Paceship PY26 Icebox

Jun 12, 2021
9
Paceship PY26 Herl's Harbor
Have any of you converted the "icebox" to a refrigerator, & if so, what did you use for that modification?

Mine is a 1976 PY26.
 
Jan 7, 2011
4,726
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
No experience with your boat, but for most conversions involve purchasing a refrigeration kit, that includes the compressor, line set and cold plate.

Today, the line set and compressor are pre-charged With refrigerant so you dont need an HVAC guy to charge the system…

There are lots of installation videos on YouTube. If you Google it, I am sure you can find some good examples (but not your specific boat)…but it gives you the basics. You will need to figure out where to put the compressor unit, and what sort of cold plate you want in the fridge. And you need to get power to the compressor unit.

Here is in example…this guy is a crazy perfectionist, but fun to watch.

On my O’Day 322, the compressor unit is in my lazzarette, and I have a “freezer” compartment cold plate in my fridge. This type of plate takes up more room, but I can keep some frozen items (ice, frozen food) in the freezer compartment (without having a separate freezer).

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Greg
 
Jun 12, 2021
9
Paceship PY26 Herl's Harbor
No experience with your boat, but for most conversions involve purchasing a refrigeration kit, that includes the compressor, line set and cold plate.

Today, the line set and compressor are pre-charged With refrigerant so you dont need an HVAC guy to charge the system…

There are lots of installation videos on YouTube. If you Google it, I am sure you can find some good examples (but not your specific boat)…but it gives you the basics. You will need to figure out where to put the compressor unit, and what sort of cold plate you want in the fridge. And you need to get power to the compressor unit.

Here is in example…this guy is a crazy perfectionist, but fun to watch.

On my O’Day 322, the compressor unit is in my lazzarette, and I have a “freezer” compartment cold plate in my fridge. This type of plate takes up more room, but I can keep some frozen items (ice, frozen food) in the freezer compartment (without having a separate freezer).

View attachment 195434


Greg
Thanks, Greg! I'll view the video & start doing some research. This is really helpful.
 
Jun 1, 2007
265
O'Day 322 Mt.Sinai
No experience with your boat, but for most conversions involve purchasing a refrigeration kit, that includes the compressor, line set and cold plate.

Today, the line set and compressor are pre-charged With refrigerant so you dont need an HVAC guy to charge the system…

There are lots of installation videos on YouTube. If you Google it, I am sure you can find some good examples (but not your specific boat)…but it gives you the basics. You will need to figure out where to put the compressor unit, and what sort of cold plate you want in the fridge. And you need to get power to the compressor unit.

Here is in example…this guy is a crazy perfectionist, but fun to watch.

On my O’Day 322, the compressor unit is in my lazzarette, and I have a “freezer” compartment cold plate in my fridge. This type of plate takes up more room, but I can keep some frozen items (ice, frozen food) in the freezer compartment (without having a separate freezer).

View attachment 195434


Greg
Hey Greg. I'm about to install what I believe is the same unit on my 322. I was planning on putting the cold plate on the forward side of the ice box, and the compressor under the sink. You put the compressor where? Got any pics of the install? I'm assuming I can screw the cold plate into the side of the ice box with sheet metal screws and silicone, is that what you did?
 
Jan 7, 2011
4,726
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
I didn’t install mine. It was there when I bought the boat.

My compressor is in the lazzarette. The coolant lines run through the shaft bilge, under the locker in the aft cabin,
under the stove, and into the icebox. My cold plate is mounted on the aft side of the box.

I dont love the routing of the lines through the shaft bilge as it is pretty cluttered in there (see photo). But having the compressor in the lazzarette means it is quiet in the cabin.

Under the sink should work ok, but you need to give it some fresh air somehow I would think.

Part of my icebox is hard plastic (the bottom) and the top is more like foam board. Screwing the cold plate to the foam may be ok. I dont see any other structures in my fridge, so not sure they mounted the cold plate. Not usually a lot of weight on it, unless you put stuff in the “freezer”.


A84D642C-D6B7-4DD9-AC51-9E943E5ECC2A.jpeg



Greg