Drop-in Refer

[nofd843]

Recently purchased a 2006 31 Hunter, we've noticed the built-in cooler is kind of small and are wanting to replace it with a drop-in compressor unit. Has anyone done this yet? If so what product did you use? And what issues have you had?

Thanks

Jeff

 

[Jack]

reefer rebuild

Hi Jeff,
this is something i have been thinking about as well.
we have a H33, and the top load ice chest is useless. the refrigerator works well for drinks but has virtually no freezer space. we carry a cooler that fits under the nav table for frozen provisions. i am considering removing both the fridge and the interior of the top load ice chest to create a large freezer/fridge combination. i have looked below the ice chest and there is quite a bit of room available.
in my limited research i have been told that i will need about three inches of high density foam insulation to keep the heat out and the cold in. i am considering this unit http://www.technauticsinc.com/blue.htm or something like this. be sure to check out the testimonials section.
Unfortunately this is as far as i have gotten in my research. i would be very interested what you have discovered. feel free to e-mail me directly. this would be a large project for me so i plan to move as slowly as possible before removing anything from the boat.
looking forward to your progress.
jack

 

[nofd843]

Your idea definately sounds a little more in depth than I was thinking. I was looking at a drop in unit (prebuilt). The unit you have now, is it powered or just cooled by ice cubes? If it is powered what brand is it?

Jeff

 

[Trevor]

Hi Jeff,
I own a h280 which only has a cold box ie. no compressor but insulated walls. i purchased a Isotherm by Indel Marine they supply a Danfoss Compressor and evaporator that is pre gassed and connected by two quick connect couplers. The whole installation is very simple all you have to do is mount the evaporator inside the box with four selftapper screws, drill a 30mm hole through the side wall push the copper tubing with quick connects through and re connect to compressor (you don't loose any gas doing this) mount the compressor in an convieant place (under bunk) add power and the thermostat that comes with the package and switch on. make sure you size the evap plate and compressor correctly for the size cooler box. the evap plate can be bent to suit box size. i bent mine so three sides have cooling (rather to large than to small)
Doing it this way alliviates the problem of adding an addittional cooler box

 

[Sailm8]

I retro fitted an Adler Barbour unit to my Cal 27. It was very easy to install. Just a few holes and finding a place for the compressor. It comes with about 10 feet of precharged tubing to install. The electrical needed the addition of a breaker but I had space on my panel for an extra. The thermostat is connected with a plug in telephone cord, all prewired. The unit has a freezer compartment that will make ice over night and keep stuff frozen. I found it very easy to install and put one in a friends boat. The fridge compartment was about 5 cubic feet top loader.

 

[Steve Dion]

I would also recommend the Isotherm SP unit. They do NOT have a fan. The coolant is circulated thru a thru hull fitting that replaces the one that is used for the galley sink.

Very quiet & very efficient! The price is also reasonable for a "quality" unit.

 

[nofd843]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas... still trying to figure out the best and most reliable way to do this...

Has anyone done the CB-40 drop-in refer? I saw an old post (that was closed a while back and a little off topic...). Does anyone have any pics of an installed CB-40 (factory from Hunter)? Maybe from the underside to see how they attached it to the counter top, how they supported it from the bottom and from the top.

The opening (with the trim ring removed is between about a 1/4 inch larger than the size of the CB-40 unit so it should slide in from the top fairly easy, but snug.

Thanks

Jeff

 

[Steve Dion]

Jeff: I am not sure what a 2006 H'31 setup looks like, but most of these self contained units look like you will need to remove the entire cabinet setup to get the unit in place. I cannot imagine that you will get a larger compartment.

You also need to consider upgrading your battery capacity based on your time away from the dock. The majority of these systems will consume 30-50 amps per day (some even more).

I think you will find one of the traditional retro units will be the easiest to install and the evaporator plate type will take up the least amount of space inside the box.

Do you know the cubic size of your current box so you can get some comparision?

The reason we ended up with the Isotherm unit was because our friend Steve Weinstein had one on his Hunter Cherubini 33. He was on a mooring and was able to keep his battery bank up to snuff.

Good luck.

 

[nofd843]

The box currently installed is quite small. A bag of ice and a couple cans of soda and it is full. Either way I would have to build from scratch if I was to do the kit form.

Jeff

 

[Jack]

drop in unit

Jeff,
just got back here...
couldn't find the manufacturer of the the refer unit among the boat papers. it is a powered unit and is about the size of a large college dorm unit. outside dimensions approximately 20"w x 30"h x 20"d. these are guess-timates though.
it is a bit of a power hog too.