Well, I finally did it - I ripped out my icebox. Just getting it out took two 3-day weekends. I'm glad I made the decision to replace it though. For any of you that wonder where the water goes that drains out the bottom, mine went into the insulation under the box. It was soaked so bad that a piece of 1/2 in plywood that was between the fiberglass and the insulation was just mush. That part of the insulation (the bottom of the box) basically had zero insulating qualities. It did have a small hose that was routed to the bilge, but it had come loose from the fitting on the bottom of the box and left everything drain into the insulation. Also, though in some places there was up to 8 or 10 inches of insulation, the back wall of the box (the bulkhead between the box and the cockpit/engine compartment) had only about one inch. I'll take pictures of the rebuild and post later. I'm actually putting in a whole new galley, so may take a while.
Want to know how much insulation a 37c icebox has
- Thread starter Morrie
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H37C Refer.
Thanks for the pic Morrie. Gene G. wrote one time that the box was actually pretty good. Still he also replaced his. I think the top and the lid are also very thin. I have glued insulation to the inside top and rebuilt that lid. But someday I would like to undertake your project. Keep us posted.
Thanks for the pic Morrie. Gene G. wrote one time that the box was actually pretty good. Still he also replaced his. I think the top and the lid are also very thin. I have glued insulation to the inside top and rebuilt that lid. But someday I would like to undertake your project. Keep us posted.
Me too
i am planning to rip mine out this winter and do a mod also so keep me posted and send progress pictures direct if you want 1keladi@msn.com my A/B refer cut out again and i think that it is the control module but my wife doesn't want me to spend the $100 or so bucks to fix it again so if i am going to buy new hardware i might as well install it into an efficient box... what do you plan on using? rigid or pour in insulation? vacuum panels seem to pricy so i may cobble up a combination of rigid and some flexiable insulated foil that is sold on rolls and just freeform the thing in place...any exchange of ideas would be great thanks and good luck chet p Harriet's Chariot
i am planning to rip mine out this winter and do a mod also so keep me posted and send progress pictures direct if you want 1keladi@msn.com my A/B refer cut out again and i think that it is the control module but my wife doesn't want me to spend the $100 or so bucks to fix it again so if i am going to buy new hardware i might as well install it into an efficient box... what do you plan on using? rigid or pour in insulation? vacuum panels seem to pricy so i may cobble up a combination of rigid and some flexiable insulated foil that is sold on rolls and just freeform the thing in place...any exchange of ideas would be great thanks and good luck chet p Harriet's Chariot
I'm using pour and rigid foam
I'm using urethane pour foam next to the hull and rigid (a closed cell poly iso) on flat surfaces. Rigid closed cell foam is more efficient than the pour stuff I used. I decided vacuum panels were a little pricey for me too. Four to six inches of rigid foam sure eats up the available space though. I am going to use prefabricated hatches that have vacuum panel insulation in them. They’re really expensive, but I thought about it for a long time and building effective hatches just seemed like a pretty tall order for me. I'm getting ready for long range cruising and a small freezer is part of my goal for all this work. From everything I've read, six inches of insulation is a minimum for efficiency around the freezer. I also want six inches next to the engine compartment and next to the under-cockpit area where it gets so hot. My boat has been really butchered up by a number of previous owners, so its hard for me to tell what's original and what's not, but the top of my box had no insulation at all. It was just plywood. Plywood that was starting to deteriorate. Plus, the insulation on the bottom was such a soppy wet mess it was totally ineffective. We lived aboard for two years and it just ate up 20 pound blocks of ice so fast we eventually switched to using a little dorm room frig sitting on one of the settees. I don't want to be sucking up my new battery bank just as fast. I'm actually making pretty good progress and have taken quite a few pictures. I'm still a ways from done, but I'll organize them and post some on the photo forum in the next couple of days.
I'm using urethane pour foam next to the hull and rigid (a closed cell poly iso) on flat surfaces. Rigid closed cell foam is more efficient than the pour stuff I used. I decided vacuum panels were a little pricey for me too. Four to six inches of rigid foam sure eats up the available space though. I am going to use prefabricated hatches that have vacuum panel insulation in them. They’re really expensive, but I thought about it for a long time and building effective hatches just seemed like a pretty tall order for me. I'm getting ready for long range cruising and a small freezer is part of my goal for all this work. From everything I've read, six inches of insulation is a minimum for efficiency around the freezer. I also want six inches next to the engine compartment and next to the under-cockpit area where it gets so hot. My boat has been really butchered up by a number of previous owners, so its hard for me to tell what's original and what's not, but the top of my box had no insulation at all. It was just plywood. Plywood that was starting to deteriorate. Plus, the insulation on the bottom was such a soppy wet mess it was totally ineffective. We lived aboard for two years and it just ate up 20 pound blocks of ice so fast we eventually switched to using a little dorm room frig sitting on one of the settees. I don't want to be sucking up my new battery bank just as fast. I'm actually making pretty good progress and have taken quite a few pictures. I'm still a ways from done, but I'll organize them and post some on the photo forum in the next couple of days.
pictures posted
I posted some pics in the photo forum. I started to post them several times and kept having to resize the pictures (they were too big). I'm such a slow typist I started just typing in jibberish characters every time I typed my nam, article title, etc. So, the title ended up being ada, and there doesn't seem to be any way to edit the title stuff. So check ot the photo forum for the artcle titled ada written by sfgaf assad. :{
I posted some pics in the photo forum. I started to post them several times and kept having to resize the pictures (they were too big). I'm such a slow typist I started just typing in jibberish characters every time I typed my nam, article title, etc. So, the title ended up being ada, and there doesn't seem to be any way to edit the title stuff. So check ot the photo forum for the artcle titled ada written by sfgaf assad. :{
Morrie, I checked out your pics
My '85 has a 4 drawer stack about 8 inches wide under the aft counter between the icebox and the removable companionway steps. Did you have the same set up and rip them out?
My '85 has a 4 drawer stack about 8 inches wide under the aft counter between the icebox and the removable companionway steps. Did you have the same set up and rip them out?
Scott
Mine had the same width cabinet next to the engine campartment. It was one drawer on top and cabinet door under. I did take that outto make room for lots of insulation. The bottom of my cabinet was removable, and under bottom panel was about 6" of space between the cabinet bottom and the hull. It provided access to a transducer. It wasn't connected to anything any more so I don't know if it was original equipment or not. I did leave access to the transducerso I can put a new one in there during my next haul out. Like I said before, my boat has had so many modifications I have no idea what's original and what's not. An example is the top of my engine compartment, where you step down onto coming in through the companion way, is solid, fixed in place. When I was in Ohio a while back I had a chance to check out Ed Schenck's boat and saw that the top of his companion way lifts up for access to the engine. I don't know if mine came that way or not, but what a great deal. So I modified mine during this project to open. Anyway, though it is turning in to a lot of work, I'm still glad I started it. It going to be great to have a working refr.
Mine had the same width cabinet next to the engine campartment. It was one drawer on top and cabinet door under. I did take that outto make room for lots of insulation. The bottom of my cabinet was removable, and under bottom panel was about 6" of space between the cabinet bottom and the hull. It provided access to a transducer. It wasn't connected to anything any more so I don't know if it was original equipment or not. I did leave access to the transducerso I can put a new one in there during my next haul out. Like I said before, my boat has had so many modifications I have no idea what's original and what's not. An example is the top of my engine compartment, where you step down onto coming in through the companion way, is solid, fixed in place. When I was in Ohio a while back I had a chance to check out Ed Schenck's boat and saw that the top of his companion way lifts up for access to the engine. I don't know if mine came that way or not, but what a great deal. So I modified mine during this project to open. Anyway, though it is turning in to a lot of work, I'm still glad I started it. It going to be great to have a working refr.
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