Aldour Barbour Evaporator Plate

[jpendoley]

For any of you refrigeration gurus out there:

I am rebuilding my refrigeration box with much more insulation. My adler barbour setup seems pretty old, but I can't replace it this year and it may suffice with a rebuilt reinsulated box.  The existing evaporator plate is bent to form a box so it currently serves like a mini-freezer compartment.  I want to partially UNBEND it so I can put it in a separate walled off freezer compartment as a three wall wrap around unit to make it a freezer/fridge spillover system.  I know these things are fragile, how would I unbend the box without damaging the tubes?

[SV THIRD DAY]

Very carefully.....
The older the unit is then the more brittle the powder coated aluminum evaporation plate will be.
I'm not saying you can't do it...but there is a 50/50 risk of making a stress fracture while doing it.
The do sell flat aluminum evaporation plates that are designed with "bend areas" in them to do exactly what you are looking for and they should be compatible with your current AB compressor.

[jpendoley]

Thanks Rich-I've installed and bent an evap plate for a frigoboat system without a problem, so I am aware of the probability of failure.  I don't know how old my AB is, need to figure that out first I suppose.  If it does fail and I want to keep the existing system for a while, I guess I get to buy a new plate and learn how to attach and recharge the existing system-a new life skill.....just trying to think it through before I go down a road that costs me too much or curtails my launch date too long.
Jim

[PeteW]

I prefer a heavy hold-over plate with a proper expansion valve  to those aluminum evaporators. Mine takes 8 hours to freeze over from room temp but the compressor only runs 4-5 times a day. Its all about thermal mass.

I noticed that the Pearson Cooler chest is open on the bottom side in the bilge. I suppose that's how they poured the expanding foam in. And mine has some chunks of insulation missing. Between that, a leaky lid,  and cold air pouring out the drain there is room for improvement without tearing anything out or lining the box with foam sheets. It dawned on me that the easiest way to reduce the overall R factor of that box is to simply put an insulated divider down the middle. That ridiculously cavernous 9 cu foot reefer is now 4.5 cu ft.  Inside surface area and hence thermal loss reduce by almost 100%.

I'm pretty sure that Danfoss makes all the 12/24 volt compressors. They have 3 sizes rated in BTU/hr with a BD50 the largest. If whatever you have is not broken I'd put my money into the evaporator and then the condenser. Depending on water temp, a water cooled heat exchanger condenser will give a big improvement in efficiency. Its all about pumping BTU's.

Glad to see that you guys got needed software upgrade to keep this forum running.   Pete, SV Tartanic,  old hull #6

[jpendoley]

 Pete,
You just solved the riddle of why there is a hole in the floor beneath my icebox-saw it on P69's as well.
Makes complete sense. Not sure which compressor I have, its tucked up under the port cockpit. Once I figure that out I may be able to order a new plate that is more appropriate. I am dividing the box into a freezer and fridge section. Having lived aboard for ten years with 2.5 cubic feet of fridge, I'm ok with the added BTU loads.