Author Topic: Refrigeration  (Read 9478 times)

Dulcinea

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Refrigeration
« on: July 30, 2014, 09:50:51 AM »
I know this has been discussed in the past, but has anyone installed refrigeration on their boat? I'm looking at an Adler Barbour set up and I know that insulation of the box is a good first step to minimize power consumption.  One question I have is does anyone know the ice box capacity in cubic feet?  This sounds like it might be a question for Ed.  The largest compressor capacity seems to be for a 15 cubic foot space.  Just under that is a model for 9 CF.  Appreciate any advice from the group.  Also as to brand, reliability, etc. 

rbrtfeld

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Re: Refrigeration
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2014, 12:14:01 AM »
You might try Nova Kool  RT-6.  That is what I put in my Ice Box with no other insulation changes at the moment. It seems to work really well and gets super cold at level 3. I might in the future try some insulation modifications on the engine side but for now I do put on an insulated cover over the Box opening that works great. Here is the site for your review. Good Luck

http://www.novakool.com/products/documents/ltplates2013.pdf

rbrtfeld

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Re: Refrigeration
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2014, 01:34:38 PM »
Here is a site that I got a pad to cover the Ice Box. The owner said they could a version of this for the inside of the Box. They work pretty well and for those that use just ice, this might be something that will be useful. They have great service.

http://www.standoutyachtfittings.com/index.php?id=1,2,0,0,1,0


ICE SAVER PAD (1101 series)
This product has received hundreds of favorable testimonials. It is an insulated pad just 1/2" thick which fits inside of "top loaded" ice boxes, refrigerators and coolers directly on top of the food. The "ICE SAVER" pad is made from a combination of vinyl, foam, a space age double-backed aluminum foil, more foam and a bottom vinyl covering, and is bound all around with vinyl binding. This inexpensive pad will allow ice to last 3 times longer, be 20 degrees colder and allows 3 times the cooling power as the conventional ice box or reefer. Mechanical refrigeration engine run hours are also reduced by 30 to 50%. It uses similar principles to those that prevent the space shuttle from burn-up during earth reentry -- it reflects heat away and protects the cold inside.

PRICING





Bill1188

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Re: Refrigeration
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2014, 09:53:46 PM »
Put a new Adler Barbour in this spring. Got 35 degree beer. Best price was West Marine, and got $50 in coupons for cash discount on future purchase.

Dolce_Vita

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Re: Refrigeration
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2014, 12:47:13 PM »
I know this has been discussed in the past, but has anyone installed refrigeration on their boat? I'm looking at an Adler Barbour set up and I know that insulation of the box is a good first step to minimize power consumption.  One question I have is does anyone know the ice box capacity in cubic feet?  This sounds like it might be a question for Ed.  The largest compressor capacity seems to be for a 15 cubic foot space.  Just under that is a model for 9 CF.  Appreciate any advice from the group.  Also as to brand, reliability, etc.

Sorry for the late response.  I was on vacation in the backwoods of Maine for 2 weeks with no internet.

The OEM icebox has maximum dimensions of about 24" x 24" x 24".  This puts an upper limit of 8 cu ft on it.  Because of its irregular non-cubic shape, the reality is something less.  I seem to recall reading somewhere that it is actually about 6 cu ft, but I can't find the reference, so don't take that as gospel.

The insulation on the original box is wholly inadequate, especially considering it is adjacent to the engine compartment.  I added 1 1/2" of foil-faced rigid isocyanurate foam insulation to the engine compartment side of that wall and it helped a lot.  I also have a slab of 1" rigid foam in a felt sleeve that I keep on top of the counter to cut down on loss thru the lid and counter.   You can tell its helping because when you remove it to go into the box, the lid and countertop are cold to the touch.

I really need to inject foam all around the liner, but its way down on the priority list.  Someday, I'll rip out the whole thing and rebuild it with proper insulation.

My boat came equiped with an EZ-Kold holding plate.  This system claims to have the lowest amp-hour consumption of it's class, but I find that it just doesn't have enough capacity to overcome the OEM icebox's inefficiencies.  Its an "overflow" type of setup, with a wall isolating a small freezer section, and a 3" clearance at the top of the wall allowing cold air to spill over into the refrigerator section.  This setup works well enough for the freezer section, but the refrigerator section section stays too warm (~50 deg F), and we're forced to use ice in it anyway!  But at least the ice lasts longer!

The EZ-Kold compressor sucks about 6 amps when on, and they claim it will run with about a 25% duty cycle, or about 6 hours a day.  This works out to 36 Amp-Hours a day.  In hot weather, I see it running more like a 33% to 50% duty cycle,  so we can only run for a day or two before needing to recharge by running the engine or plugging in to shore power.
@(^.^)@  Ed
1977 P-323 #42 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Dulcinea

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Re: Refrigeration
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2014, 07:54:07 PM »
Bill1188:
I'm also looking at Adler Barber.  Couple of questions:  1. Which compressor-evaporator combination did you get?  Did you insulate your icebox first?  Was the price at West lower than the price from Defender?
Appreciate any advise before I spend a couple of boat units.
Dulcinea

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Re: Refrigeration
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2014, 08:31:26 AM »
I got an icebox conversion kit from Engel.  It was an easy install.  I built an insulated box around the evaporator plate to serve as a freezer and the spillover cools the rest of the box.  Runs on 12 VDC and 120 VAC.  Switches automatically to AC when present.  Very satisfied with the system. about $800.