Those with acrylic ice box shelves, step inside!

[waughoo]

Put 'em in the mail this morning

Received today!  Thanks Bill.  Excellent traces.  I so appreciate the help.  This will save me a ton of time in getting mine built.

[waughoo]

Here is my solution. I snagged a small sheet of acrylic from Home Depot and cut it size, leaving the inboard side open so I can reach below. I added a lip on the edge to prevent things from sliding off and also stuck on clear rubber stoppers on shelf support lip to stop the entire shelf from sliding around. It's been working really great. Super happy with it!

So do I understand this orientation correctly that your slot is on the "port" side of the ice box to allow for reaching to the shelf below?  Thus you have a full width shelf at the outer starboard side that goes full width fore and aft?

This looks pretty slick.  The slightly lost space on the top shelf seems made up by the HUGE ease of access (not having to unload a shelf to remove it).  Hmmmm... Might have to experiment.

[Switchback]

Switch

A technical question....

I believe I spied the mix, lime, hot sauce, and Worcester sauce. 
But no horseradish for the Bloody Mary's??????

More of a dark and stormy guy myself, sorry to disappoint! The First Mate however...

[Switchback]

Here is my solution. I snagged a small sheet of acrylic from Home Depot and cut it size, leaving the inboard side open so I can reach below. I added a lip on the edge to prevent things from sliding off and also stuck on clear rubber stoppers on shelf support lip to stop the entire shelf from sliding around. It's been working really great. Super happy with it!

So do I understand this orientation correctly that your slot is on the "port" side of the ice box to allow for reaching to the shelf below?  Thus you have a full width shelf at the outer starboard side that goes full width fore and aft?

This looks pretty slick.  The slightly lost space on the top shelf seems made up by the HUGE ease of access (not having to unload a shelf to remove it).  Hmmmm... Might have to experiment.

Yes, you got it! My cold plate is located on the port side wall of the ice box. The boat came without a cold plate as the PO removed it since it didn't work. I installed a new cold plate with a different shape and thus needed a custom shelf. I went a year without one and finally got around to making it to rid myself of the bottomless pit that became the fridge! I live aboard and this was a huge improvement. There is still a good amount of space on the upper shelf and tons of space below. I can fit tall items closest to the port side and there's plenty of room for beers. (In the photo I posted I clearly needed to restock!)

[ErikN]

I have the acrylic shelves as well, and I'm happy to photograph/trace/measure them if there is still interest.
On a related note, has anyone replaced the thermostat/temperature selector? Our refrigerator is either on or off, and turning the dial up/down doesn't seem to do anything.

[waughoo]

I have the acrylic shelves as well, and I'm happy to photograph/trace/measure them if there is still interest.

Thanks for the offer.  Another member on here has already graciously sent templates.

[Jon W]

Alex, the documentation I found on board says it's a Nova Kool, maybe RT4 model. Not much detail in the paperwork I have.

[waughoo]

Alex, the documentation I found on board says it's a Nova Kool, maybe RT4 model. Not much detail in the paperwork I have.

Thanks Jon.

[ChrisOB]

I Like the fan idea, however D batts are so crazy $. I have ample battery and solar. Maybe could wire a relay for a fan to kick in when compressor kicks, that way the fridge fan and compressor noise happen concurrently. My admiral likes her peace, so I'd rather have more noise sometimes than constant noise. A computer fan would probably fail, maybe something hard wired that's more robust? https://www.amazon.com/TITAN-IP55-Waterproof-Dustproof-Cooling/dp/B0050NPLY2

[waughoo]

I think if you wire the fan to the condensor fan, you'd get the quite your admiral is after.  The fan you linked to is indeed a computer fan.  They are likely robuat enough.  You might consider installing it with a plug of some sorts to allow for easy replacement as needed.

[ChrisOB]

So if I wired it right to the fan terminal block on the fridge, It wouldn't steal amperage that was headed to the compressor fan, it would just draw a little more overall when the system cycles? That sounds like a good solution for me. I have the fridge hardwired to the battery bus bars with a fuse and large cables to avoid the run to the DC panel and back. If I leave the boat for an extended period I turn off the "dial" and then remove the fuse.

[waughoo]

They draw VERY little (those fans).  You should be just fine

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Be realistic!!  The inside of the fridge is a SMALL area and the "D" battery fans do the job of circulating the air and are silent!

I have my battery fan hanging on a string that is looped around the thermostat knob.  It is near the bottom of the fridge box angling up (45 degrees?). I get a full season out of the batteries. 

A few thoughts

[waughoo]

I finally got arround to completimg this project.  I ended up using 3/8" polycarbonate (aka Lexan) as my base material.  Using the tracing paper templates provided by Bill Shreeves, I used spay adhesive to attach those to 1/2" ply and cut them out to the line.  As it turns out, my box (with the wire rack recesses in the ice box cleats) is slightly wider at the cleat than what the traces came from. After a bit of fitment, I got a good working template and cut out the lower shelf using a pattern bit and a router.

[waughoo]

Next up was some cleats on the shelf to provide support where my ice box shelf supports were relieved to accept the wire rack shelving.  These were glued on with a solvent glue and there was a VERY steep learning curve.  The lower shelf cleats were not my best work, but I learned a lot there tk apply to the upper shelves.