??s for L DeMers &/or Steve Laume

[barfwinkle]

RE Frig insulation some questions.

1. Did you drill a series of multiple holes i.e. one set high on the vertical and the second low?

2. on two sides of the ice box I have access to the exterior wall. Is there a reason on that wall that I couldn't drill the holes on the outside of the box?

3. Can you recall the type of foam other than "low expansion"?

4. Did you do the bottom/floor of the box?

TIA and fair winds

[Rebinva]

Barfwinkle:

Did you receive a response to this? Maybe by PM. I would be interested in this as well.

[barfwinkle]

I moved the questions here

http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30247 and did get one bite.

Fair winds

[Rebinva]

Thanks.

[Larry DeMers]

Hi,

I just saw your question on this section of the board, so sorry if it is late in coming.

What I did was to drill some 1 1/4 -1 1/2 inch holes into the interior panel of the refrigerator, spaced 6-8 inches apart, and running from the vertical wall down to the whole bottom.

I used a "Pink" low expansion Urethane foam, available in your hardware store. I used 5 cans of it. Start at the bottom, and in back, working up and finally towards the front of the box. The bottom has some foam already in place, but it is very thin (~3 in.) and easily drilled past.

I used a wire coathanger, bent into a long handle, and taped the end of a piece of plastic tubing to the end of the wire. It can then be shoved into the deeper recesses of that box, and especially into the thin space between the outside wall and the box. There is only an inch of room there, but it needs as much help as it can get.

Something that I learned while doing this project. This stuff is tenacious as can be, so cover over any tubing or wiring that lays on the bottom of the cabinet, and which would be insulated over. You will pay dearly if you try to remove them after foaming them in place.

This project was while ago now..perhaps 5 years or more. I can report that the insulation has held up nicely, and we have been consistently able to keep 3-4 weeks of frozen food in the freezer with only about 20Ah's/day consumed (spill over system, so this amount of power includes the reefer also).

Questions?? Let um fly!!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30c Lake Superior

[Rebinva]

Thanks Larry. Couple of questions, if I may:

What is the reason for making the holes so large? And, what did you use to finish the interior?

Thanks in advance.

[Larry DeMers]

Hi,

I made the holes as large as I did because I used a coat hanger extension for the plastic hose, and I wanted to have room to move the thing around when the foam got closer to the top. The size could easily have been smaller, but there is no penalty for the larger size.

I covered the entire interior with two layers of bubble wrap/mylar reflection layer insulating material, using a 3M spray adhesive. Then that was covered completely with a layer of polycarbonate sheeting. This is held down with small self tapping screws and a large plastic fender washer.

This all keeps the heat out fairly well, and is very easily cleaned between uses. The main thing to do well is to apply the foam insulation as completely as possible, especially on the outside surface of the box, where it is close to the hull. This IS the largest heat loss that we see now.

Larry

[Bob Ohler]

Larry, would you by chance have any photos of your project?