cooler insulation '83 CD30

[John M.Sullivan]

The cooler on my 1983 CD30 is spacious and I am considering a number of add-on refrigeration systems. My question relates to the factory installed insulation on my existing cooler by Cape Dory. I know that houses have certain insulation levels, sometimes referred to as "R" numbers; e.g. R-15, R-30, R-60, etc. I'd love to know what I've got down there before making a choice on refrigeration systems. I don't need to keep ice cream frozen; but veggies, meat and cheeses etc will profit from under 40's temps. I'm looking at CoolBlue (a Technautics Inc product), air-cooled systems from Isotherm, and others. I also recall the Practical Sailor had a good article some time ago comparing various ref rig systems. I'll look through my old stacks. Of course it goes without saying that I am loath to drill holes in my present cooler - much less to tear it apart and rebuild. Any advice or reflexions will be greatly appreciated.
John Sullivan

[Ken Cave]

I have a CD 28, and found that I had ample room under the frig to install a Beckson deck plate. I then filled the void under and the sides of the ice box with insulation which has helped a lot in keeping the frig. running at a minimum during our "hot" days in the Northwest. I also use this for adding more wiring, as well as a propane hose to my heater from the rear of the boat,

I also installed an Adler Barbour CU100 QD ColdMachine, with a VD 153 QC Adler Barbour Evaporator which does a great fit in my CD 28 Frig. The condensing unit now rests on top of my fuel tank which part of it lies under the area where the stove is. It was a tight fit, but so far it has worked well.

I had to run the lines through the engine area, but insulated them with 1 inch foam insulation that
can be found at any decent hardware store. I also used the same insulation in the frig to cover the
lines, which I ran up on top and in the back.

Freezer: I make ice, and keep meats and vegetables quite frozen when we do our extended trips
into Canada. I have not tried ice cream and don't plan to at this time. The freezer section is usually around 20 degrees F. which keeps our stuff good for at least a couple of weeks. The rest of the frig is around 45 degrees F. If it gets really hot (and sometimes it does!) I put a battery operated fan in the frig to circulate the air.

I was unable to insulate the area between the box and the hull, and that would probably make
a difference. And, I do have four 6 volt batteries that I use as house batteries. With the
frig running as well as other goodies that we have, the batteries will last at least two days
before getting to a reading of 12 volts.

Our boat was built in 1979. Hopefully yours will have better insulation as Cape Dory kept
on getting better as the years went by.

Hope this helps

Ken Cave
Dragon Tale

[Adamhagan]

I am going to remove the old icebox and install a sliding track for a Engel fridge. They draw 1w/hr and will be easily managed by my wind generator and 100w solar panel.

So far I have installed some new laminate on the countertops but I am holding off until late summer to start the rebuild.

[Brian2]

On our CD 28 the built in cooler/ice box is on the port side, and shares a wall with the engine compartment. I lined the engine wall with a large piece of Reflectix, which works well at keeping the colloer cool. Then a made a large "blanket" of Reflextix, which I place over the food/ice etc. once the cooler is loaded. This keeps it much cooler. To access the food, I just roll back the blanket.

Brian

[Jack.Ducas]

John,
About 4-5 years ago I installed the Cool Blue from Technautics in my 82 CD 30. Initally I had problems with the compressor. I worked with the guy that designed it Randy,and he thought it was the controller. I sent him the one that came with the unit, he sent me back a new one. Turned out that was not the problem and indeed it was the compressor. I pulled that out ,sent it back to him and he sent me a new one. I thought that was pretty generous considering the fact that I did not buy it directly from them, I bought it from a gentleman on this board. It was brand new in the box though and had never been used. I have to say that their customer service was excellent. The new compressor has since worked like a charm. It is powered by two six volt golf cart batteries and a small solar panel. The cold plate that comes with it will frost up in approximately 1/2 hour. After about three hours it will put ice in the bottom of the box if there's a little water in it. All in all I'm happy with the unit. Be sure to keep a plug in the drain no matter what type of system you use. Hope this helps.
JD