Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 cat ketch

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Peter
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:12 am
Location: Bremen, Germany, UK F35 CB Cat Ketch 'Avante'

Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 cat ketch

Post by Peter »

Hello all UK F35 cat ketch aficionados,

has anyone out there installed a refrigeration unit in the cold box besides the companionway?
I would like to know the thickness of the insulation inside the supplied box. Is the the whole space
around the box filled with foam? Before I cut holes into the existing box I would like to get as
much advice as possible from someone who has done this job before.

I have got a Isotherm 3251 SP ASU unit with a holding plate and a 'self pumping' condenser.

Thanks in advance an kind regards
Peter
Last edited by Peter on Fri Oct 04, 2013 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Castaway
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:40 pm
Location: Lerwick, Shetland Isles

Re: Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 Cat Ketch

Post by Castaway »

Will be interested to hear how you get on: we're planning to do this next winter when we get the boat home.

Where are you planning to put the compressor? Was your boat fitted out at Hamble or Falmouth? There seem to be some differences in the detailed joinery of the galley/companionway area between them.

Good luck.
Gerald Freshwater,
s/y 'Castaway', (UK F35 cat ketch, centreboard, 1987)
Lerwick Boating Club
Shetland Isles, Scotland

midnightsailor
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Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:21 pm
Location: Greenport, New York

Re: Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 Cat Ketch

Post by midnightsailor »

Well, that makes three, that is , I am also in process of installing refrigeration in F33 cat ketch. I picked up a Adler Barber super cold machine with optional water cooling. Will mount refrigeration/compressor unit in port cockpit locker against aft face of forward bulkhead, evaporator()large o-shape with door) will go on the shelf in the aft part of ice box. Have not done any cutting yet, will let you know what I find when I do.
1982 Freedom 33 Cat Ketch, Hull # 53, Standard Booms, deep keel ,tall rig
An armed man is a citizen, An unarmed man is a subject. George Washington

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Rik
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Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:42 pm
Location: Naarden, Netherlands

Re: Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 Cat Ketch

Post by Rik »

Peter, I did exactly the same thing last year (installing a condenser unit etc) I have placed it in the room behind the stove. Good place, only setback is the point that you sometimes hear the condenser, for example at night time, when everything is quiet. Thickness of Isolation I did not exactly measure but it is considerable. Several centimeters at least. If this is all the way around I don't know, but I guess that it is. There is one weak spot. Originally there was a drain in the box. A former owner told me that filling that hole made a huge impact.
Rik Lammers - Tumlare F35 Naarden - Netherlands

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Rik
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:42 pm
Location: Naarden, Netherlands

Re: Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 Cat Ketch

Post by Rik »

Gerald, a different question You asked if the boat was out of
Falmouth or Hamble
I thought that the original Freedom yard in the UK was located in Southampton? Have they been produced at several places? I have hull nr 33. Thanks
Rik Lammers - Tumlare F35 Naarden - Netherlands

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Castaway
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Location: Lerwick, Shetland Isles

Re: Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 Cat Ketch

Post by Castaway »

Rik,

Sorry for the slow reply; I was abroad for most of May.

The original Freedom Yachts UK was, I understood, based in Hamble, which from here is practically in Southampton! Sir John Oakley was teh salesman, and also sailed one in a Round Britain Race, I think in 1979. They went bust, and a new company, based in Falmouth, took over the licence. All the hulls & decks were made by Apple Marine (I think) in the Isle of Man. My boat was fitted out in Falmouth. A friend here has one fitted out in Hamble, and there are noticeable differences in the joinery, size of the centreboard box, layout of the companionway/wet locker/coolbox area. Some of this may have been to the specification of the original owners, as I know George had Castaway built, and followed her construction throughout, but I think such variations were minimal. The earlier boats had smaller saloon tables and darker woodwork, in general.

Refrigerators aren't a high priority in the latitudes where I sail, except for midsummer in the Baltic, when it can be almost tropical for a week or two. We thought to cover that eventuality for the next visit.
Gerald Freshwater,
s/y 'Castaway', (UK F35 cat ketch, centreboard, 1987)
Lerwick Boating Club
Shetland Isles, Scotland

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Peter
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Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:12 am
Location: Bremen, Germany, UK F35 CB Cat Ketch 'Avante'

Re: Refrigeration unit in a UK F35 Cat Ketch

Post by Peter »

Now I am back after 8 weeks of sailing among the islands along the German Bight on the North Sea. I has been quite a hot summer up to now and I was pleased to enjoy cool drinks from the new refrigeration unit on board.

To anybody interested in this topic I will try to describe how the installation has been done. Later I hope to include some pictures. If you prefer an air cooled unit, you will not have to install the skin fitting but have to consider some air ducting to the compartment where the compressor is installed. A good place for such a unit might be the space behind and outboard of the cooker next to the cooling box. This will ease the installation considerably.

The Isotherm ASU SP 3251 unit for fridges up to 125 litres comes in four parts:
1. the 12/24 V Danfoss compressor unit
2. the stainless eutectic holding plate
3. the self pumping sea water cooled skin fitting
4. the control panel

Holding Plate
First I drilled a hole with a hole saw for the tubing from the inside of the cooling box thru the wall to the cooker compartment. After leading the tubes thru this hole the holding plate was screwed to the wall on the outboard side inside the box. The holding plate should be placed as high as possible but you have to consider the thickness of the lid of the box. I sealed the screw holes with epoxy and the tube hole with polyurethane foam. Then I bent the tubes in order to conduct them along the wall behind the cooker and then led them along the plastic tubes that contain the electric wiring and the water tubes on the starboard side inside the hull. The copper tubes then had to pass the forward facing wall of the cooker compartment to the space behind the drawer thru a further hole. There I coiled the rest of the tubing of the holding plate. Later -after tightening all the tube connections- I installed a sort of 'collision bulkhead' made of marine plywood in front of the copper tubing. In my boat the pots and pans are stored in this compartment and I do not want them to damage the soft copper tubes in case the going gets rough. The lid of the box on my boat had a gap of about 1 in around the perimeter of its insulation on the underside. I filled this gap by way of gluing some pieces of 1 sq.in. foam rubber sealing in place. This supplied a tight fit to the lid.

Compressor Unit
I decided to install this unit behind the drawer in the compartment aft of the sink. This space is useless otherwise and had just the right distance for the length of the copper tubes from the skin fitting. Before installing the unit a third hole was drilled thru the wall to the compartment below the sink. Then the mounting bracket for the compressor unit can be screwed to this wall. This bracket eases the installation of the unit which can be just 'clicked-in' later.

SP Skin Fitting
The old 1 in. skin fitting has to be removed first. Then I inserted a wooden plug into the hole of the old fitting to provide some material for the drill bit of the 2.5 in. hole saw and drilled a larger hole thru the hull. This hole had to be drilled off centre because it was situated near the bulkhead of the sink compartment. You have to consider that the ball valve and elbow hose fitting for the sink needs some space for installation.
As part of this hole led thru the balsa core, this had to be removed here and be substituted with thickened epoxy. Now the copper tubing of the skin fitting could be inserted from the outside thru the hull and the fitting be put in with some Sikaflex. Before tightening the fitting it is best to install the ball valve and hose elbow considering their orientation and tightness. I then led the copper tubes thru a 40mm/1.5 in. plastic tube up along the bulkhead beside the skin fitting. The plastic tube provides some shelter against damage caused by loose items inside this compartment. Up on the bulkhead the tubes were bent back to the hole thru this wall leading to the compressor unit on the other side. Then all the tube connections should be made and tightened.

Control Panel/Electric Installation
I screwed the panel to the bulkhead facing forward above the lid of the fridge. The control cable was led thru a hole into the compartment beside the stairs and then thru the plastic tube where all the electric cables are led from the aft cabin forward to the nav station. This cable was joined by the 12V cables from the battery compartment to the compressor unit. Near the unit I made a hole into the wall of this plastic tube to get the cables out there and connect them to the compressor.

It may sound a bit complicated and and so it was. It took me over a week to finish the job. I am over 6 ft. tall and creeping inside the tight compartments under the pantry was not easy for me, more so considering my age at 68. But it was very satisfying to see the unit work properly afterwards and sip a well cooled beer.
Peter

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