Need help on what Refrigerator/Plate to purchase!

[CaptLinda6pack]

Hi all! I'm new to the site but have read allot and thanks for keeping me entertained. I just purchased a Pearson 303 that currently has a ICE only box. and would like to ether, convert or replace the box with something that will really last me.. Low maintenance etc.. I just have currently 2 banks of batteries (Bank 1 = 1 crank and Bank2= 2 deep-cycle and will be adding more to have total 6 battery's as to not run out of AMPS...LOL However, I have an inverter 3000-6000P/P to use also if needed for AC power..Like my hair drier is 1200 watts. My motor is Yanmar 2GM(F) 13 hp with also a alternator when the motor runs to charge system and when at the dock 110VAC. Any info would be great.. Thank You!!

[schuitema]

Capt Linda
I added a eutectic holding plate to an existing icebox in 1993. I did not modify the box, so it is still an icebox, if needed. I installed myself a Technautics holding plate to the ceiling of the box. I got the largest plate. Technautics is designed for diy. You will want the largest plate and compressor you can have. It pulls the box down to 23F and makes beer slushy. Put the stuff you want to freeze right next to the plate. IMO you cannot make hot or cold with batteries, they will run down fast. You need to run the gen twice a day, at breakfast, and dinner, for an hour or so, to pull down the plate. You should have from 3" to 8" of insulation around the box.

[Daleinwv]

I have a Pearson 303 also, with the icebox, now don't laugh but I bought one of those small refrigerators at a yard sale for $20 and took it all apart and mounted the cooling coils in the icebox on the wall, the rest of the guts etc. I mounted behind the wall under the seat next to the water heater. I only run it with shore power but it works good and was a cheap fix. You can stop laughing now. Lol

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Daleinwv.

[Rayallyn]

I have a Pearson 323 and checking online I discovered that the insulation around the box has a tendency to settle and many who made the conversion have reinsulated the box. I choose to remove the storage area under the two burner stove along with the stove and add the new Engel 60 quart 12 volt refrigerator. I have a 140 watt solar charging two lifeline batteries along with a wind generator. I have no problem with battery drain and never have to use my diesel to charge. I placed a butcher block top where the two burner stove sat and now use butane.

[Hudson Force]

I increased the insulation within my former ice box and installed a Technautics unit (cool blue model) which results in an average requirement of ca. 1.8 amps. Most boats have the refrig/freezer as the biggest power usage. We have both solar panels and a wind generator to support this along with occasional use of diesel power. Good insulation is very inportant. We took our 10 cubic foot ice box down to 6 cubic feet with excess insulation and also with the knowledge that we did not need the larger space. We keep about 4 cu ft. refrigerated and 2 for the freezer. What ever you choose, I would highly recommend that your heat exchange is accomplished with air rather than the power use required to exchange heat by pumping seawater.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Daleinwv

I have a Pearson 303 also, with the icebox, now don't laugh but I bought one of those small refrigerators at a yard sale for $20 and took it all apart and mounted the cooling coils in the icebox on the wall, the rest of the guts etc. I mounted behind the wall under the seat next to the water heater. I only run it with shore power but it works good and was a cheap fix. You can stop laughing now. Lol

I'm not laughing. I have a little dorm refrigerator. It serves me very well but only at the dock. It's AC. But I don't ming using a cooler when sailing. It's just a real pain on a day-to-day basis. A dorm refrig. is small enough that it can sit in the corner right under where my drop down table drops down, but I would still much prefer something that didn't take up floor space.

The built in ice box on my boat is in such an awkward place that it would take significant reconfiguration -- skills I simply don't have -- to move it to some place where it could be refrigerated. I'm thinking about just taking out the rat-ass alcohol stove, put it there and then put drawers above it so I don't lose my two little drawers -- but the resulting carpentry would look like a beginner did it, because ... a beginner would have!