S2 11.0A ice box insulation

[quarteringbreeze]

Hi all,

Just sailed my new (to me) 1979 S2 11.0A down from Barrington RI to Manhasset Bay in the western LIS. Along the way I realized that the ice seemed to melt very quickly (at least more quickly than my trusty old Pearson 28). A close inspection revealed minimal ice box insulation (when buying the boat i obsessed on just about everything else). I am interested in hearing from other 11.0A owners that have improved the insulation of their ice boxes. My contractor buddy and I are working out a number of possible scenarios, but I'm hoping to hear from others who have been there before we start deconstruction.

Thanks in advance,

RW

BTW, I'll be floating many more questions in the coming weeks, so please be patient.

 

[BobM]

I haven't re-insulated, but a layer of large style bubble wrap over the surface made a significant difference. I think mine is good for about three days loaded up without adding ice if it isn't opened often. I keep a days worth of drinks in a separate small cooler.

Congrats on the 11.0A. If I every move up I will certainly give it every consideration, especially if I come across a late model with three cabins, although one of the things I love about my 9.2A is that it is wide open. In five years I have never mounted the dinette table, but I primarily daysail. They make polyisocyanate for roofing in almost any thickness you can imagine, backed and unbacked, if you can get at all the sides.

 

[Mark Maulden]

I have a refer unit that just crapped out after 30 yrs. But, when it was working, I kept the T-stat at "1" and it kept it real cold. We do enough motoring to not worry about power consumption and I'm going to get a honda 2000 gen. I'm going to replace the refer with the like so I'm not contingent on ice every few days. So, sorry, I don't have any info on ice consumption. Looking fwd to your future posts....

 

[quarteringbreeze]

I haven't re-insulated, but a layer of large style bubble wrap over the surface made a significant difference. I think mine is good for about three days loaded up without adding ice if it isn't opened often. I keep a days worth of drinks in a separate small cooler.

Congrats on the 11.0A. If I every move up I will certainly give it every consideration, especially if I come across a late model with three cabins, although one of the things I love about my 9.2A is that it is wide open. In five years I have never mounted the dinette table, but I primarily daysail. They make polyisocyanate for roofing in almost any thickness you can imagine, backed and unbacked, if you can get at all the sides.

I A cushion on top of the ice box lid and that helped, but the whole box is very lightly insulated (about 1") so there is little hope of it ever being efficient in it's current configuration. I am going to dismantle tue ice box and add insulation, but was hoping to find someone who has been down this road.

R

 

[Mark Maulden]

1"??? I just removed my evaporator which was mounted under the outboard door. After I pulled it out, I stuck a screwdriver from inside the box to the cockpit locker. compressor was mounted in lazarette. There is a good 4" of insulation between the refer and the locker.....Of course, I don't know what's in the other sides of the refer. What also helps is to use the cork from that special bottle of wine and cork up the drain. Pull cork periodically.

 

[Mark Maulden]

As a side, maybe it's worthwhile to drill a small hole in each side and determine how much insulation is there. I'd be interested to know how you determined your 1". Holes are easy to replug and might tell ya something....Reinsulating would be a big task...I know someone who did this (not S2) and they installed insulation from the inside and regelcoated. They lost a lot of refer space.

 

[quarteringbreeze]

As a side, maybe it's worthwhile to drill a small hole in each side and determine how much insulation is there. I'd be interested to know how you determined your 1". Holes are easy to replug and might tell ya something....Reinsulating would be a big task...I know someone who did this (not S2) and they installed insulation from the inside and regelcoated. They lost a lot of refer space.

My friend examined it and gave me the 1" figure. The back side (where prev poster said there is 4") was one side he couldn't see.

 

[Jtoben]

We used the blue insulating foam sheets they use on houses, and put two thicknesses on the underside of the reefer top, just using double sided tape. Cut to fit precisely, and noticed a big difference. We also filled large ziplock bags with styrofoam peanuts and put them on top of whatever is in the reefer. Lost our refrigeration once while in the Caribbean and had to resort to ice, both of these fixes helped a lot. Also plugging the drain hole makes a difference.

 

[BobM]

Bubble wrap

Don't disparage the bubble wrap. It is essentially free and a good layer quite effectively decreases the volume that the ice has to chill. The foam on the back of the lid helps, but doesn't change the volume. There are small battery powered fans that are supposed to help too.

I had very little ice in my icebox..perhaps half a bag...on a very hot fourth of July this year and with the bubble wrap I still had ice the next morning. I was quite surprised.

Bob