Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 10-21-2017, 08:44 AM   #1
Veteran Member
 
City: Harriman, TN
Vessel Name: "GILKEY" as charged
Vessel Model: '81 Schucker438
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 28
Extended cruising refrigeration needs

Trying to increase freezer capacity for mostly anchorage cruising and wonder what the veterans choose. I have fairly significant solar/house bank and am wondering if utilizing the existing ice box with an ice maker is doable or is cold plating more practical? Simple is gooder for me, opinions?
MikeyG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 09:49 AM   #2
Guru
 
OldDan1943's Avatar
 
City: Aventura FL
Vessel Name: Kinja
Vessel Model: American Tug 34 #116 2008
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 10,595
Or a stand alone Dometic 12vt. Can either be a freezer or another refrigerate but not both at the same time. Remember to secure it so it doesn't flop around in the seas.
__________________
Two days out the hospital after a week in the hospital because of a significant heart attack.
OldDan1943 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 10:23 AM   #3
Guru
 
MurrayM's Avatar
 
City: Kitimat, North Coast BC
Vessel Name: Badger
Vessel Model: 30' Sundowner Tug
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 5,946
Just looked at a few Schucker 438 photo's on the net...nice boat!

Another option to adding energy gobbling freezer capacity is to use a food dryer at home.

So far we've dried meatless meals, but my sister dries meals with meat for her extended hiking journeys with no adverse effects. Nothing like having a favourite "home cooked" meal once in a while
__________________
"The most interesting path between two points is not a straight line" MurrayM
MurrayM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 10:53 AM   #4
Guru
 
Ken E.'s Avatar
 
City: Bellingham WA
Vessel Name: Hatt Trick
Vessel Model: 45' Hatteras Convertible
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,971
You might want to talk to Sea Freeze in Bellingham. They make custom refers and freezers for extended cruising.
Ken E. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 10:58 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Sugardog's Avatar
 
City: Alexander
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 152
Quote:
Originally Posted by MurrayM View Post
Just looked at a few Schucker 438 photo's on the net...nice boat!

Another option to adding energy gobbling freezer capacity is to use a food dryer at home.

So far we've dried meatless meals, but my sister dries meals with meat for her extended hiking journeys with no adverse effects. Nothing like having a favourite "home cooked" meal once in a while


I actually owned a Schucker back in the day in Key West as a live aboard. Great boat for island hopping. Years later I moved to Cape Coral long after I sold the boat and met one of the guys that built my boat. Small world.
Sugardog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 11:20 AM   #6
Valued Technical Contributor
 
DavidM's Avatar
 
City: Litchfield, Ct
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 6,775
I cruised extensively using a 6 cu ft built in box freezer/fridge. It used a 12V Danfoss compressor, with a keel condenser (Frigoboat), was well insulated and had 2 cu ft freezer section where the evaporator coil was located and about 4 cu ft spill over refrigerator section. It used 50-75 amp hours daily.

There are packaged 6+ cu foot freezer/fridges that are Danfoss powered, like Novakool, etc. These aren't as well insulated and don't have keel condensers, so they will use more amp hours, probably close to 100.

I believe 6 cu ft total is the minimum I would cruise full time with. 8+ would be better. I could store frozen meats for a couple of weeks worth and keep cheese, vegetables fine in the refrigerator section. I would typically shop every two weeks, but of course at the end of that period the lettuce was crappy.

And don't bother with cold plates (eutectic). These were developed for propulsion engine powered compressors where you needed to store cold in between engine runnings (typically twice a day). With batteries and 12V Danfoss compressors, they are unneeded.

Some 120V Energy Star rated fridges can be fairly efficiently run with an inverter, but I am sure they take more energy than my Frigoboat system did, but maybe close to a packaged 12V type.

An icemaker is a big energy hog. Expect to double the above figures if you want a 120V inverter powered icemaker in addition.

David
DavidM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 11:32 AM   #7
Scraping Paint
 
City: CT
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 963
Custom built-in box big as you like, either lots of solar or run a little dino juice for an hour in the AM, good batt monitor helps.

Avoid water cooling, not needed anymore

Technautics Cool Blue (Rich Boren Rich@cruiserowater.com or info@technauticsInc.com , phone +1 (619) 609-3432

OzeFridge well recommended but Australian

Both above are eutectic, much more efficient than anyone else

John Tully, ColdEh Marine Refrigeration http://www.coldeh.com comes close with evaporators


SeaFrost https://www.seafrost.com, Cleave

OTS for DIY

Adler/Barbour ("AB") part of Dometic/Waeco now, Cold Machine

Isotherm
john61ct is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 12:00 PM   #8
Moderator Emeritus
 
ksanders's Avatar
 
City: SEWARD ALASKA
Vessel Name: DOS PECES
Vessel Model: BAYLINER 4788
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,263
hmmm

we have a small chest freezer on the flying bridge. I sewed a nice canvas cover for it.

three seasons now, and the price was $175 at home depot.
__________________
Kevin Sanders
Bayliner 4788 Dos Peces
Seward, Alaska - La Paz, Baja California Sur
https://maps.findmespot.com/s/XLJZ#history/assets
ksanders is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 12:39 PM   #9
Scraping Paint
 
City: CT
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 963
Fine if you're running dino juice for hours per day.

I doubt that is efficient enough for living on the hook for extended solar-only periods.

The ones I'm talking about from the sailing cruisers/liveaboard world get down to 20-30AH per day even for pretty big box sizes. Temp difference inside vs ambient is the main factor for variability.

The real key is insulation, 4" is just a good start.
john61ct is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 08:27 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Snapdragon III's Avatar
 
City: Kenmore
Vessel Name: Snapdragon
Vessel Model: Custom 56' Skookum trawler
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 374
Our boat came with top loading separate fridge and freezer with engine driven cold plates. They are very easy to keep cold while using the boat. They are so powerful that they only seem to need around 30min engine run time per day, and could easily go a couple days if they were full and down to temp. The big downside is that you have to completely unload them when the boat is at the marina, because you have to be there to run them to keep them cold. They are the same except of the set point, and this summer we went on a three week trip and turned them both into freezers, to accommodate the fish we caught. We used the second freezer to make Ice for coolers for our refrigerated food. It worked out really well. We were able to fillet, Vacuum pack, and freeze 11 king salmon, 8 ling cod, 5 rockfish, and 1 Halibut. I really like the option to turn the fridge into a freezer if the need arises.
Snapdragon III is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 08:35 PM   #11
Scraping Paint
 
City: CT
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 963
Rich, Cleave or OzeFridge listed above could do a very clean conversion to 12V on that, not touching the icebox at all.

It may even be possible to leave the engine compression in place and add the electric as an option.
john61ct is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 08:48 PM   #12
Guru
 
hmason's Avatar
 
City: Stuart FL
Vessel Name: Lucky Lucky
Vessel Model: Pacific Mariner 65
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 2,759
We have an Engle frig/freezer. Uses little current and has been running flawlessly for 5-years 365/24/7. Freezes everything rock hard.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001SNWCFO...a-315823554861
__________________
Howard
Lucky Lucky
Stuart, FL
hmason is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 10:26 PM   #13
Guru
 
Maerin's Avatar
 
City: East Coast
Vessel Name: M/V Maerin (Sold)
Vessel Model: Solo 4303
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 886
I'll 2nd the Engle, if you check into a portable, the Dometic/Waeco models are energy hogs when compared to the Engle. It uses a swing compressor, much more efficient. Don't have one, would like one, every one I spoke to who does have one loves it.

I removed our Grunert cold plate system, it was a horrible energy hog, required genset operation to run, and ultimately developed an internal leak in the cold plate. It's archaic technology that was developed when all refrigeration required lots of horsepower. Today's equipment is technologically superior in so many ways.

I replaced my Grunert with a Frigoboat keel cooled evaporator and rebuilt the freezer box with vacuum insulated panels, it works 100% better. And I freed up a tremendous amount of real estate by ditching the Grunert.
__________________
Steve Sipe

https://maerin.net
Maerin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2017, 10:55 PM   #14
Guru
 
Drake's Avatar
 
City: Seabrook, Texas
Vessel Name: Small World
Vessel Model: Defever 50
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 611
We put an extra small freezer on deck.

https://www.amazon.com/Igloo-FRF110-...ywords=freezer

Doesn’t draw much juice, and holds all the overflow we need for anchoring.
Drake is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2017, 03:41 AM   #15
Guru
 
Simi 60's Avatar
 
City: Queensland
Vessel Model: Milkraft 60 converted timber prawn trawler
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5,482
Aside from our 500lt / 17.5 cubic ft Samsung 240v fridge freezer we have 3 smaller bar fridge size units which we constantly use 2 of.

Both of those units are 240v Kmart units, one is a 5 draw freezer and one is fridge only.
Cheap and work fine.

Big solar = zero genset on a sunny day inc 240v hws
Zero sun day needs 1.5 hours on genset inc 240v hws.
Simi 60 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2017, 04:01 AM   #16
Moderator Emeritus
 
Bay Pelican's Avatar
 
City: Chicago, IL
Vessel Name: Bay Pelican
Vessel Model: Krogen 42
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,993
MikeyG
Two items of information would be helpful. How much refrigerator and how much freezer space are you looking for. (In cubic feet). Several good quality marine manufacturers supply units around 4 cubic feet which run on AC/DC with Danfoss compressors.

The second piece of information is where do you intend to cruise. These determines ambient temperature and the ability to restock frequently - as opposed to a larger freezer.

Most cruising trawlers have refrigeration units twice the size of equivalent sailboats. And most run their generator (or main) an hour a day (or more) to charge the batteries. Solar and wind will do a great job of adding to the diesel generator but it would take a large bank (say six 140 watt panels of solar) to really reduce the generator use.

I have seen a good number of holding plate applications on sailboats and a couple of trawlers and have not been happy with the actual use. One not thought of downside of the holding plate units is the availability of parts for repair. The Danfoss compressor units use basic residential technology which can be serviced by both marine and household technicians.









dc
__________________
Marty
Bay Pelican is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2017, 04:21 AM   #17
Guru
 
Simi 60's Avatar
 
City: Queensland
Vessel Model: Milkraft 60 converted timber prawn trawler
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5,482
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bay Pelican View Post
. The Danfoss compressor units use basic residential technology which can be serviced by both marine and household technicians
Its why I like the household stuff.
Cheaper to buy a new fridge than get someone on board to look at let alone attempt a repair.

The big household unit has been running trouble free onboard for 10 years 24/7 , not many marine units can claim that sort of reliability.
Simi 60 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2017, 06:13 AM   #18
Guru
 
menzies's Avatar
 
City: Jacksonville
Vessel Name: SONAS
Vessel Model: Grand Alaskan 53
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,235
We put a Haier 5cf chest freezer in the corner of our salon for the 3 month Exuma trip this past spring Wal-Mart $149). We also have a built-in full size stainless fridge freezer. We filled both with the meat we needed.

We kept the small chest freezer closed until we had used up all of the space in the built-in and then moved all of it across and shut off the smaller unit.

We had a house of 12 golf cart batteries. Worked fine for us. In fact the little chest freezer is still on board.
Attached Thumbnails
Alaskan5.jpg   haier.png  
menzies is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2017, 06:32 AM   #19
FF
Guru
 
FF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
Cold plates , eutetic plates work well if you like silence.

They can absorb huge amounts of energy if large enough and if engine driven can be brought down rapidly.

On our 90/90 we use 2 hours of engine run time and get 3-4 days of +5Fdeg in the freezer section.

The pull down time would be longer if an electric compressor of say 1 1/2HP was used noisemaker powered.

Choosing dual circuit plates allows a std 120V unit to give the boat refrigeration dockside , and works as a backup should the belted main unit fail.

The hassle is large plates take room from the reefer section , so the box must be extra large to hold the plates as well as 6-8 cubic ft of food.

Your choice of how much engine operation or how much noisemaker time you require a week would drive the choice.

On LUCY our work boat we chose propane for the reefer.

A 20# propane tank lasts 18 days to a month (outside temperature) and powers the range and oven.

Ice cream is just as hard , and if we choose to lay about on the hook somewhere , no mechanical operation is ever needed.
FF is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2017, 06:34 AM   #20
Guru
 
OldDan1943's Avatar
 
City: Aventura FL
Vessel Name: Kinja
Vessel Model: American Tug 34 #116 2008
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 10,595
Quote:
Originally Posted by menzies View Post
We put a Haier 5cf chest freezer in the corner of our salon for the 3 month Exuma trip this past spring Wal-Mart $149). We also have a built-in full size stainless fridge freezer. We filled both with the meat we needed.

We kept the small chest freezer closed until we had used up all of the space in the built-in and then moved all of it across and shut off the smaller unit.

We had a house of 12 golf cart batteries. Worked fine for us. In fact the little chest freezer is still on board.
beautiful galley. It is bigger than my galley, salon and pilot house too.
__________________
Two days out the hospital after a week in the hospital because of a significant heart attack.
OldDan1943 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012