Making Ice

[jim lee]

Don't feel bad, our A-B Cold machine couldn't do ice cream either. Even plugged into shore power.

Watch out for block ice. In Mexico, where we tried expermenting with some, we discovered hay was frozen in it. Whoops! Also, on a rough passage, it bashed -all- our food into a mushy chum. (Cold wet yuch with hay and whatever else was on the barn floor with they hay).

-jim lee

[svHyLyte]

We have two refer units on our boat. An original FrigoBoat--1986 era and a mid-90's era Sea Frost for our freezer (on a 1986 Beneteau First 42). The person we bought the boat from drilled holes in the top edges of the boxes and injected foam insulation around both so they are well insulated. Inside the factory lids, there are second clear plastic lids that we set 1-1/2" closed cell foam cover pads on--the pads having been wrapped in pieces of silver mylar film cut from survival "blankets" sold by West Marine. Both the refer and the freezer will freeze bottled water--or lettace--rock solid over night with the thermostats turned down too much. We usualy keep the freezer set at 7 (out of a possible 10) and the refer set between 4 and 5. The freezer easily keeps a gallon tub of ice-cream, or a box of ice-cream bars or popcicles, solid (which makes us the most popular boat in an anchorage when my daughter invites the kids over for Ice cream cones!).

Generally we put bottles of water and GatorAid in the Freezer, next to the plates, until they're nearly frozen and then transfer them to the refer box for the day. We also have 4 aluminium closed trays with plastic divider inserts that we fill will water and stand in the freezer over night, and then transfer the "cubes" to a zip-lock bag the next morning for drinks and such during the day.

With the insulation we have--and if I can keep the girls out of the freezer too often--we use about 100 amp hours to run both units for 24 hours here in Florida during the summer. Less if we're someplace where we can plug into shore power to run the AC on the boat as the units are both air-cooled.

I think the key to these things is the insulation and particularly at the tops, which I think are frequently overlooked.

Cheers,

s/v HyLyte

[hellosailor]

Jim-
Hay? Interesting way to adulterate ice.<G> Actually, hay was used as a covering to insulate ice in traditional ice-houses, even here in the US, so there's a good chance that hay and ice were not on a barn floor. Although obviously, it pays to be careful about any contamination.

[zackc]

I have the table top ice maker on board our boat and we love it. Just put in water and you have ice in 7 min. If you kept the bin empty, I don't konw how many pounds it would make.

[cat man do]

We had a big result getting things super cold on our last boat. Got a 20 kg bag of ice and some rock salt from the fish co-op and and a hot carton of beer from the yachtie.

This was to be a two day single handed delivery for me in the middle of summer, so figured a few beers were in order.

A couple of hours later after crossing a notorious bar, decided it was beer o'clock and what the.....an icebox full of frozen and exploded stubbies. Think about 3 out of 24 were OK.

So it is possible to freeze stuff on board.

Dave

[Vasco]

I have an Adler Barber (WAECO) and it does keep ice cream frozen. I was surprised as I had thought that holding plates were the way to go. I've had an EZ Kold holding plate fridge for a long time and love the unit but it never kept ice cream. The Adler Barber is an evaporator type with a separate freezer with a spillover to a front opening fridge. My only complaint with this unit is that the fan between the freezer and fridge crapped out ( think it iced up and ruined the little motor) so I've bought a couple of computer fans for replacement.

[hellosailor]

310 AC inverter watts for 15 minutes to make two pounds of ice in a moderate temperature room. (Mentions 60F doesn't mention 95F with humidity.)

Or, some probably some 30 amps out of the 12.5v battery bank for 15 minutes to make the same two pounds of ice?

[Pelagic]

We have a small under counter Raritan Icerette on board. Whenever we run the Gen for 2 or 3 hours, it makes up Ice very quickly (about a pound per hour) which we put in Freezer bags to fill any void spaces in our food freezer.

This keeps the food freezer from cycling on very much when on batteries and the Icerette will work on Inverter if we are motorsailing

[TritonSailor]

I went to that company that S/V Faith had found and looked at all the portable ice makers they had. Some are pretty reasonably priced:

Portable Ice Maker Models & Small Countertop Ice Makers by EdgeStar, Danby and More

The first model:
KIM210W
Portable Countertop Ice Maker Model KIM210W by Koldfront

makes a bucket of ice in 6-15 minutes with a current draw of only 2.7a. Basically the draw of the navigation lights. It's only 134.10. I think that would be the way to go. The warranty is for 1 year. Free parts for one year and free labor for 90 days.

Well I guess that's my input, hope it helps.

[stevensc]

I bought one of the portable icemakers a couple of months ago I would say it performs much as advertised fast simple and makes about 10- 12 lbs per day. I is quite large too large for us to use on the boat comfortably.
Steve

[jheldatksuedu]

I just found out about the portable ice cube maker today, I will get one of these for my boat. I live without refrigeration, have it just don't use it, but I do crave a cold drink now and then. They make a tray of ice in 7 minutes using 300 watts. I imagine I will modify it to eliminate all unnecessary equipment and case from it and it will be about 1/3 the size. Probably it will be about 6x8x10 high. Time will tell. The one I'm looking at is Magic Chef for about $150. But I expect I will find a used one on ebay for much, much less. Home owners often aren't impressed with them after they buy them because they don't keep the ice they just make it, and it immediately starts to melt.

[denverd0n]

Anyone have a clue on which is more efficient: separate fridge and ice maker, or fridge with a freezer section?

[Jace]

I think I'd like a separate set up. It would make it easier to fit both into the appropriate place in a limited space situation - like a sailboat.

[MarkJ]

They prolly make those machines in Asia... but I can't buy one here!

Anyone flyinig from the USA to Singapore or Malaysia in the next few weeks?





Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo the thought of the lil <<tinkle>> of a chip of ice hitting a Gin molecule on a steamy tropical afternoon.....


OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

[Jace]

Easy boy, both hands on the wheel, now.