Fridge fitting experiences to share?

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Gunfleet

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I have a locker suitable to become a fridge but I don't think I can use one of those build in rectangular jobs because of the hull curvature. Anyone tackled the problem of a) insulating a locker and b) giving it a smooth interior surface that you can wipe clean? I suppose thin formica surfaced ply over that blue corning insulation board is the best I can think of, then putting beads of silicon down the joins. I know one solution is to do the outside of the box, but one side of the box is the hull (so no external insulation there) and the opposite side backs on to the engine room so I don't think I could use external insulation on the box there, for reasons of fireproofing. Also, I've got a really good spot to place the compressor and gubbins under the floor of a cockpit locker. Any reason not to do that? Of course the compressor would be upside down but it doesn't know that.
Thanks for any pointers
John
 
I fitted one 2 years ago.
I bought a ready made GRP box, pre shaped to hull curvature, I think it was from Waeco, I'll have to check.
Placed box in position and lined externally with Celotex insulation [cavity wall insulation scrounged from building site]
Made a ply box outside that and filled gaps with Screwfix squirty foam insulation.
Make sure you strut the box down before inserting foam because it floats!

The compressor sits in the cockpit locker fairly happily, but you need to make sure the airflow is not obstructed, and corrosion may be a problem later because of salty damp.
My fridge failed after 1 year but the manufacturers replace it without quibble even though they said that the connection was cross threaded, [my fault]
It is quite difficult get the connections threaded if you are doing it in an awkward position. Also psychologically difficult as you only get one chance.
Worth it just for cold beer.
 
I made my fridge enclosure out of a board which is normally supplied for replacement fascia and barge boards. (try one of the suppliers of doublazed windows ). Its foamed unplasticised PVC. It does give some insulation and has glossy surface on one side. It usualy comes as flat sheets but I got a board that was L shaped which was useful. You cut it with a wood saw and glue it together with a specially compounded cyanoacrylic glue. The surface is not particularly strong but has worked for us. A replacement liner would be easy to make when needed.
The Celotex 35 mm. thick silver fol faced PU insualting board used for houses makes a good insulating layer.
I entirely agree about the fear you will experience when joining up the wo screwed joints. It really is a one shot chance.
Obviously you must have good air flow over the heat rejecting coil. The fan does make a noise so SWMBO insists its off at night (fan is near her bunk) It still tends to freeze half the contents of the fridge but then my fridge is pretty small - less than 1 cu.ft.
Dont forget a closable drain so you can muck out the enclosure when you spill the milk!
 
I'm just in the middle of doing exactly that ... The final finish on top of approx 50mm thick celotex will be glassed in, sanded and might be painted. Difficult corners especially where the hull forms the base, voids etc, filled with 2 part PU foam (apparently better insulator than one can stuff).

The compressor is Waeco and I doubt you can fit these upside down if that's what you intend. Max deviation of these units is 45 from horiz.

You get only 2 mtrs of fridge pipe so the compressor's got to be fairly close. Looking at mine, by the time you've got it out the box and gone hither and thither the distance of 1m (as the crow flies) between the evaporator and compressor was just about right. Any more and I'd have trouble. Same applies to fitting the temperature sensor which is even shorter.

Basically, everything is agin you! All sorts of bits and pieces which you never knew you had get in the way!
 
One piece unit from waeco, 10 X 8 inches...easdy to install, you only need 1w2 volt connection!

Use regualr compressor built into unit!

And uses less power than the units with seperated comprssor. It also uses a small computer fan to vent the warm air from the aluminium cooling finson the bcabin side.

A very neat instalation!


I had to special order mine...
 
I used kingspan polyurethane foam. 100mm all around. This should ideally be the minimium thickness to keep the energy demand down. I made the tub from white formica epoxied on to 1/8" ply. The 1/8" ply becomes very stiff once laminated with formica. I used sykaflex to join the panels together. The fridge is very neat, incredibly cheap to operate ( about 1 amp average) and is 95 litre capacity. 1/3 of the space can be converted to freezer space as well as the 3 litre ice box. in freezer mode it uses 2 amps. We use a keel cooler. so the compresser location is next to the fridge in the bottom of a locker. It is very quite and produces no noticeable heat output to the boat
 
Second vote for keel cooling and eutectic plates. Add as much insulation as you possibly can.

Why go through all the aggro of fitting a fridge if it canes your batteries and doesn't keep your beer cold?
 
The one I bought had a built in fan forcing air over the "radiator". I fitted the unit under the sink, but turned the fan round so it blew air over the "Radiator" and out into the cockpit locker, this keeps the locker I have it in cool as the warm air exits into teh cockpit locker. It isn't quite sleint but almost - it certainly wouldn't disturb your sleep.

Not sure about the drainage point someone else mentioned. I had understood they were a source of very poor insulation. I certainly blocked mine with expanding foam and then car body filler.

The expanding foam from builders merchants can help give very good insulation in hard to reach parts.

Regards
 
I insulated the box with 100mm Styrofoam. Easy to cut and shape. The finish was using food grade plastic. I got this from Partwell Plastics in Lancashire who you will find on the internet. I used 3mm thk wall cladding. this was easy to cut with a jig saw and shape with a sander. They can also supply food grade angles to help improve the finish of the fabrication. You can get Styrene compatible impact adhesive which makes the assembly easyer. I got the Styrofoam and the Styrofoam adhesive from a Sheffield company called K&M. They are an education supplier. I found it useful to get 25mm and 50mm Styrofoam so that I had flexibility in how much insulation I put on the inside or the outside of the box sides. I fitted the Isotherm self pumping water cooled fridge. I used it all last season and I am very pleased with the performance although I did have problems with the unit after the instalation when I had to re gas it before it would work. Marathon Leisure were good about this and they covered the costs no problem. Fitting the fridge was no problem. Building the box in the boat was very time consuming
 
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