Built a New Fridge

[steamgoat]

My refrigerator liner plan is to buy a Ronco rotomoulded tank the correct size [huge range available] and cut out the top, watertight ,rounded inside corners etc.
Anyone see any problems obvious with this ??

[zenkayaker]

HELLO JANDERS !!!! that is some of he best work;I have seen short of a complex boating facility !!!! since my boat is 28';I think that as a "slacker" I will just use a 55gal barrel [remove after]and "heavy foam",my stern lazzerette locker ,to fit a beer keg,and use "dry-ice",to keep it cold LOL !!!! boat is to small for an old "coke drop-in box type cooler " .again CONGRATS !!!! on some great work. "enjoy your day's,and,remember your night's" "the only EASYDAY was YESTERDAY" S Y O T W somewhere later zenkayaker capt'n of the MOKEN

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by steamgoat

My refrigerator liner plan is to buy a Ronco rotomoulded tank the correct size [huge range available] and cut out the top, watertight ,rounded inside corners etc.
Anyone see any problems obvious with this ??

Only problem I could imagine might be trying to bond the liner to anything. Assuming you drop it into an insulated cavity and get a snug fit then the bottom and sides should be fine. Not sure how you would attach and seal a top but I suppose glue and screw 3/4 x 3/4 cleat stock might work.

[SV Demeter]

While we are talking fridges have any of you seen or tried this product?



H2Out® SD 106 ~ Product ~ H2Out

I have read about their fuel vent line dryers but was reading an article in Sail last night by Calder who suggests using one of these inside the icebox to minimise frosting of the evaporator. Calder spoke highly of the product in this application. Minimizing the frost should be a good thing I would imagine for fridge performance no?

[janders]

Originally Posted by zenkayaker

HELLO JANDERS !!!! that is some of he best work;I have seen short of a complex boating facility !!!! since my boat is 28';I think that as a "slacker" I will just use a 55gal barrel [remove after]and "heavy foam",my stern lazzerette locker ,to fit a beer keg,and use "dry-ice",to keep it cold LOL !!!! boat is to small for an old "coke drop-in box type cooler " .again CONGRATS !!!! on some great work. "enjoy your day's,and,remember your night's" "the only EASYDAY was YESTERDAY" S Y O T W somewhere later zenkayaker capt'n of the MOKEN

Thanks! I like your thinking. Next time, I might just do the same.

[janders]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

While we are talking fridges have any of you seen or tried this product?



H2Out® SD 106 ~ Product ~ H2Out

I have read about their fuel vent line dryers but was reading an article in Sail last night by Calder who suggests using one of these inside the icebox to minimise frosting of the evaporator. Calder spoke highly of the product in this application. Minimizing the frost should be a good thing I would imagine for fridge performance no?

Funny - we just bought these for the boat. We're using them in lockers now but I was going to grab the smallest one and put it in our freezer bin for that purpose. So far they're doing great in the lockers. We haven't recharged one yet.

[SV Demeter]

Good to hear. I'm going to get one for fuel vent and one for the fridge. Got liner material cut and fit yesterday. Going to glue in today and start filleting later this week. Still waiting for rparts lid to ship though...

[janders]

Looks great!!

[SV Demeter]

Fillets in last night. Hopefully R-parts comes through with the lid soon...

[bluetriguy]

Really nice job!

Do you find the Sea Frost insert to be large enough? I know it's cold enough - my question is in terms of the internal space for frozen goods - is it a reasonable size?

I really like the idea of the shelf for beer being so the rest of the box bottom is even with the top of the can -

Tip for anyone who wants to try something like this -
When you build with epoxy and want a fair (smoot) finish it's much easier if you mix micro-balloons into the second + coats. Epoxy by itself is so hard it's really difficult to sand it. The micro-balloons make it possible to sand using a hand block - this works outside as well. Much easier to do.

If you are really into smooth finish you can also try using what is called vacuum bagging. I did this in my freezer box and it really makes getting a smooth finish easier - the vacuum bag also pulls into even the tiniest corners where fingers can't get reducing the sanding part of the exercise to only 'finish' sanding.

You can get instructions for both these techniques on the West S%% website.

If you are doing glass work outside and want a 'pro' gel finish try using two part LP paint as the 'gel coat' - it's actually harder than the real thing and coloring is way more accurate.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by steamgoat

My refrigerator liner plan is to buy a Ronco rotomoulded tank the correct size [huge range available] and cut out the top, watertight ,rounded inside corners etc.
Anyone see any problems obvious with this ??

I just worked on my icebox this winter. I added polystyrene foam to the inside of existing insulated box since it was too large, so this brought me to 4 inches all around, and 6 inches along hull and on bulkhead near engine room. This should help reduce energy draw of fridge.

What I used for new liner was premade 4x8' fiberglass panels from Home Depot, in the building section. Costs $33, easily cut to size. I will either fillet the seams with epoxy or 5200. Not even sure i need to paint the fiberglass since it is semi gloss white finish.

[janders]

Originally Posted by bluetriguy

Really nice job!

Do you find the Sea Frost insert to be large enough? I know it's cold enough - my question is in terms of the internal space for frozen goods - is it a reasonable size?

The Sea Frost freezer bin we got is the perfect size for us. Our main objective is to freeze and keep ice. We also want to be able to freeze a few cuts of fish and keep ground coffee fresh. That's about it for the freezer.

We use Ice Orbs for making and storing ice:


These work awesome and two of them just fit in our freezer bin.

[bluetriguy]

Those ice orbs are awesome (refrained from using 'cool')...
If you use salt water in them you could probably make ice cream in the inner chamber once you chilled the bucket thing. I have a stainless ice cream bucket that has brine inside and while it doesn't make ice like your system does make ice cream...

to try this (really great if you are on a LONG cruise), use seawater (or make some brine) and put the inner container in. Chill as long as you would to make ice balls... pour some whole milk (we carry this frozen in small amounts just for this) or cream into the inner bucket and use a plastic or wooden spoon or paddle to stir the mixture, once it starts to 'gel' or lump add sugar or fruit juice (canned peaches in nectar work perfect) and then stir to harden it up.

I like the ice-globe system a lot. thanks for the tip! ohh - I have a Technautics Inc. Marine Holding-plate, Refrigeration, Boating 'cool blue' system on Ceil installed in a foam/fiberglass box with a movable divider for freeze and 'cold'. which works great.

I made the ice-cream once to keep from being tied to the mast during a long beat from sandy eggo to frisco several years ago.

[janders]

Originally Posted by bluetriguy

I made the ice-cream once to keep from being tied to the mast during a long beat from sandy eggo to frisco several years ago.

Oh, I'm definitely giving this a shot.

[Coolruns]

The April 2012 issue of Sail magazine has a good article on retrofit of a fridge.

They used an Indel Marine Isotherm box

I have not personally tried this, but thought this might be relevant to the thread.