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#11
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
On Feb 7, 8:43 pm, wrote:
I'm building a 26 foot pilothouse sloop and the plans call for a large icebox. My experience doing the kind of cruising I expect to do on this boat is that finding ice consumes a lot of time, it doesn't last long, it takes up a lot of space, and the food items can get soggy if I am doing any hard sailing. I have noticed that Fisheries Supply in Seattle sells "conversion kits" for converting ice boxes to 12 VDC refrigerator. This seems like a sensible choice, and might even be good to build in right from the start. Does anyone have experience with these kits or any kind of application other than a drop in box? I am thinking that with 4" polyurethane foam that I'll be able to handle the power consumption with a pair of Grp 31 batteries. Does this seem reasonable? With precautions, use dry ice - nned to make sure it does not touch the surface of the cooler - wrap in a wrag maybe and sit on top of a wire mesh screen/box - will keep frozen things touching or very close - will refridgerate things further away - build a rack/sections in a cooler - dry ice lasts a long time if you do not open frequently and maintain an absolute tight seal - the main issue: dry ice availability - not sure how easy it is to get it - but dry ice is used often around halloween in haunted houses for the smoke effect - just a thought. |
#12
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
Jim wrote:
On Feb 7, 8:43 pm, wrote: I'm building a 26 foot pilothouse sloop and the plans call for a large icebox. My experience doing the kind of cruising I expect to do on this boat is that finding ice consumes a lot of time, it doesn't last long, it takes up a lot of space, and the food items can get soggy if I am doing any hard sailing. I have noticed that Fisheries Supply in Seattle sells "conversion kits" for converting ice boxes to 12 VDC refrigerator. This seems like a sensible choice, and might even be good to build in right from the start. Does anyone have experience with these kits or any kind of application other than a drop in box? I am thinking that with 4" polyurethane foam that I'll be able to handle the power consumption with a pair of Grp 31 batteries. Does this seem reasonable? With precautions, use dry ice - nned to make sure it does not touch the surface of the cooler - wrap in a wrag maybe and sit on top of a wire mesh screen/box - will keep frozen things touching or very close - will refridgerate things further away - build a rack/sections in a cooler - dry ice lasts a long time if you do not open frequently and maintain an absolute tight seal - the main issue: dry ice availability - not sure how easy it is to get it - but dry ice is used often around halloween in haunted houses for the smoke effect - just a thought. Dry Ice is solid CO2 and that gas is heavier than air and *will* suffocate you given the chance. You'd need to keep your coolbox in a locker that had an overboard vent just like a gas locker. Its also *interesting* to drop a lump into a bucket of warm water, thats how they used to produce theatrical fog. Could be a bit of a nusance in a knockdown . . . -- Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED) ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk [at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL: 'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed, All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy. |
#13
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
Dave wrote:
On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:05:31 -0500, Larry said: it uses the much-more-economical- to-operate, forbidden R-12 refridgerant That ought to get the enviros going. Why? New R-12 hasn't been made in 12 years. The problem with Larry's suggestion is that while there might be a small saving initially, I wouldn't have much hope of an ancient "dorm fridge" surviving in the marine environment for very long. And if it does leak out, how expensive do you think the repair and recharge would be? This is a reasonable solution for the back of an old van, not a very good one for a custom installation on a boat. An Engel would be a much better solution. |
#14
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
Jeff wrote in
: The problem with Larry's suggestion is that while there might be a small saving initially, I wouldn't have much hope of an ancient "dorm fridge" surviving in the marine environment for very long. And if it does leak out, how expensive do you think the repair and recharge would be? This is a reasonable solution for the back of an old van, not a very good one for a custom installation on a boat. An Engel would be a much better solution. Considering I have $5 in it, how long does it have to "survive in the marine environment" to break even? A day? A week? A month??....(c; How long does an Adler-Barbour last for $1000? Larry -- VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released! NOONE will be spared! |
#15
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 22:17:04 +0000, Ian Malcolm
wrote: Dry Ice is solid CO2 and that gas is heavier than air and *will* suffocate you given the chance. You'd need to keep your coolbox in a locker that had an overboard vent just like a gas locker. Nonsense. The real problem with dry ice is that is difficult to obtain many places. |
#16
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
Larry wrote:
Jeff wrote in : The problem with Larry's suggestion is that while there might be a small saving initially, I wouldn't have much hope of an ancient "dorm fridge" surviving in the marine environment for very long. And if it does leak out, how expensive do you think the repair and recharge would be? This is a reasonable solution for the back of an old van, not a very good one for a custom installation on a boat. An Engel would be a much better solution. Considering I have $5 in it, how long does it have to "survive in the marine environment" to break even? A day? A week? A month??....(c; As I said, its no problem in the back of a van. When it dies, you swing by the recycle yard and drop it off. The OP was asking about installing on a small boat, which would require a custom installation. Are you seriously suggesting designing around something that someone else already threw out? How long does an Adler-Barbour last for $1000? The one in my old boat was going strong when I sold it at 16 years. And why would you pay $1000 for one? |
#17
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
Everyone I know with an Engel raves about them. Not one has a complaint.
Their claims on power usage seems unreal, but they all insist it is really as low as they say. There is another option worth considering on a 26 footer: http://www.bigfrogmountain.com/engel_products.htm I have not personally owned one of these Engels but have heard good things about them. They should not be confused with the smaller, cheaper chests which use a solid state cooling device. The Engels have a real compressor in them, and power draw is supposedly reasonable. |
#18
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
William Ewald wrote in
: Smuggling of freon from countries where it's still legal is a big problem, right after heroin in terms of volume. Shhh....The AC in my 1973 Mercedes was smuggled in in a sailboat. It cost 80c/16 oz can in the Caribbean. It was MADE IN TENNESEE A YEAR AGO! It's all bull****. Americans are being taken for a ride with R-134a. Larry -- VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released! NOONE will be spared! |
#19
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
In article ,
Larry wrote: VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released! NOONE will be spared! apropos of nothing, but the above seems SO real. Those of us on alternate OSs will be spared. I'm well paid to support Windoze in the near future, but have Mac at home. UNIX is much more stable. Mac OS on top of UNIX makes the transition seamless. -- Jere Lull Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD) Xan's NEW Pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/ Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
#20
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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DIY refrigerator in sailboat
Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-DE5725.19552809022007
@news.bellatlantic.net: UNIX is much more stable. That's very true, but what % of the software everyone wants to run....runs under Windoze? Owning a MAC has always meant being fleeced by Apple for proprietary software and left out of the freeware/shareware legacy. It's like standing on the sidelines all suited up to play football, but not allowed to play on the field. Apple's greed was long ago trumped by Billy letting OTHER people have easy access to port their programs to DOS. It was simply a stroke of genius on his part that made, no matter how you hate them, Micro$oft the standard for the PC. CP/M was quite stable, too, but it went nowhere. Remember the "other" DOS competitors he blew out of the water? PS2 anyone? Apple had their chance, got greedy as hell, and blew it. MAC is a very nice machine and quite stable....but it's NOT what the software is written for at tucows.com, download.com or any of the other shareware sites.... Vista will stablize...just like XP did...about 2 months before Micro$not abandons it for another buggy bloatware OS rendition. Win98SE is very stable....still! It downloads from usenet with Xnews for weeks without crashing, here....(c; Now, this is on-topic because we're running DOS 5 or 6 on boats....(c; Larry -- VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released! NOONE will be spared! |
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