Refrigerator Lid Insulation
- Thread starter Shadowfax
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- insulation lid refrigerator
Kim Schoedel
Member III
Yes, I was wondering the same thing. Ours is ok but not to my likeing. It looks like maybe the folding lid on the big box has been droped, damaged and repaired a couple of times. The top side is in excellent condition. Would like to replace with something lighter with less depth.
Ok I'll spill the secret.....
There are a couple of ways to get a good finish on the interior of refer boxes etc. I'll start with my favorite first.
In Alaska I did some comercial boating for a bit, and a bit of repairing and assisting with some of the fish boats up there. I noticed that a lot of them had really strange patters on the inside of their fish holds, which are actualy big reefers or freezers depending on the boat. Upon closer look once I noticed that the patters were little tiny teddy bears.... Really...... Another boat had mushrooms. It became immidately apparent that they were lined with Paper towels saturated in epoxy. The result is very strong, easy as heck to fabricte, and repair is beyond easy... Now the fish guys used whatever was on sale, freqently droped huige heavy pokey fish on it and all was good.
Fabrication is easy, take a small piece of the foam insulation that you want to use, mix up a small atch of epoxy, and smear it all over the little test piece of foam....Did it disolve, (Most don't but always good to check). Then if not, cut the foam, glue it together for the shape of the box, lid what have you. Then wet out the paper towels with epoxy, and place them over the foam. Do it nice and neat.
Oh and if you don't like bears or mushrooms, you can use the blue shop towels or the plain white ones at the grocery store. Our last boat I did this for the whole box, and it lasted longer than we had the boat, only one repair, which involved the box lid being dropped on the cockpit sole from about 6 feet, had to fix the corner. Took about 5 minutes fo rthe fix, counting cutting the foam....
If you want you can of course paint over the paper towles, but why go for the extra work, just get a pattern you like!
Monel or stainlesss lined, find someone that does comercial kitchens give them a pattern, a month or more of your salery, and it looks awesome. Make sure that you have enough insulation, and that you have completely removed the counter in the galley to install the fabrication, should only take you a couple of weeks worth of full time work to go this route.
Vacuum panels, give someone three months of your salery, and make sure that you can get it apart the 5-10 times that you are going to have to take it back when the vacuum leaks out...(Or is it in....?).
You can fab the whole interior our of fiberglass, but it seems to me to be a big waste of time and money. The paper towles work awesome......
You can also have someone make up a molded plastic interior, or you can cut and weld the interior yourself. I have seen both, the issue is that the plastic can get kind of funky with odors etc.
Guy
There are a couple of ways to get a good finish on the interior of refer boxes etc. I'll start with my favorite first.
In Alaska I did some comercial boating for a bit, and a bit of repairing and assisting with some of the fish boats up there. I noticed that a lot of them had really strange patters on the inside of their fish holds, which are actualy big reefers or freezers depending on the boat. Upon closer look once I noticed that the patters were little tiny teddy bears.... Really...... Another boat had mushrooms. It became immidately apparent that they were lined with Paper towels saturated in epoxy. The result is very strong, easy as heck to fabricte, and repair is beyond easy... Now the fish guys used whatever was on sale, freqently droped huige heavy pokey fish on it and all was good.
Fabrication is easy, take a small piece of the foam insulation that you want to use, mix up a small atch of epoxy, and smear it all over the little test piece of foam....Did it disolve, (Most don't but always good to check). Then if not, cut the foam, glue it together for the shape of the box, lid what have you. Then wet out the paper towels with epoxy, and place them over the foam. Do it nice and neat.
Oh and if you don't like bears or mushrooms, you can use the blue shop towels or the plain white ones at the grocery store. Our last boat I did this for the whole box, and it lasted longer than we had the boat, only one repair, which involved the box lid being dropped on the cockpit sole from about 6 feet, had to fix the corner. Took about 5 minutes fo rthe fix, counting cutting the foam....
If you want you can of course paint over the paper towles, but why go for the extra work, just get a pattern you like!
Monel or stainlesss lined, find someone that does comercial kitchens give them a pattern, a month or more of your salery, and it looks awesome. Make sure that you have enough insulation, and that you have completely removed the counter in the galley to install the fabrication, should only take you a couple of weeks worth of full time work to go this route.
Vacuum panels, give someone three months of your salery, and make sure that you can get it apart the 5-10 times that you are going to have to take it back when the vacuum leaks out...(Or is it in....?).
You can fab the whole interior our of fiberglass, but it seems to me to be a big waste of time and money. The paper towles work awesome......
You can also have someone make up a molded plastic interior, or you can cut and weld the interior yourself. I have seen both, the issue is that the plastic can get kind of funky with odors etc.
Guy
do you have photots or a drawing.
my 35-2 doesnt have any insulation on the lid.
i have a 4'x10' vac. former, that can pull just about any plastic up to a 3/8" thick.
just sculpt a plug out of foam and pull.
i have also used wood plugs and a heat gun to form plastics, then fill with insulating foam. (the plastic must be thermoformable) acrylic, styrene are good.
could possibly fabricate it for you at an ericson discount.
my 35-2 doesnt have any insulation on the lid.
i have a 4'x10' vac. former, that can pull just about any plastic up to a 3/8" thick.
just sculpt a plug out of foam and pull.
i have also used wood plugs and a heat gun to form plastics, then fill with insulating foam. (the plastic must be thermoformable) acrylic, styrene are good.
could possibly fabricate it for you at an ericson discount.
Chris Miller
Sustaining Member
Bears and mushrooms, huh?
Given those two specific patterns, it seems to me that they might have gotten the concept of Refer mixed up with Reefer...
"Riding that train, high on...."
Chris
Sorry, couldn't help myself :jollyroge
Guy Stevens said:
Given those two specific patterns, it seems to me that they might have gotten the concept of Refer mixed up with Reefer...
"Riding that train, high on...."
Chris
Sorry, couldn't help myself :jollyroge
Jeff Asbury
Principal Partner
You a Dead Head Chris? Come on don't be shy. I was one of Jerry's Kids for many years. My boats name is "Pride of Cucamonga", after a obscure Dead song. It's OK there are a few of us "Lost Sailors". I know a boat named "Stella Blue".
I think there may be more of Jerry's children out there than you realize. Our first "big" boat was Ripple, but not exactly the wave:
http://home.comcast.net/~il.tifosi/ripple.htm
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
http://home.comcast.net/~il.tifosi/ripple.htm
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
Jeff Asbury
Principal Partner
Great Name, Great Song! From Refrigerator Lids to Dead Head Sailors, now that's a good posting.
QMS, anyone?
Our previous boat was a Niagara 26 we named Quicksilver...
Our present boat, an Olson 34 we've owned for over a decade is called Fresh Air....
Here is a nice link from a QMS web site:
http://www.johncipollina.com/a8G5fDs3.mp3
Loren
ps: While visiting friends in SF, I once met the owner of Stella Blue. Neat guy.
Our previous boat was a Niagara 26 we named Quicksilver...
Our present boat, an Olson 34 we've owned for over a decade is called Fresh Air....
Here is a nice link from a QMS web site:
http://www.johncipollina.com/a8G5fDs3.mp3
Loren
ps: While visiting friends in SF, I once met the owner of Stella Blue. Neat guy.
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Jeff Asbury
Principal Partner
Stella Blue's owner is named Wally Bryant. Stella Blue is a C&C 38. He has a great web site with lots of "How To's". http://www.wbryant.com/index.htm
Never met him but we bounced a couple e-mails back and fourth a couple years ago.
Thanks for the Fresh Air!
Never met him but we bounced a couple e-mails back and fourth a couple years ago.
Thanks for the Fresh Air!
Art Mullinax
Member III
Closed cell PVC foam
I ran across a piece of closed cell PVC foam for my reefer lid. I used 2 sided tape to hold it in place. I put it on the bottom of the lid, cut it in half over the hinge and it's been there for 13 yrs.
I ran across a piece of closed cell PVC foam for my reefer lid. I used 2 sided tape to hold it in place. I put it on the bottom of the lid, cut it in half over the hinge and it's been there for 13 yrs.
Randy Rutledge
Sustaining Member
Art did that stop the condensation on the outside of the lid? It is a bother having a wet counter/icebox lid and melted ice. Margaritas aren't good without ice or should I say aren't great without ice.
Randy
Randy
Art Mullinax
Member III
Condensation
Randy and All,
It stopped most of the condensation. Around the lip where there is no insulation gets a little moisture on it. Not enough for a margarita glass to slide around on! It depends on how humid it is.
Randy and All,
It stopped most of the condensation. Around the lip where there is no insulation gets a little moisture on it. Not enough for a margarita glass to slide around on! It depends on how humid it is.
My icebox lid re-do
A couple of years ago, I re-built the icebox lid on our E35-3. My solution is similar to what I've seen on Valiants, and other high end boats.
I used the original as a pattern and instead of hinging it, I make it in two pieces. The top sets on the countertop and overlaps the sides ~ 3/4". Finger pulls were installed in the center of each peice. The top is glued to a piece of plywood then sealed with epoxy so we don't havew condensation issues. I made two insulated blocks and attached them along the edges using bathtub caulk. That way I can remove them if I want to replace the top part and not destroy the insulation block. The edge where the original lid rested (just inside the icebox) has a piece of 3/8" weatherstriping foam tape which is the real seal. It too is easy to replace.
Each block is made of 4 layers of 1/2 rigid foam, then covered with layer of glass, filled and painted. The glass may be a case of overkill, but I don't worry about poking a hole in it. Each block is about 3/4" smaller than the inside lip in the icebox. If your accuracy is better than mine, you could get a lot closer to the edge.
Originally, I made the top out of scrap intending to make it out of something nicer but never got around to it. I thought a nice touch might be to turn the top into a cutting board using oak or maple. The finger pulls would be a problem though.
We spend a lot of time on the boat and don't have refrigeration. Two to three large (2 liter) sports drink/fruit juice bottles filled and frozen and 10-15# of ice last 2-3 days for us here in North Texas (daytime highs in the mid-upper 90s) during the summer. We cover the contents with a 36x72" sheet of bubble wrap (available at places like the container store). It's cheap, easy to keep clean, and when the bubbles have all been deflated, easy to replace!
A couple of years ago, I re-built the icebox lid on our E35-3. My solution is similar to what I've seen on Valiants, and other high end boats.
I used the original as a pattern and instead of hinging it, I make it in two pieces. The top sets on the countertop and overlaps the sides ~ 3/4". Finger pulls were installed in the center of each peice. The top is glued to a piece of plywood then sealed with epoxy so we don't havew condensation issues. I made two insulated blocks and attached them along the edges using bathtub caulk. That way I can remove them if I want to replace the top part and not destroy the insulation block. The edge where the original lid rested (just inside the icebox) has a piece of 3/8" weatherstriping foam tape which is the real seal. It too is easy to replace.
Each block is made of 4 layers of 1/2 rigid foam, then covered with layer of glass, filled and painted. The glass may be a case of overkill, but I don't worry about poking a hole in it. Each block is about 3/4" smaller than the inside lip in the icebox. If your accuracy is better than mine, you could get a lot closer to the edge.
Originally, I made the top out of scrap intending to make it out of something nicer but never got around to it. I thought a nice touch might be to turn the top into a cutting board using oak or maple. The finger pulls would be a problem though.
We spend a lot of time on the boat and don't have refrigeration. Two to three large (2 liter) sports drink/fruit juice bottles filled and frozen and 10-15# of ice last 2-3 days for us here in North Texas (daytime highs in the mid-upper 90s) during the summer. We cover the contents with a 36x72" sheet of bubble wrap (available at places like the container store). It's cheap, easy to keep clean, and when the bubbles have all been deflated, easy to replace!
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