coolbox insulation - older Jeanneau

[pagoda]

Possibly well past her design life , but still sailing well..

1988 Sunrise 35. top loading coolbox port side between sinks & hull

I'm considering fitting a waeco kit to keep the coolbox actually cool. I've tried assorted measurements to try to work out how much (if any) insulation is around the coolbox. There is no access to actually see the box from forward - or under the sinks, or aft, cooker there. Panelled in. I think however the hull side has virtually none.
Has anybody else cored or drilled into the sides , while fitting?
There is enough volume to line the inside with more closed cell foam, but I would quite like to know prior to getting out power tools!

thanks, Graeme

 

[john_morris_uk]

When I rebuilt our fridge/coolbox I was faced with a similar problem. I ended up biting the bullet and removing the worktop (bit of a dockyard job!) and found that the insulation was none on the top except for the 12 mm plywood lid and panel under the worktop finish and only about 1" thick in places in the rest of the area. I then rebuilt it with several inches of Celotex etc all round and top and bottom and then had a stainless liner and lid etc made to fit the available space. This has made the whole thing so efficient that its a freezer if I am not careful with the thermostatic control! (I also changed the whole fridge system to a water cooled condensor which seemed to be the only sort that is reliable in the tropics according to some sources.)

Alternatively a friend with a Westerly Oceanlord added insulation to the inside of his coolbox successfully and then relined it with a thin ply box which he painted white.

If I had unlimited resources I would have used vaccum panels custom built for the box and lid etc, but there seems to be only one company that manufacture them in USA. My information is that they don't hold their vacuum for ever, and they are very expensive. However all the data I researched said that when they are new/working they are second to none in their thermal efficiency.