Insulating an ice box

[ShaneC]

After a bit of info, hopefully from someone who has done it before.

I have a couple of rather large seat boxes in my boat but they are not insulated, and thus will not hold ice as well as I need them to (up to 4 days).

I am thinking of insulating them with 50mm extruded polystyrene by cutting it to size, gluing it in and getting it glassed over the top. I know this will significantly reduce the internal capacity of the boxes but that doesnt bother me.

Firstly, has anyone done something similar successfully? And any recommendations for someone to do the glassing on the Northside as it will need to be done with a chopper gun I would presume. Or am I completely off track and someone has a better idea???

Cheers,

Shane

[dreemon]

How about cold room panels, cut to size and sika the internal corners?

[markbxy]

can u access the underside of the boxes and the sides

[ShaneC]

I can access the internal sides but not the underside. Was going to insulate the bottom of the boxes by sticking the stuff to the floor.

[markbxy]

what i would do is by 2 or 3 cans of expandable foam in a can i have used plenty of times in the past and it works spray the intire outside of the box but if that wont work u can by stick on bitchumen which helps with insulation.

i would be trying to find something to insulate the exteriour of the box would not touch the inside

[ShaneC]

not really an option mate, need to do it on the inside, purely for aesthetics. Dont want to muck around with the outside and risk having it look like shit. At least on the inside I can close the lids and hide my stuff ups.

[GLXMAN]

Hi Shane,
Bit tricky, the afterthought mods,

If the box is big enough, I would fit a hollow internal structure on the sides and bottom, (at least 50mm), you can insulate this with 2 part expanding urethane foam, ( the fibreglass resin suppiers have it, the advantage is that you can mix up small amounts)

Drill large access holes for the bottom and an exit hole
Caution:
If you do not have an exit hole, the pressure of this stuff can "pop" the structure of your boat!
And, do a test mix, this stuff goes a long way!

Once the stuff has gone off, you can sand away where the excess has oozed out and glass it over, to seal it there are many options, I just covered mine with gel coat and painted it internal with a "food safe" paint, (forget the name),

As for the top, a 50mm hollow construction, (fill with foam the same way)

Yep, a PITA , but it can be done,

Option 2
Buy the right size tropical ice box and turn it into a seat;)

Regards,
Gary

[ShaneC]

Good thinking Gary, but you are right sounds like a pain.

Might look into it though, my Plan A still seems ok (IMHO anyway), but will certainly look into it. Still baffles me why anyone would have two 300L seatboxes and not insulate them!!!!

I will not let this beat me........

[megafish71]

Hi Shane, I just dug up an old thread I did on the process I used to build some ice boxes under the deck of my boat. You could do the same to insulate your seat boxes. The process is not difficult just takes some time. Here is the link,
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=150904
Hope it is of some help to you.

Cheers Ron

[Dantren]

HI Shane.

Ralph at Bluewater 07 38884715 did this for me.
Might be an option if you don't want to diy.

Dan.

[Dean1]

I did it to my livebait tank its not hard mate heres my thread.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=151879

[rogerb]

Adam Ashby at Lawries Boatyard, Kawana did a really nice job on mine, it had to be lined from the inside like yours and now holds ice all day. Call him on 07 5444 8625