Home built ice box

[Walt M]

ok folks, has anybody built their own Ice box? I was looking at the videos and the couple they featured had a top loading ice box. also if I were to build what type of ins. has the highest r-value? can someone point me in a direction? Thanks, Walt

[mikeschn]

I would start here with this one...

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 9088#29088

Mike...

[Steve_Cox]

ok folks, has anybody built their own Ice box? I was looking at the videos and the couple they featured had a top loading ice box. also if I were to build what type of ins. has the highest r-value? can someone point me in a direction? Thanks, Walt

The highest R-value insulation you can get is R-50, made by Barrier, they are called Ultra-R Super Insulation Vacuum Panels. Unfortunately they are so expensive no one I know can build a top load icebox with them. A 30"X35" sheet is about $350.00

[BPFox]

We built one for our Boy Scout trailer once. It was a tongue mounted box made of galvinized sheet metal. Inside box surrounded with two inch Styrofoam insulation and then a sheet metal outer box that was painted the same color as the trailer. It was a top load and it was a heavy sucker.. Kept things pretty cold though.

[Juneaudave]

Micro did a nice front loader...and it was inspiring to me. Check this thread and maybe give John a PM...
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=16068&highlight=icebox

[cuyeda]

I would start here with this one...

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 9088#29088
Mike...

Ahhhh! I learned something from the diagram! My icebox didn't seem to hold the cold, and block ice seem to melt faster than I thought it would. I am going to try a coil in my drain tube to help keep the cold in. Otherwise, cold travels downward, so it must be just draining out the drain tube.

[Claw]

ok folks, has anybody built their own Ice box? I was looking at the videos and the couple they featured had a top loading ice box. also if I were to build what type of ins. has the highest r-value? can someone point me in a direction? Thanks, Walt

Not to discourage you building an ice box Walt but what I have learned over time the biggest problem with ice box/coolers is the loss of the cold through the joints. I had considered building a box to the dimensions of my galley but found a cooler for less than the cost of materials for a custom built box. It's depth was greater than the width and length and it fits well in my galley. I have kept ice for many days and found the key was to keep a cloth inside the cooler to keep the cold down and then also to cover the outside top with a cloth to cover any leaking lid joints. I use the yellow chamois like material inside the cooler and then cover the top of the cooler with a linen and this all sits inside my galley out of the sun. Being removable is a better set-up than a built in in my opinion.

In my Kit rebuild the galvanized well cooler will be insulated with 1-1 1/2" foil wraped foam insulation avalible at the big box supply stores.

[GPW]

Hey, I have buckets of wine corks I'll donate, if you want to insulate it the old school TD way...

[Lesbest]

Building a Proper Icebox--that is the title of the article, Issue 99, pg 74, by James W. Brown, inWoodenboat magazine.

I remember reading and wanting to build one, now I can't find my magazine , it gave a review about how long everything stayed cold and how many weeks you could keep certain foods. It was built in the bilde of a sailing vessel, so it had a low heat load, but the technics could still be used today. Hope this helps, Les

[SuperTroll]

On my Falcon 16, I utilized my rear bulkhead, which is foam, as one end of an ice chest, accessible by means of the rear hatch. I lined the deck and hull aft of the bulkhead with foam from half-inch Insulite pads and made a two piece door out of heavy foam backed with fiberglass. The two piece door easily fits through the hatch and jams into place against the Insulite, sealing the ice chest nicely. (The latch for the door is a paint stirring stick with Velcro attached to one side. The two halves of the door have Velcro also. When the stick is attached to the two sections of door it all acts as one stiff piece. It can't slide aft because the interior gets smaller aft, and it can't shove forward because the side and top insulation pieces restrain it.) All pieces except the bulkhead are removable for cleaning, or if the space is wanted for other storage. The method I used to create the curved pieces for the top and sides of the ice chest was to apply spray adhesive to sections of Insulite pad, and then glue them together by holding them against the contour of the kayak. I laminated the pieces together until I had the thickness I wanted, at which point the material had the correct curves permanently formed into it. Then I used handsaw and Shureform to finish the edges. I did my forming aft of the location of the ice chest because the parts need to fit inside the boat, not outside. By forming the pieces aft of the actual location, I was building on a smaller form of similar shape, which is exactly what was needed.




link to story:

http://kayakfit.tripod.com/instructions.htm

[COMP]

Micro did a nice front loader...and it was inspiring to me. Check this thread and maybe give John a PM...
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=16068&highlight=icebox

that does look nice

[Walt M]

I guess I'm going to stay with an existing cooler, but the next buid will have a three way fridge built into the galley. Thanks all for the advice.