{"id":219,"date":"2017-04-29T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2017-04-29T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reefknotsandrigging.com\/?p=219"},"modified":"2017-04-29T09:03:49","modified_gmt":"2017-04-29T13:03:49","slug":"icebox-upgrade-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/29\/icebox-upgrade-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Icebox Upgrade Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where were we? Ah yes, installing the insulation.<\/p>\n

\"Second<\/a>
Second layer of insulation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have two layers of one inch thick R-5 XPS insulation covered in a watertight radiant barrier. This will give me R-10 for the box (hopefully the original foam will add something too since it’s still there.) The last piece to go in is the top of the icebox with resin covered plywood blocks stacked up to provide a solid mounting point for the holding plate.<\/p>\n

\"Top<\/a>
Top layer with mounts for the holding plate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With all the insulation in place next I add the FRP liner.<\/p>\n

\"FRP<\/a>
FRP liner to protect the insulation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I put a PVC pipe through the hole for the coolant tubes and used Marine-Tex as a sealant around the seams.<\/p>\n

\"Marine-Tex<\/a>
Marine-Tex and PVC pipe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The rest of the seams taped for easier sealing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally uncoil the tubes and slide the holding plate into place. I make it sound easy, it was anything but. After stripping heads of multiple screws and snapping off a drill bit inside the counter top I finally got the holding plate secured to the roof of the box.<\/p>\n

\"Holding<\/a>
Holding plate secured<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next I installed the compressor in the cockpit locker and put the control panel in the bulkhead above the icebox.<\/p>\n

\"Control<\/a>
Control panel installed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Closer<\/a>
Closer look at the control panel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally to test it out!<\/p>\n

\"Compressor<\/a>
Compressor running and holding plate chilling!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now what to do about the pitted and ugly fiberglass frame around the lid? Well I’ll keep going with the Marine-Tex.<\/p>\n

\"Cleaning<\/a>
Cleaning up the frame for the lids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sand<\/a>
Sand it down<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Finish<\/a>
Finish with paint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I replaced the insulation in the lids and painted them too.<\/p>\n

\"Before\"<\/a>
Before<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lids<\/a>
After<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve been running it for a couple days now and the results are good but not great. The system is very efficient. During the day the solar panel provides all the power it needs to run in freeze mode where the holding plate is charged up (or should I say down) to seven degrees Fahrenheit. At night the unit runs in economy mode where the holding plate is maintained between twenty and thirty degrees. However the temperature in the box doesn’t drop as low as I’d like it. It fluctuates between forty-three and forty-eight degrees.<\/p>\n

\"Icebox<\/a>
Icebox keeping cold!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ll have to run some more tests and see if I can get the temperature closer to freezing. The Isotherm unit has an automatic mode which is what I’ve been using to maintain the greatest efficiency. It also has a manual mode which I’ll try to use to see if I can lower the temperature of the box.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where were we? Ah yes, installing the insulation. I have two layers of one inch thick R-5 XPS insulation covered in a watertight radiant barrier. This will give me R-10 for the box (hopefully the original foam will add something too since it’s still there.) The last piece to go in is the top of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Icebox Upgrade Part 2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-outfitting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241,"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reefknotsandrigging.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}