[C38] Refrigeration

[Tom T.]

Hi Steve,

My refrigerator conversion is crude but extremely efficient.

I bought a new refrigerator at Sam's Club and gutted it putting the evaporator on the ourboard side of my ice box and I put the compressor in a small enclosure in my sail locker.  I ran the high side refrigerant line around the perimeter of my bilge and it works wonderful!

You could make the salt water cooling line work like my condenser line if you purchase a commercial unit but with my unit there is pump or associated noise.  The only moving part is the compressor that is mounted in a fiberglass enclosure in the sail locker which is hard to hear, even from inside the sail locker.

Because of the extreme efficiency of my unit, the batteries last a long time, even in the hot Florida environment.

I had actually already made my ice box conversion some years earlier from a small dormitory refrigerator I had bought at a flea market but the compressor failed. I tried to buy a new compressor but they wanted something like $145.00 for a new compressor but it would have to be ordered, not in stock. Sam's membership warehouse had a two door, large dormitory type refrigerator new in the box for $110.  My boat is 500 miles from my house so it was a no brainer, the new complete refrigerator it was.

The people on the dock thought I was insane when I opened the box and took out the refrigerator, took out the compressor and evaporator and threw the rest of the brand new refrigerator into the dumpster. 

I once talked to the people at the Largo Florida Catalina plant about using the keel for a refrigeration and engine cooling heat exchanger but they were not too interested.  I thought if they stubbed in connections to cast in place cooling tubes in the keel it would make cooling of the engine and refrigerator very efficient but it seems that the sailing manufacturing community is very conservative about new ideas.

I've owned and worked on many marine refrigerator systems and my boat using the 1" of water that is always in the bilge for a 1/4" copper tube condenser is extremely inexpensive, efficient, quiet and space saving.  Using the bilge for a condenser is a no brainer.  I can even use my refrigerator when the boat is on the hard if there is any residual water at all in the bilge.  Try that with a sea water cooling system.

Tom Troncalli


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Steve Smolinske 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 12/30/2009 12:18:01 AM 
Subject: [C38] Refrigeration


I have searched through the last few years of posts and didnt see any discussion on refrigeration systems so I have a few questions for those of you with them.  I am considering the Isotherm 4201 or the Virtrifrigo both use the danfoss BD35F compressor for a max of 8.8 cubic feet ( Our boxes are 5.6),  Both have ASU holding plate options and both use seawater for cooling the compressor.  I am thinking of teeing off the engine raw water intake and draining through a tee in the galley sink drain.   The nice thing about the virtifrigo is that it has a holding plate that will fit nicely on the aft wall of the upper ice box on the port side.  It is 11 X 2.5 x 8.  Any other size will interfere with the main ice box area.. 

Questions are :  

1)  anyone have any recommendations or warnings on brands?
2) I'm sure there is some math for figuring out the proper size of holding plate for cubic volume, anyone?
3) As an option what about making the cooling line a closed loop and running the tube from the compressor pump through the bilge and back to the compressor, that would be preferable to teeing off at through hulls If the run is long enough to cool the water before heading back to the pump.  

Thanks

Steve
Peregrine #312
Seattle
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