ice box conversion

[MORNING LIGHT]

Hi, I was wondering if i could turn my ice box into a real fridge. I saw that you can buy a conversion with a compressor and everything but i don't think i have the room for it and i read somewhere that it's not worth the investment.But some small camping coolers work with thermoelectric
plates that seems to take a lot less room than a compressor. Maybe someone knows more about this. I only have a capri 26 but we go out often for more than 2 days and i think a real fridge would be handy.
thanks for advise.

 

[Stu Jackson]

http://www.kollmann-marine.com

 

[Patrice]

Hi,
One important issue to take in consideration if you go with the conversion, is power consumption.
You can get some cooler that you can plug in a 12V outlet, but they take a lot of power.
If you go with the marine 12V frigo, they are expensive, but need less power ( read amp. )
You will need additional batteries, and a way to recharge. Also add to the final $$$.

But it is sure nice to have refrigeration.

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

Hi,
One important issue to take in consideration if you go with the conversion, is power consumption.
You can get some cooler that you can plug in a 12V outlet, but they take a lot of power.
If you go with the marine 12V frigo, they are expensive, but need less power ( read amp. )
You will need additional batteries, and a way to recharge. Also add to the final $$$.

But it is sure nice to have refrigeration.

We bought a small cooler last year that draw like 4.5 amps. we were away for 2 1/2 weeks and had to deal with the power consumption but i'm gonna put 2- 12 volts house battery to make sure. But I'd like to able to install something that works like my small cooler only bigger cause in a Cat 26, you don't have much room to spare and I can't afford to have some compressor in the way .
thanks patrice

 

[philwsailz]

Don't forget the insulation part of the equation. These boxes usually have very little in the way of insulation. The more insulation you can add, the longer your icebox, (or converted ice box) will stay cool.

 

[jrowan]

We have one of those 12 volt plug in type coolers. Drew down two 12 volt deep cell batteries so hard overnight when we first used it that the engine barely cranked & turned over. So beware of this & have plenty of amp hour capacity to run one.
We have a 110 volt fridge now that only runs on shore power. It will stay cold for about half a day with the power disconnected while sailing. Its also a heck of a lot cheaper then a marine grade 12 volt fridge. The small models fit right in to where the useless stove goes, and they can be had for less then 200 bucks. ps. Blocks of hard ice that you can buy from any decent marina are the cheapest way to go & will generally last several days. As Phil stated, the more insulation you have, the more efficient the refrigeration unit will be. My 2 cents worth.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Morning Light, I would suggest you read Don Casey's dissertation on onboard fridges, in his book This Old Boat. A million miles of first hand info on these things, that will surely help you decide on a course of action..

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

Thanks Chris , I saw this book before but I never thought of getting it
to look into for solution .

 

[Chris Patterson]

Yeah man, that book is worth its weight in silver. You can order it through Barnes & Noble WAY cheaper than off the rack. After reading his refrigeration chapter, I had a TOTAL rethink on my icebox. Fact is, the Grunnert I'm using may get scrapped, over just using ice. If this boat were doing super long range cruising, the islands, etc, I may go back to it. But Phil is absolutely correct. Most every icebox/fridge insulation I've ever seen on a production boat is pitiful. Anyway.

 

[Chris Patterson]

One more thing while I'm thinking about it. I had one of those 12 volt fridges that basically plugs into the cigarette lighter hole. Had 3 group 31's on the boat. Forgot to turn it off one night, about ten hours later guess what. No crankee motor. THAT piece of power eating crap got given away to the inlaws..

 

[seadaddler]

One more thing while I'm thinking about it. I had one of those 12 volt fridges that basically plugs into the cigarette lighter hole. Had 3 group 31's on the boat. Forgot to turn it off one night, about ten hours later guess what. No crankee motor. THAT piece of power eating crap got given away to the inlaws..

Look for portable plug in 12 volt ref run 2 12 volt batteries and 1 seperate one for starting