob Squire, Head Over Heals, #96
I solved the cold beer problem on Head over Heels with a Supercool unit in the original ice box. I re-insulated and the unit keeps the beer at 38 in the summer on SF bay. 1 amp/hour! The Supercool is a Peltier electronic unit. Add 12 volts and heat transfers to one side. You've seen the coolers that plug into your cigarette lighter? Same thing, but a stand alone unit.
Brian Barone
When I moved aboard a couple of years ago I had nothing but the original icebox, which quickly showed how bad it was at keeping things cold. After living off canned food and pasta for most of the winter, with the occasional McDonalds and chinese food, I decided to Chop the front of the Icebox off with an ax and shove one of those college type refrigerators into the hole where the thing used to be. I put a hasp on the door so it cant come open, and use it when I am at the dock. When sailing I use it just like the crappy icebox. Its not exactly so hugely useful when sailing, but its nice that I can have a cold drink and maybe a bowl of cereal when I want. it was a good idea if you are living aboard, as most people I know have one of those things kicking around in their basement or attic (like mine was). I think you can buy em new for around 180-250. It actually looks really nice there and fits well. Whole project took me two afternoons of hacking.
Allen Hilburn, KAHOLEE, #158
(I have) an Igloo Survivor. It, like almost everything else, came from West Marine. It runs on AC, DC, or propane. In AC mode, it has a thermostat, and works quite well. On propane, one of those little bottles you buy at camping stores will last about three days. The drawback, asides form the obvious, is that propane powered refrigerators need to be level, for maximum effect. It will still keeps things cool enough though, even when the temperature is 85 or more. It makes ice if you do not consistently heal over to much. On the DC side, the disadvantage is that it draws 7 amps, so if you have a power boat, it may be useful. It is kind of an all around unit, you can load it the night before, plug it into an AC outlet, then move it to the vehicle and run it on DC until you get to the boat, then hook up the propane.
Jim Hart, #369
I have an Adler Barber Cold Plate which fits in the original ice box. It works great. It will freeze water bottles solid inside of the cooler. It's a little heavy on batteries but if you have two double battery house banks and run your engine for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening it will handle it. Probably helps to upgrade to 110 amp alternator so you can get the juice back in all the batteries when charging. Ice Box needs additional foam which you can get at home depot in a push button can. Get the non-expanding because the expanding will blow your sides out..
Jim B, #577, Thalassa
Here's what I did on Thalassa. I felt the original ice box was too large and didn't like the front access to it because a lot of the cold air fell out when the door was opened. So I removed the original ice box completely and fiberglassed the deck access to it.
I added 2 inches insulation to the area behind where the box was and filled the area below the settee with insulation (fig. 1, original ice box). Then I took some standard 1 ½" insulation and started to form a box that would fit into that space and match the curve of the hull (fig. 2). I added small shelves on the hull side which both provide more storage for small items and adds more insulation to the hull side (fig. 3). I added some supports to the walls so I could attach the refrigeration panel, and also a separator that would hold the ice blocks in the back of the ice box, then started to layer fiberglass over everything (fig. 4). I added a drain then painted the interior. I used bilge coat paint because it's so tough (fig. 5). I then just placed the box on the settee, added 1 inch more insulation to the front side and 2 inches to the engine side and enclosed it with my cabinetry. I cut a hole in the top, and edged it with teak strips. I made a cover out of insulation, fiberglassed it and covered the top with laminate, edged it with teak strips and added a brass pull so it could be removed (fig. 6). Although the current box is smaller than the original, it easily holds enough food for 4 days. I ended up with close to 10" of insulation on the bottom, and about 4" on the sides. Meats stay frozen in the bottom for 2 days even when the temperature is in the 80's. The refrigerator, if turned down, can keep meats frozen (unfortunately milk and other stuff too) for days. We've left the refrigerator on for 3 days, come back to the boat and found the house batteries still ¾ charged, so all of that insulation makes it pretty efficient also. This approach may not suit everyone, but it has worked pretty well for us.
