Yesterday was set for fine tuning our installation of the new refrigeration system. First, I fastened the new thermostat to the wall on the right side of the box. It came with double face tape to attach it but I drill holes and screwed it under the right side top of the box. The past one was screwed to the back wall of the box. This one will be out of the way as we put food in and out of the box. The thermostat has a wire that has to go inside a copper tube that is attached to the freezer unit so I thread it around the top edges of the box and it was set. The wires to the compressor unit for it were attached with fasteners going the opposite direction toward the hole in the box that they and the copper tubing came in through. That part of the project was done.
Now we had to split the box into two different sections. The left will be the new freezer area and the right will be the refrigerator area. We bought a 4 X 8 foot sheet of foam--smallest size available--to do the job even though we only needed a 12" X 24 section to do the job. I had to remove the boards that held the shelving inside the box so we could get it fitted. With careful cutting and measuring, we got it cut. Then we had to cover the sides with plastic sheeting to protect the foam and seal it against the moisture that is inside the box. Sharp knives and a cutting board, a pair of scissors and patience and they were cut. We attached them with 3M's Super 77 spray adhesive. In it went leaving a 1" area at the top of the board open for air flow. I put a bead of silicone chalk around the edges and let it set up. It takes a while so we cleaned up the mess we had made in the boat and took off for Shanghai Restaurant as a celebration dinner at getting the job done. Yummy curry chicken!!!
Once back at Zephyr, we started loading the box with some shelves to allow the cold air to flow around the box. If you look closely at the picture(click on it to make it larger), you'll see a hole cut in the divider wall. This is how we will be regulating the differences in the temperatures between the boxes. There is a small flap that covers the hole. The more of the hole you cover, the warmer the frig side will be. The cold air from the cold plate unit in the freezer side flows through the hole and up through the frig side over the top of the divider wall and round and round. Primitive but efficient.
The food is all loaded and the box is cooling down. As of this morning the freezer is down to 33.8 and the frig is down to 39 and getting cooler each hour. It has a lot of food that had warmed up and defrosted in the cooler while we did the job over the past two days. It has it's work cut out for it. Stay tuned for the continuing reports on our frig system. WOW---the excitement!!!
With it being Saturday, it should be a quiet day on the dock. The folks at Sea Marine are still working on the big 54 foot Maple Leaf that they chased us off the dock for back in January. It has been a big pain for them for months. They've had it for well over a year. When they launched it back in January, the new engine wouldn't start--out she came. Got that fixed and relaunched her. After a few weeks, the new topside paint they had applied--the under coat-blue-bled through the top coat--white. Out she came again to have the top sanded off and another re-spray. They blamed Awlgrip(paint manufacturer) for the bad paint and filed a claim for $50,000 to redo it. Now that it is back in the water, the top surface that they redid is starting to blister all over again. It was supposed to be at the riggers to have the entire standing rigging replaced back in January. Now they have no idea when it will be at the riggers. The riggers meanwhile had postponed two other jobs to do this boat. With the delay, they finally scheduled the other jobs they had put off and rescheduled the Mapleleaf for late April or May.
We made the final payment for the new spinnaker pole and will be picking it up next week. Then we get to figure out how we will be fastening it to the deck.
The fun continues.
Have a great weekend!!
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