Improving refrigerator insulation?

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Ereiss
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Improving refrigerator insulation?

Post by Ereiss »

What have people done to improve the insulation of the box? I'm thinking about drilling holes from the back of it (from inside the sail locker) to squirt in expanding insulation. Doesn't stay very cold (not helped by a 15 year old air cooled cooling machine which resides in a hot sail locker).

Any suggestions, as always, greatly appreciated.
Ed Reiss
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F38 - #154
out of Marion, MA

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THATBOATGUY
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Re: Improving refrigerator insulation?

Post by THATBOATGUY »

Biggest bang for the buck in most cases is the lid. The older adler barbour units had a really crappy 12 volt fan that eats power but you can replace it with one of those computer fans inexpensively and get a gain in efficiency. Also the new generation of controller is more efficient. Lots of other stuff you can do and I'd recommend two books. Nigel Calder's book on marine refrigeration and RL Kollman's book. Lastly, there is a great forum at rparts.com.

George
George and Kerri Huffman S/V Marquesa Freedom 40 CC CK Sail MarquesaImage

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GeoffSchultz
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Re: Improving refrigerator insulation?

Post by GeoffSchultz »

One of the things that I'm planning on doing is replacing the insulation in the door/hatches with soem R-28 Vacuum Insulated Panels from r-parts http://www.rparts.com/Catalog/Box_Build ... lation.asp. A key thing that you need to make sure of, is that your insulation isn't wet. That will kill you.

-- Geoff
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1997 Freedom 40/40
http://www.GeoffSchultz.org

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Ereiss
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Re: Improving refrigerator insulation?

Post by Ereiss »

Geoff
so are you removing the lid insulation and replacing it or simply gluing this stuff on the bottom of the lid? Did you find a source for the gaskets? Probably on rparts if I looked hard enough.
Ed Reiss
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F38 - #154
out of Marion, MA

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GeoffSchultz
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Re: Improving refrigerator insulation?

Post by GeoffSchultz »

I'll remove the existing insulation, attach the VIPs to the doors and then fill the rest of the space with foam. And yes, you can get the gasket material at rparts.

I actually built my entire refrigeration system from separate parts from them. Here's a link to a photo album showing the parts as I got them and the final product.

http://www.geoffschultz.org/2003_Sailin ... cket_Work/

-- Geoff
BlueJacket
1997 Freedom 40/40
http://www.GeoffSchultz.org

AlanK
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Re: Improving refrigerator insulation?

Post by AlanK »

On my F-33 I did the following:
Drilled some pilot holes to check insulation thickness, type, and conditions. It was dry and around 4 inches on some sides 2.5-3 inches on others.
I sealed the drain with foam and then added a couple of inches of rigid insulation on the outboard side and more on the bottom, filled gaps with spray foam and covered with 1/8" white fiberglass panels from rparts using fiberglass cloth and expoxy at the seams.
At the aft end of the box which is next to the locker with the compressor I added insulation on the outside since that was accessible and easier.
I replaced the old adler barbour with a technautics coolblue as this seemed more robust for use in a locker with limited airflow then some others.
Over time i've tested and monitored the current draw and effectiveness of the insulation (using ice melt over time testing).
I used some aluminum space blankets on the bottom and top of the box. Recently I added some of the alumimum insultation that has bubble wrap between the aluminum layers. This made a significant difference.
In hindsight if I were doing this over again I wouldn't bother with the fibergalss panels (this was a lot of work). I'd just pile up the insulation and cover with the aluminum stuff.
The aluminum space blanket I place over the food and holding plate reduces the area to be cooled to the amount of food in the fridge and minimizes the impact of any air leaks at the cover (and is cheap ).

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