Ice cubes please

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pcatterall

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I am really enjoying my pink gin at 6pm sitting in the cockpit with a nice breeze Gordon's best gin, cold tonic, slices of lemon, 10 drops of bitters, near perfection.... just the clinking of a few cubes of ice would be paradise!!
Our cooler is a Waeco compressor chest and it works well, it would make ice but then the beer and the tonic would freeze!
I did wonder if I could adjust control so that an ice tray in the coldest ( lowest?) part of the chest would freeze but the rest not. Has anyone mastered this technique?
Failing this then we could consider a very small chest type freezer specifically for ice ( and possibly a lamb chop or two!!), has anyone got such a device?
Help please... paradise is so near!
 
We've got one of those wide but stumpy Thermos flasks with a big opening ... put it in the freezer at home for half an hour with the top off ... take it out and fill with ice cubes ... lasts all weekend. G & T with no ice = keelhaul offence!
 
pcatterall said:
I am really enjoying my pink gin at 6pm sitting in the cockpit with a nice breeze Gordon's best gin, cold tonic, slices of lemon, 10 drops of bitters, near perfection.... just the clinking of a few cubes of ice would be paradise!!
Our cooler is a Waeco compressor chest and it works well, it would make ice but then the beer and the tonic would freeze!
I did wonder if I could adjust control so that an ice tray in the coldest ( lowest?) part of the chest would freeze but the rest not. Has anyone mastered this technique?
Failing this then we could consider a very small chest type freezer specifically for ice ( and possibly a lamb chop or two!!), has anyone got such a device?
Help please... paradise is so near!
Click to expand...
We've got an spillover freezer... basically, the compressor/chill plate works a freezer compartment, and then a small fan (sort of like a computer cooling fan) on a thermostat pulls cold air out of the freezer to chill the separate but attached, fridge compartment.

Works really well, and drags the freezer down to minus 20 very quickly, and then maintains the fridge nicely at 4 degrees or so... ice cubes galore!

Ours is water cooled, rather than air, but don't see why an air cooled version wouldn't work.
 
We set the fridge compartment thermostat to -10, then run the compressor just enough to keep ice cubes and then water bottles frozen, and arrange the rest of the contents of the large compartment to get roughly the right temperatures.

To get the ice cubes we have sworn by this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Compact-Counter-Machine/dp/B002ALJAVM for the last 3 years which goes on as soon as we arrive on the boat, and gets us a few bags of ice cubes before we set out 2 or 3 hours later, then on again if we happen to get tie up somewhere with electricity. We also have freezer ice-cube bags but have not yet had to use them. I recently bought an inverter specifically to run the ice cube maker when we are under engine, but haven't needed it yet.
 
We set the fridge compartment thermostat to -10, then run the compressor just enough to keep ice cubes and then water bottles frozen, and arrange the rest of the contents of the large compartment to get roughly the right temperatures.

To get the ice cubes we have sworn by this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Compact-Counter-Machine/dp/B002ALJAVM for the last 3 years which goes on as soon as we arrive on the boat, and gets us a few bags of ice cubes before we set out 2 or 3 hours later, then on again if we happen to get tie up somewhere with electricity. We also have freezer ice-cube bags but have not yet had to use them. I recently bought an inverter specifically to run the ice cube maker when we are under engine, but haven't needed it yet.
 
RupertW said:
We set the fridge compartment thermostat to -10, then run the compressor just enough to keep ice cubes and then water bottles frozen, and arrange the rest of the contents of the large compartment to get roughly the right temperatures.

To get the ice cubes we have sworn by this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Compact-Counter-Machine/dp/B002ALJAVM for the last 3 years which goes on as soon as we arrive on the boat, and gets us a few bags of ice cubes before we set out 2 or 3 hours later, then on again if we happen to get tie up somewhere with electricity. We also have freezer ice-cube bags but have not yet had to use them. I recently bought an inverter specifically to run the ice cube maker when we are under engine, but haven't needed it yet.
Click to expand...
Rupert, do you still have the manual for this - or alternatively could you look next time you are on the boat to see if there is a label on it saying what current it draws please ?
Thinking that we could fill it with very cold water from near our fridge cooling plate then run your m/c on a small inverter
 
Storyline said:
Rupert, do you still have the manual for this - or alternatively could you look next time you are on the boat to see if there is a label on it saying what current it draws please ?
Thinking that we could fill it with very cold water from near our fridge cooling plate then run your m/c on a small inverter
Click to expand...

I tried looking in our papers and online last month to find out exactly that before buying an inverter. I couldn't find anything so bought this BESTEK-1000W-Car-Battery-Power-Inverter-Auto-DC-12V-AC-230V-Adapter-Voltage-Watt-/221176440960

I then tested it underway with the ice maker with a lot of trepidation but all seemed fine for the 10 mins to first ice cubes. But I only bought the inverter as our fridge had lost its gas and I didn't know whether the fridge engineer would turn up and regas it before we arrived (he did so we were fine). In 3 years we haven't needed to use it underway yet as our fridge is engine driven and very powerful, and getting 18 hours worth of ice cubes when tied up every few days is a lot more than we need.
 
Andrew James Compact Counter Top Ice Maker Machine - New Slimline Model - 15kgs of Ice per 24hrs - No Plumbing Required + Includes 2 Year Warranty
http://amzn.to/1pRaTAU

RupertW said:
To get the ice cubes we have sworn by this ... I tried looking in our papers and online last month to find out [what current it draws]...
Click to expand...
There are no details on their web site either, I though electricity consumption information was mandatory: https://andrewjamesworldwide.com/UserControls/productIndividual.aspx?ProductID=286#
 
RupertW said:
I tried looking in our papers and online last month to find out exactly that before buying an inverter. I couldn't find anything so bought this BESTEK-1000W-Car-Battery-Power-Inverter-Auto-DC-12V-AC-230V-Adapter-Voltage-Watt-/221176440960

I then tested it underway with the ice maker with a lot of trepidation but all seemed fine for the 10 mins to first ice cubes. But I only bought the inverter as our fridge had lost its gas and I didn't know whether the fridge engineer would turn up and regas it before we arrived (he did so we were fine). In 3 years we haven't needed to use it underway yet as our fridge is engine driven and very powerful, and getting 18 hours worth of ice cubes when tied up every few days is a lot more than we need.
Click to expand...

Got a feeling our little inverter is only 250w so maybe not enough. The fridge keeps shop bought cubes frozen for 2-3 days so the G&Ts are a treat. No bad thing and it does not affect me anyway - as long as I have a 5‰ very cold lager or three I am a happy bunny.
 
pcatterall said:
I am really enjoying my pink gin at 6pm sitting in the cockpit with a nice breeze Gordon's best gin, cold tonic, slices of lemon, 10 drops of bitters, near perfection.... just the clinking of a few cubes of ice would be paradise!!
Our cooler is a Waeco compressor chest and it works well, it would make ice but then the beer and the tonic would freeze!
I did wonder if I could adjust control so that an ice tray in the coldest ( lowest?) part of the chest would freeze but the rest not. Has anyone mastered this technique?
Failing this then we could consider a very small chest type freezer specifically for ice ( and possibly a lamb chop or two!!), has anyone got such a device?
Help please... paradise is so near!
Click to expand...
Knock yourself out..
Either be self sufficient http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...aker&sprefix=ice+mak,aps&rh=i:aps,k:ice maker
or for day tripping http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...s,aps,740&rh=i:aps,k:wide+mouth+thermos+flask
 
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