dunkelly
Well-Known Member
i am building a new fridge and was thinking of making a grp moulding for the inner lining , has anyone any experience in doing the same . ? Any pitfalls i should look out for . ?
Fridge Carcass in GRP
- Thread starter dunkelly
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Neeves
Well-Known Member
I'm not going to be able to help - but you are suggesting that your choice, for a home build, would be unusual, what else would you use?
We have a custom built deep freeze unit with a dedicated compressor, and separate from the fridge, which is built into, or under, the cabin sole. I did think of building a fridge, when the old one gave up the ghost about 12 month ago - but decided life was too short and simply bought one. Getting the door to seal is an issue. When you de-frost it would be a good idea to have a sump, or all the water runs over the sole. I might have guessed that building from glass covered foam (as with foam cored hulls) might be a way to go, with more foam for extra insulation.
sorry to be not much help - but I have tried to re-fresh the thread
Jonathan
We have a custom built deep freeze unit with a dedicated compressor, and separate from the fridge, which is built into, or under, the cabin sole. I did think of building a fridge, when the old one gave up the ghost about 12 month ago - but decided life was too short and simply bought one. Getting the door to seal is an issue. When you de-frost it would be a good idea to have a sump, or all the water runs over the sole. I might have guessed that building from glass covered foam (as with foam cored hulls) might be a way to go, with more foam for extra insulation.
sorry to be not much help - but I have tried to re-fresh the thread
Jonathan
James_Calvert
Well-Known Member
I refurbished our cold box lid, finishing on the inside with gel coat. It stank of styrene and so did the food. Aluminium foil tape stopped the smell but isn't pretty.
I'll need to redo the job sometime.
I'll need to redo the job sometime.
Amulet
Well-Known Member
I have made one that way. Because my boat is tiny I wanted it shaped to fit under a forepeak bunk. I moulding method was fairly straight forward. I built a male mould out of plywood and polyfilla.
I did not put enough insulation round it, and I did not lay on the gelcoat as thick as I should have, but it works fine. I put the compressor in the heads in a dead space behind the can.
Getting the mould the right shape was a bit of an exercise. Started with a cardboard mock-up.
An outer skin of 3mm ply covers the insulation on the outside.
Only tip - work really hard to get your mould very smooth - filling and polishing.
I had a little difficulty removing it from the mould, but opening up the edges and pouring some hot water in helped.
A guy at East Coast Fibreglass spent a lot of time on the phone explaining patiently how to do it.
I did not put enough insulation round it, and I did not lay on the gelcoat as thick as I should have, but it works fine. I put the compressor in the heads in a dead space behind the can.
Getting the mould the right shape was a bit of an exercise. Started with a cardboard mock-up.
An outer skin of 3mm ply covers the insulation on the outside.
Only tip - work really hard to get your mould very smooth - filling and polishing.
I had a little difficulty removing it from the mould, but opening up the edges and pouring some hot water in helped.
A guy at East Coast Fibreglass spent a lot of time on the phone explaining patiently how to do it.
rogerthebodger
Well-Known Member
One method I have seen used is to lay up flat sheets onto a glass table in the same way as in a mold with gelcoat and glass and layup resin to make flat sheets theich are then cut ans make into a box of the required size and shape.
I have done something similar for my gray and black water tanks and painted with ceramic epoxy coating. The finish was not great but I did not need a smooth finish like a fridge.
Another way would be using HDPE welded into a box. This is also easy to clean.
Quandary
Well-Known Member
We added a shower room at home, I decided not to tile the shower but to use a panel system from Jewsons. great smooth wipe clean finish, waterproof and durable, easy to cut to size and assemble using plastic channel corner mouldings, if I was making a rectangular frig. box I would buy a panel and make it out of that stuff with rigid insulation on the outside.
Worth a look?
Worth a look?
dunkelly
Well-Known Member
it was the styrene smell that i was particularly worried about . Anyone got a grp fridge where the smell has been neutralised successfully . i am quite happy with the moulding process
Yngmar
Well-Known Member
Our huge top-loading fridge is built that way from the factory (Bavaria 40 Ocean from 2000). White gelcoat on the inside, no problems with smell, but then it's a bit older now. It has a drain built in with a hose on it. Just think of the insulation and how to fit/remove it. Assuming you'll then put an evaporator from a refrigeration kit in, you'll also have to think about how you get the copper pipes through and seal the holes up water/airproof.
The heads sink is also made the same way. It's very serviceable, as you can repair it with gelcoat filler if you ding it up and polish and wax it just like the hull. Lasts a lot longer though, due to no UV exposure
The heads sink is also made the same way. It's very serviceable, as you can repair it with gelcoat filler if you ding it up and polish and wax it just like the hull. Lasts a lot longer though, due to no UV exposure
Neeves
Well-Known Member
As Roger suggests, and reminds me, you can build on a flat table top. I built a glass holding tank using polythene sheet laid very smooth on a table top. I laid the glass and resin and when it had set off, but still soft (if that makes an sense ) I folded the sheet into the box shape I wanted (I obviously knew the dimensions) and then allowed it to set off completely. I then only needed to glass on the end pieces, that I had laid out at the same time. Before folding I trimmed off the sides roughly, with scissors.
The only trick is judging when to fold, as sheet needs to be hard enough to retain its shape but soft enough to fold. At the time of folding the resin is no longer sticky, so it is quite easy to handle.
Laying up on glass or polythene gives a smooth surface, on one side, and saves a lot of very tedious sanding.
In Oz where there is quite a home build yacht (mostly cats) industry you can buy glassed sheet, and glassed foam board - usually with an outer peel coat. You can also buy veneered foam, not sure if it has a shim of glass inside as well. This can then 'simply' be cut to size and taped to form any box shape you want - again it saves sanding - and I assume available in the UK.
Its the sanding that takes the time - anything you can do to reduce sanding time will makes the job easier, less messy and you will have a better chance of a decent surface finish.
Jonathan
) I folded the sheet into the box shape I wanted (I obviously knew the dimensions) and then allowed it to set off completely. I then only needed to glass on the end pieces, that I had laid out at the same time. Before folding I trimmed off the sides roughly, with scissors.The only trick is judging when to fold, as sheet needs to be hard enough to retain its shape but soft enough to fold. At the time of folding the resin is no longer sticky, so it is quite easy to handle.
Laying up on glass or polythene gives a smooth surface, on one side, and saves a lot of very tedious sanding.
In Oz where there is quite a home build yacht (mostly cats) industry you can buy glassed sheet, and glassed foam board - usually with an outer peel coat. You can also buy veneered foam, not sure if it has a shim of glass inside as well. This can then 'simply' be cut to size and taped to form any box shape you want - again it saves sanding - and I assume available in the UK.
Its the sanding that takes the time - anything you can do to reduce sanding time will makes the job easier, less messy and you will have a better chance of a decent surface finish.
Jonathan
Amulet
Well-Known Member
I don't recall smell ever being an issue with mine, even from day one. And I have a reputation for being very fussy about smells.
By the way, on the subject of drain holes.... There are those for and those against. In my old wooden boat the only place for it to drain would be into the bilges. I took the view that it would be better to mop it out than have the bottle of wine you froze end up in the bilge. Ten years on, and several frozen bottles later, I'm still happy with that decision. Take your pick...
prv
Well-Known Member
Our old boat had a GRP fridge moulded by the previous owner two or three years before we bought her. Certainly no hint of smell in our ownership, and he didn't mention any problem when new.
I wouldn't want an open drain to the bilge (imagine spilling a bottle of milk :disgust: ) but a drain is useful especially if you ever store ice. Our (stainless) box on the current boat has a drain hole in one corner which connects to a short length of hose in the adjacent galley locker, under the sink where the bin lives. In normal use the hose points upwards, clipped to the side of the locker, so nothing will drain through it. When the fridge needs draining, I unclip the hose and point it into a bucket placed in front of the locker and it conveniently empties out.
The base of our fridge is completely level - a slight fall towards the drain would have been better - so to encourage the last of the water into the bucket we have to all go and stand on the side deck to heel the boat
. The fridge has a sort of "bottom board" in perforated stainless so the space underneath forms a "bilge" for water to collect in without the food at the bottom getting soggy. The "legs" of the bottom board are a bit longer than they should be though (too much space allocated to bilge) so for longer trips I usually leave it behind to gain an extra two or three litres of space and accept some stuff (in sealed packs) might sit in water when the G&T ice melts. Saying this it occurs to me that it would be quite simple to cut down the sole plate legs for a better compromise though...Pete
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
Our fridge has a drain hole with a short bit of pipe. It empties into a paint pail (1 litre size) wedged in by the compressor plinth. The pail needs emptying about once a month: a light dose of bleach stops it getting smelly. Never slopped over even after the boats been stood on her ear.
dunkelly
Well-Known Member
thanks all for the suggestions , going for grp without drainhole . will report back if styrene smell is an issue .