Engel Ice Box Conversion Kit

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  • July 07, 2015 6:16 PM
    Reply # 3425366 on 926112
    Anonymous

    By how much did you reduce the volume of the box? I would like to leave it the full size of the stock liner. Good advice and great pictures, thank you.



  • July 09, 2015 11:40 AM
    Reply # 3428150 on 926112
    Deleted user

    hi again,

    my ice box is straight sided now, it was staggered originally, so I must've added different thicknesses of pink board on the top vs the bottom.

    I think I made it a bit too small, but well insulated is the trade-off. I'll take a pic of the finished product and measurements for you, probably over the weekend.

    Cheers,

    Stephen

  • July 10, 2015 3:19 PM
    Reply # 3429685 on 926112
    Deleted user

    For those who want to keep the large 'fridge, there are some options besides the Adler Barbour that are almost identical but much less money. Nova Kool, Vitrifrigo, and Frigiboat are the main ones. The Adler Barbour Cold Machine is based on the Danfoss BD50 compressor, which has excess capacity for any plate that you could hook up to it. They do sell a set with the smaller and more appropriate BD35 compressor, but with very small evap plates. The Nova Kool and Vitrifrigo sets let you choose the compressor and hook up to any plate/box. They'll come in at $750-$1000. 

    Nova Kool uses the BD35 on their 2-door 9.1 cu ft trawler 'fridge, so it should have no trouble with our boxes. The Danfosses can be set to run at different speeds - higher for faster recovery (cold beer now!) but more energy use, lower for longer cycles but less energy use. 

    The Engels are fine units as well, it's just a size thing, the Danfosses are for bigger boxes.

    I've found that condenser units do fine in a settee or locker as long as there is a good vent to the cabin. They're more efficient with lots of cool air, but it's not night and day - as long as there is flow and it's not 120 degrees, they'll be fine. 

    Mine's in the engine room, on a custom shelf behind and to port of the engine. Doesn't seem to suffer when the engine is running, and if it's slightly less efficient, well it's charging, so no worries.



  • August 17, 2015 4:15 PM
    Reply # 3485051 on 926112
    Anonymous

    Thank you for the info on Novakool, I got three plates and the larger compressor from Bay Marine for about $1100, that included the $9 for shipping.  Next question is where to put the compressor. The locker below the settee is a good place, the top of the seat is at the same level ast the bottom of the icebox liner. The space under the icebox liner is about 13", right now it is filled with two part foam, but I can cut an opening in the face of the cabinet and dig out a spec that's. The compression can fit into and still have 4 or 5" of foam absolve it. Has anyone done this? The advantage would be to get the pipes off the bottom of the ice box, shorten the run and does not use any space I would normally use for storage and I can put vents in the face and both sides of the cabinet.

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