re insulating my icebox...

[Ross in Tampa]

My project for the weekend is re-insulating the factory icebox on my 1979 Oday 25. I am pretty sure it is the original foam insulation and it is quite tired. I am looking for suggestions, I am planning on removing the box completely and laminating foam on the outside. I have also considered epoxying the foam to make it a bit more durable and perhaps help keep the cool longer.

I am looking for opinions, how thick of foam, which type of foam and the best way to adhere the foam to outside of a fiberglass box.

Thanks in advance for your insight.

Ross

 

[Ross]

I have a food freezer that used fiber glass insulation in the door. The plastic liner for the door cracked and condensate saturated the insulation. I took it all apart and replaced the fiber glass with R-Max foil faced urethane building sheathing. I used half inch because I needed to cut the sheets to fit them behind the flanges on the door and I wanted to stagger the joints. I taped the joints with with high quality packaging tape.. It has been better than new for fifteen years.
In my boat I used two inch extruded styrofoam(the pink stuff from the home centers) filled the joints with canned foam. sanded everything smooth and sprayed it with 3M adhesive and lined it with very fine fiberglass cloth and coated that with epoxy. after ten years of use it shows no wear.

 

[kloudie1]

Tampa Ross… Look around in the phone book for industrial insulation suppliers.. There is a new product called AEROGEL from ASPEN, which is starting to be used around mostly in industrial applications. I have no connection with the company.. but have used it successfully in my former career.. The product is an excellent way to get a lot of insulation into a small space.. Cryogel Z is probably best for icebox application, but Pyrogel XT will also work well with the use of a vapor barrier. There is some on the side of my engine enclosure where it is close to the icebox. Most industrial appliers will have enough scrap to do a box .. you could either get the scrap free or at a very low cost from them.. look here for info http://www.aerogel.com/markets/industrial.html
And here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWGO58hpaCY

 

[AXEL]

I re-did my ice box on the C30 a few years ago. I used the solid pink foam you buy at Home Depot. Use the thickest foam you can fit. I also glued foam to the inside top of the box and in addition made new insdie covers. I also made up a flex cover from those foil emergency blankets sold at West Marine. Fold it over a bunch of times, cut and seal with duct tape. When the ice box is not filled to the top I lay the cover over the ice/food. It makes a big difference!

 

[Benny]

If you can remove the box, consider discarding and replacing it with a with a high quality cooler or refrigerator.

 

[Ross in Tampa]

Benny, I totally thought about that. I was going to devise a mount in my qtr berth area, and use the old ice box for galley stowage. That idea was nixxed by the admiral.

What did everyone use for adhesive on the pink foam?

thanks again,

 

[Ross]

What did everyone use for adhesive on the pink foam?

thanks again,

I used canned urethane foam called "Great Stuff"

 

[Hermit Scott]

Can you just use great stuff alone, or does it not have a good enough R rating? (it is R rating when talking about insulation right?)

 

[Ross]

Can you just use great stuff alone, or does it not have a good enough R rating? (it is R rating when talking about insulation right?)

You could but it is lumpy. Imagine trying to get a uniform thickness of shaving cream on the bathroom mirror. When you knock the foam down it looks a lot like urethane adhesive. a few lines of this and pressing the sheet foam into it works very well.

 

[Ross in Tampa]

so shall it be, I will give it a chance. I think a lot of my cold loss is thru the top anyway. I think there is no foam on the bottom of the countertop and the cool leaks through the top.

Thanks for all the help guys, I knew I could count on you.

Ross

 

[Ross]

so shall it be, I will give it a chance. I think a lot of my cold loss is thru the top anyway. I think there is no foam on the bottom of the countertop and the cool leaks through the top.

Thanks for all the help guys, I knew I could count on you.

Ross

If you ever get condensate on the box or the counter top you are loosing cold big time. One pound of ice melting absorbs 140 btu's but one pound of water condensing releases 1000 btu's.

 

[RAD]

reinsulating a 79 ODay center cockpit

After removing the stove which is right next to the ice box I figured out that I could slide an additional 3/4 R max board along side 2 sides of my box, then I added 4" in the engine room which is the third side and finally another 3/4 next to the stove and that was a great improvement but one day last season while trying to find a route for auto pilot wiring I discovered the uninsulated space at the bottom between the hull and now have to figure out how to get there without taking to much of the boat apart in addition I also lay a piece of heavy foam (like the kind thats inside cushions) on top of the ice box cover and that makes a lot of difference.
Now I can keep ice for 4 to 5 days and if i'm motoring I leave a blower on to exhaust the engine room