This article applies directly to my h40.5, but I think it is applicable to many other models and manufacturers as well.
I think that most of us know that the water drain in the bottom of the refrigerator needs to be plugged when in use so that cold air doesn't siphon out and go down into the bilge thus reducing efficiency. So the common practice is to simply put a cork in the hole. This is great for stopping the migration of cold air out of the box, but plugging the hole also closes the path for water from melted ice to leave the box.
I keep my ice in the refrigerator as opposed to my freezer because I don't run my separate freezer very often (it's a power hog). Consequently, I get a lot of water from the melting ice. Over an extended cruise, I need to pull a bunch of stuff out of the box every few days so I can get to the bottom and pull the cork and drain the rising water.
I know it's a "little thing" but it is a total nuisance.
So I have designed and fabricated a simple float valve that will let the water drain but then seals the cold airflow.
I went to my local Tractor Supply Company and bought a nylon fitting: a 3/4" NPT male to 5/8" hose barb (part #2110796, D3458 on the part itself). I cut off most of the barb leaving a stub that would fit into the drain hole at the bottom of the refrigerator. Then I cut two slots into the side of the NPT end. These slots stop just short of the bottom so that the bottom of the 3/4" end has a smooth surface. Water will flow thru these slots and down into the drain.
Then I took a cork that I saved from a bottle of wine, and sanded it on my disk sander to reduce the diameter so that it would fit into the 3/4" NPT end with about 1/16" clearance all around. This is the float.
Using contact cement I glued a common rubber faucet washer (size 1-4L) to the end of the cork with the smooth side of the washer facing out. This adds just a little bit of weight to the float and provides a nice rubber surface to seat against the inside of the NPT fitting.
Finally, using a small amount of silicone caulk, I secured the float valve into the drain hole.
It's simple, anyone can make this in an hour or less, and it works great! On my last 5-day cruise, I would have had several inches of water in the bottom, but with this float valve I had just about 1/4"!
See the sequence of pictures below to understand the build process.
I think that most of us know that the water drain in the bottom of the refrigerator needs to be plugged when in use so that cold air doesn't siphon out and go down into the bilge thus reducing efficiency. So the common practice is to simply put a cork in the hole. This is great for stopping the migration of cold air out of the box, but plugging the hole also closes the path for water from melted ice to leave the box.
I keep my ice in the refrigerator as opposed to my freezer because I don't run my separate freezer very often (it's a power hog). Consequently, I get a lot of water from the melting ice. Over an extended cruise, I need to pull a bunch of stuff out of the box every few days so I can get to the bottom and pull the cork and drain the rising water.
I know it's a "little thing" but it is a total nuisance.
So I have designed and fabricated a simple float valve that will let the water drain but then seals the cold airflow.
I went to my local Tractor Supply Company and bought a nylon fitting: a 3/4" NPT male to 5/8" hose barb (part #2110796, D3458 on the part itself). I cut off most of the barb leaving a stub that would fit into the drain hole at the bottom of the refrigerator. Then I cut two slots into the side of the NPT end. These slots stop just short of the bottom so that the bottom of the 3/4" end has a smooth surface. Water will flow thru these slots and down into the drain.
Then I took a cork that I saved from a bottle of wine, and sanded it on my disk sander to reduce the diameter so that it would fit into the 3/4" NPT end with about 1/16" clearance all around. This is the float.
Using contact cement I glued a common rubber faucet washer (size 1-4L) to the end of the cork with the smooth side of the washer facing out. This adds just a little bit of weight to the float and provides a nice rubber surface to seat against the inside of the NPT fitting.
Finally, using a small amount of silicone caulk, I secured the float valve into the drain hole.
It's simple, anyone can make this in an hour or less, and it works great! On my last 5-day cruise, I would have had several inches of water in the bottom, but with this float valve I had just about 1/4"!
See the sequence of pictures below to understand the build process.
