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76 E-32 icebox insulation

Rick

Member I
I have a question. Anyone here removed the icebox on 1972/78 - E-32/E35 to replace insulation. Removing the cabinet above the counter top is not a problem. What was involved to remove the counter top ? How it is attached to cabinet ?
 

gareth harris

Sustaining Member
Epoxy, along with screws, and I think attached to the hull with fibreglass, so not easy to remove.

In the E35 you can access most of the insulation from the cockpit locker, and make an improvement to overall insulation without touching the counter top. Taking the old insulation away is not a problem as it is nothing more than spray foam, but there are just a few inches available between the ice box and the hull, so while with something like Owens Corning you can make an improvement, you may not be able to get the R value you would ideally want - that is obviously subjective to your use.

Another possibility is to add insulation inside the box, which can still leave you with quite a bit of space for food.

Something else to consider is improving the drain, which in the original set up is just a piece of hose draining to the bilge, which is not only a nuisance but quite of bit of warmth can enter that way. If you install a refrigeration unit, you can plug off the drain and just wipe the box as required. If you use ice blocks you may want to keep the drain but install some insulation; I am not sure whether the drain is above the water line to drain to a through hull, it must be pretty close. You may also be able to install an S bend, although you will need to keep enough access to keep it unblocked.

The final option is to cut out the entire ice box, accessing from the cockpit locker, and rebuild from scratch.

Gareth
Freyja E35 £241 1972
 

Rick

Member I
76 Ericson-32 ice box insulation

Thank You Gareth for replaying. On some boats counter top is screwed to the frame of cabinet, and the icebox is screwed to the counter top, then the formica laminate is applied over screw heads. If this is on Ericson, is no way to save counter top. My boat is in Isla Mujeres Mexico, so I have to have good insulation - R 30 value. My ice box after 2 weeks use have a foam insulation saturated with condensation to the point is no longer keeping cool.[30 years old] I am planning to install Dow Extruded Polystyrene 3" Foam ,one layer inside and one outside of ice box. The problem is, I don't know if I can remove ice box without destroying counter top.Will be nice to hear from somebody who did this job.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Deconstructing a Galley

When I put new laminate on the galley top last season I found that the ice box molding was held on the plywood countertop with countersunk #10 screws driven down from the top, thru the out-turned flange on the ice box frp liner unit. Next they had put spray foam over the exterior of the liner, about two inches thick, and it was still dry and in good condition.
Smaller ss counter sunk screws had been driven down into the teak molding that the lid sets into.

Next, they placed the plywood top-and-ice-box on the galley counter and screwed it down (counter sunk again) from the top and then glued the laminate over the surface and thereby concealed all the fastenings...

And then they glassed the part next to the hull... with some tabbing which was lastly covered with a teak cap with its fasteners all plugged.

Next, they cut into the surface and installed the sink and faucets.
As you can imagine, I figured all this out after I used a heat gun and a lot of long-blade putty knives and other flat metal blade-shaped objects to raise the old laminate off in one piece so that I could use it for a pattern. Some swearing was involved. :rolleyes:
Pix of the project are elsewhere in the Maint. Forum.

A decade previous the Ericson shop might have been doing this completely different, but perhaps not too much so. This type of interior detail might have been the same over a long period, it seems like.

I did not try to remove the whole plywood countertop, and did not need to for my particular project. If I done so, the next "demo" step would have involved reaching to the rear with a cut-off wheel on a hispeed tool like a Dremel on steroids -- maybe a small grinder -- and slicing thru the tabbing. Also I would have been working close in under a cabinet. More signs that the interior was originally put together in well-orchestrated stages.

Good luck and take photos as you progress along, and post 'em here.

Loren

ps: some finish pix of ours in this thread: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=6214&referrerid=28
 
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gareth harris

Sustaining Member
Your boat is on the Island of Women? Wow.

I started my refrigeration project in Pensacola, so I know the climate you are dealing with, and you are quite right to want at least R30, and six inches of foam - I had been thinking you might get away with less if you were in Ontario.

I cut my entire box out from below, leaving the counter intact. There was absolutely no way of dismantling from above. On the E35 the ice box extended through the main bulkhead, leaving enough room to get in with a grinder. That leaves quite a bit of space to rebuild a new box however you want it. I have not seen the E32 system, but your best option is probably to do something similar.

Gareth
Freyja E35 241 1972
 
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