Ice Box Conversion to Spill Over Fridge/Freezer

[Typhoon]

Hi falling eggs . Legally you are supposed to recover all the refrigerant from the system before you open it . The large seafrost systems had a large amount of refrigerant compared to a small DC system . There is no way to open the system without losing refrigerant .
For some reason your pics did not load but the blue thing you are talking about is probably your receiver dryer . The number three thing is probably part of the valving system that controls which plates get the refrigerant . Not sure if you have the sea frost clear plastic heat exchanger or not . Try reloading your pictures. Once the system is empty you can just start to dissemble it in any order . Make sure to close the cooling water thru hull , also be prepared for some oil inside some of the tubing , oil on the bilge makes a mess .

Regards John

[newhaul]

Pictures didn't show and links are dead

[fallingeggs]

Back at the boat! Will start ripping out the old ice box tomorrow.


Here are some pictures of the current SeaFrost install. Does anyone know what I am looking at and how best to disconnect the holding plate without spilling the refrigerant?

Here is the sea water cooling, compressor and unknown thing 1 (the blue thing):



One of the insulated lines from the compressor then goes to unknown thing 2:



The insulated line then goes to unknown thing 3:



Which is attached, in two places, to the holding plate:



Unknown thing 1 is attached to the sea water cooling on one end and unknown thing 2 on the other.

If I were a betting man, I'd guess I need to disconnect the holding plate from unknown thing 3. But at the connection on the holding plate or unknown thing 3? The connectors on the holding plate are plastic whole the rest of the system is bronze/brass.

[fallingeggs]

Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine

Hi falling eggs . Legally you are supposed to recover all the refrigerant from the system before you open it . The large seafrost systems had a large amount of refrigerant compared to a small DC system . There is no way to open the system without losing refrigerant .
For some reason your pics did not load but the blue thing you are talking about is probably your receiver dryer . The number three thing is probably part of the valving system that controls which plates get the refrigerant . Not sure if you have the sea frost clear plastic heat exchanger or not . Try reloading your pictures. Once the system is empty you can just start to dissemble it in any order . Make sure to close the cooling water thru hull , also be prepared for some oil inside some of the tubing , oil on the bilge makes a mess .

Regards John

Ed, I reposted, so hopefully the pictures show up.

On the refrigerant, I was hoping I had quick disconnect fittings that would seal once disconnected.

I thought the blue thing was a drier. And the valve seems reasonable, but I only have one holding plate.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Typhoon]

Yes . Got the pics , as o suspected you do have the tower water heat exchanger , you may have two sets of coils inside the plates . These systems don't have self sealing couplers . They were usually professional installed and charged in place .

Regards John

[fallingeggs]

Not an answer I was looking for!

Dang.

I now think I have three options.

One, just insulate the inside of the ice box and install the evaporator plate system in it for mediocre results.

Two, rip a perfectly good working SeaFrost completely out and not reinstall. Kind of silly to toss something that is currently working, but I get a newly insulated box.

Three, same a two but I hire a professional to reinstall the SeaFrost. At first I thought this would be to pricey for me, but if it is only running two new copper lines and recharging the system, maybe it isn't too bad.

[fallingeggs]

What is the life span on this SeaFrost system anyway? Mine is getting to be about 8 years old now. Is it likely to need recharging soon anyway?

Also, thinking about why I want to keep the SeaFrost in the first place. I was thinking I would save amp hours, but maybe not enough to justify the hassle of keeping it. With a fully charged holding plate, the evaporator plate might not run for, what, 12 hours? That is maybe 30 amp hours saved every few days at the most.

If I don't completed redo the insulation I bet I'd waste more amp hours than what could be saved.

Perhaps this is the best answer: I'll uninstall the SeaFrost so that I can do the insulation right. Maybe I'll ask around for a quote to reinstall the blasted thing after I'm done with the rest. Or sell it.

[OzePete]

Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine

Yes . Got the pics , as o suspected you do have the tower water heat exchanger , you may have two sets of coils inside the plates . These systems don't have self sealing couplers . They were usually professional installed and charged in place .

Regards John

If your eutectic plate has a second evaporator circuit like John suggests, you could add a 12VDC condensing unit to that circuit so that both it, and your existing engine drive system, can refreeze your plate. This would be a far better option than an aluminium evaporator plate specially being as that thin aluminium plate would be in the freezer, vulnerable to puncturing and chew lots of battery power. Alternatively (and best in the long run) pull the old gear out and fit a new twin evaporator plate system from a maker who makes proper cold plates and avoid the cheapie aluminium battery killers! John (above) is relatively close by and should be able supply your needed equipment.
Also suggest the freezer be bigger, besides two or three ice-creams in that one cubic foot freezer and there is no room left for the scotch rocks!
Cheers, OzePete Ozefridge

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by fallingeggs

Back at the boat! Will start ripping out the old ice box tomorrow.


Here are some pictures of the current SeaFrost install. Does anyone know what I am looking at and how best to disconnect the holding plate without spilling the refrigerant?

Here is the sea water cooling, compressor and unknown thing 1 (the blue thing):

Attachment 157664

One of the insulated lines from the compressor then goes to unknown thing 2:

Attachment 157665

The insulated line then goes to unknown thing 3:

Attachment 157666

Which is attached, in two places, to the holding plate:

Attachment 157667

Unknown thing 1 is attached to the sea water cooling on one end and unknown thing 2 on the other.

If I were a betting man, I'd guess I need to disconnect the holding plate from unknown thing 3. But at the connection on the holding plate or unknown thing 3? The connectors on the holding plate are plastic whole the rest of the system is bronze/brass.

That's a standard SeaFrost plate and they use those plastic bulkhead fittings to pass the copper line into/out of the holding plate. We see these good holding plates all the time and routinely recycle them with a new 12v DC compressor. We have 4 on the bench now in fact three Grunert and one SeaFrost. You send the plate in to us and we rehab it, installing new inlet/outlet refrigeration couplings so that when you reinstall the system it's plug and play like a new system with no need to call out a refrigeration tech to vacuum anything down or recharge the system.

Shoot me an email at Rich@cruiserowater.com or give me a call at 619-609-3432 if you want any additional info on the project.

Cheers

[fallingeggs]

Step 1 completed without too much fuss.



Not sure what I'll do with it, but I'll keep Rich's suggestion in mind.

[Typhoon]

Wow , now that's a beast. Half your box was holding plate.
There's not really any other way to go about it , was there much refrigerant left in the system?
I you remove all the seafrost system you will clear up a lot of space in your engine room as well .

Regards John

[fallingeggs]

Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine

Wow , now that's a beast. Half your box was holding plate.
There's not really any other way to go about it , was there much refrigerant left in the system?
I you remove all the seafrost system you will clear up a lot of space in your engine room as well .

Regards John

There was some hissing and a bit of oil, but I had a rag handy to catch it. Still haven't removed the rest of the system, so most of the oil is sit there. Will do complete the removal later.

Gotta give it to the professional that did the install. Crammed that heavy thing into a tight space.

[fallingeggs]

About half way done with the ice box removal.

Cut the fiberglass liner with a multi tool and used a pray bar and force to get it out:



Then I started to chip away at the old insulation:





Insulation seems to have held up well to 35 years. Was still solid and right up next to the hull and sides. 3 inches along the hull and 5 everywhere else.



Lunch break then the rest of the fiberglass (the lip that is glued to the underside of the countertop) and insulation.

[Typhoon]

Perfect , I explain to people all the time that this is a big job , but not impossible . Once you have insulted and installed the new liner you are almost to refrigeration nirvana ! You would be surprised how many fellow sailors are a slave to there refrigeration systems .
Great to see someone doing it right , and not destroying the cabinetry .
I have done this many times if you get stuck , ask away.
Regards John

[fallingeggs]

Hard Day's work, but got all the ice box and insulation out.



To get the glued lip off, it took me jumping into the box with my crow bar to pry it off.