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refrigeration

Kim Schoedel

Member III
Ok, what I thought was a 3 day gig to change out my battery charger and install a conversion refer in the larger ice box, well let me put it this way. If I was 20 years younger and 20 lbs lighter, it would have taken 2 days instead of 3 1/2 days. Whew! The good news is that we now have a refrigerator! This SeaFreeze coversion kit works like a charm. Very quiet.
Good thing I didn't get stuck in the starboard lazerette or I would still be there. If anyone wants to hear the painful details please ask. Good thing someone invented Alieve for the sore body.
 

WhiteNoise

Member III
"Good thing I didn't get stuck in the starboard lazerette or I would still be there. If anyone wants to hear the painful details please ask."

Not sure if I want to know ... but I'm sure we're all curious.
 

Kim Schoedel

Member III
WhiteNoise,
It really wasn't all that bad as I made it seem. Fortunately my boat was pre-wired from the factory with DC and AC back to the lazerette (the hole). This is the logical placement for the compressor unit. The hard part was fishing the refrigerant lines ) 15' in which are permenantly attached to the evaporator, from the inside of the ice box under the sink and back to the hole. Since the old b charger was way up under the deck through the hole, I had to remove the main trunk line and wireing to the Espar central heat unit before doing anything. So in a nut shell. I had a lot of pre-disasembly and planning to do prior to the actual installation of the refer parts. Lots of climbing out of the hole-down the companionway steps to the cabin and back and forth about a zillion times. I did this solo. The Captain (my wife) was smart in deciding not to be present for this adventure.
 

Chris Miller

Sustaining Member
The Admiral not on deck...

My wife has found that she prefers to not be around a lot when I'm doing "me" projects on the boat. Especially if there's any drilling involved.
Chris
 

gabosifat

Member III
Hi Kim,

I just completed the exact same job on our boat - yes it is a pain. Wondering where in the hole you put the condensor?

Steve Gabbott
Silent Dancer
E35/3
Vancouver
 

Kim Schoedel

Member III
Hi Steve,

I relocated the Battery charger to the forward most spot on the top shelf which was basically an unusable area for anything else.

The compressor/condensor had to go on the most forward area of the bottom shelf. I could have made a bracket for it to sit on the top shelf but, it would have had to stick out a couple of inches with the base having sharp-metal corners. Re-routed the trunk line for the Espar a bit and it all looks like a clean set-up for the most part.

We went with a freezer box style evaporator with an open top to cool the rest. We'll see how well this works, the freezer opening is 11" by 6" and 12" deep. Good enough for a pack of Dove bars and some meats and such. I stuffed this box tilted forward in the skinny aft portion of the ice box. Yes we lost the big shelf and I will need to make a bracket for the small shelf to support the aft end of it.

Did you get the SeaFreeze unit?
 

gabosifat

Member III
No,

I bought the Novakool unit - same size ice box & I stuck it up in the aft end of the cooler box tight to the ceiling. I made a new shelf which goes behind the dish rack in the locker & put the condenser unit there.

Steve
 

Kim Schoedel

Member III
I think you did the right thing Steve. I thought about placing the condenser like you did but wasn't that ambitious. Did the Nova Cool come with some kind of monitor? Trying to remember......
 

gabosifat

Member III
No the Novakool has no monitor. I didn't see one with a monitor - what does it monitor - temp? battery draw?

Steve
 

Kim Schoedel

Member III
Sorry Steve, I got confused. I had looked at both the Nova Cool and the Frigoboat. It' the Frigoboat that had a Smart Speed Control. You can change the speed of the compressor it you would want to manually control it. Or just leave it on automatic and monitor the unit and at which mode it is in. Being on a lake and not too worried about long term battery draw, I wasn't interested in having to install another device in the cabin.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
site links...

You might want to click on "Search" and type in Frigoboat...
Lots of prior commentary and pics. The thread that mentions an E-35-2 is good... and there are several others...
:)
Loren
 
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