well today i decided to get going on the fridge phase 2 project. i had noticed that the fridge/freezer seemed to have a similar lack of ventilation. there was a grill behind the unit that apparently was designed to draw air into the fridge compartment. this was about 3 inches below the fan but even more importantly it was in a locker. this locker i use for tools and parts but it was designed for a washer dryer. on top of this once i got into the fridge compartment i noticed that there was also no real outlet for the warm air either so you had another recirculating air situation this time with more room.
first step was drilling a hole in the right space and installing some ducting that went out of the closed compartment. the next step was moving the vent grill that had been the input to the galley as the output. of course to get at this we had to remove the stove and started this with the gas on fun fun! we got the stove out and i managed to cut a hole with the saber saw exactly the right size for the grill on the first go, very impressive.
final step was insulation. i was able to get 3 sides without too much difficulty. to get the far side it looked like i would have to pull the whole fridge out which was beyond the scope. i did cut an extra sheet designed for the starboard site and doubled up on the port side. if i get motivated at some point i will put the insulation on the far side and perhaps on the bottom but this would require rebuilding the base of the refer.
i also borrowed sietse’s curent measuring meter and got the following measurements main front loading fridge – 7.7 amps – est 33% -> 62 aHr top loading fridge/freezer – 3.6 – est 50% -> 43 aHr engle freezer – 2.2 amps 100% -> 53 aHr total -> 160 aHr
we will see if my estimates are on or not.. if they are we should be able to get by on the solar with sun! but i need to get some numbers once we get some decent weather. tomorrow we come out of the water so that will be even more fun!
Cheers, Roger
