INTERNAL INSTALLATION W / FIBERGLASS LINER
CUT AND TEST FIT INSULATION PANELS
IRON HEAT SEAL BAGS AND INSERT INSULATION
Note You can now install the Heat Shield panels in your box with spray (Great Stuff) minimal expanding foam, or you can seal them up in the heat seal material as described, either procedure is only to prevent gray water from getting to the insulation in the event of a leak in your internal fiberglass liner. See instructions at the end of this document for more information on this product and its use.
INSTALL SEALED INSULATION PANELS INTO BOX AND INSERT FIBERGLASS PANELS
UNROLL FIBERGLASS PANELS AND FIT THEM IN THE BOX
CAULK CORNERS OF FIBERGLASS AND SMOOTH EDGES FOR APPEARANCE
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EXTERNAL INSTALLATION ON NEW BOX
EPOXY AND TAPE BOX, ------------EPOXY FOAM TO BOX, ---------LAY HEATSHIELD OVER FOAM,
TAPE HEAT SHIELD AT SEAMS----SLIP HEAT SHIELD OFF AND ARRANGE ON PEDISTAL
VAPOR WRAP HEATSHIELD---FOLD TOP IN & TAPE TO INSIDE--- PACKAGE FOLD BOTTOM
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CAULK OUTSIDE OF FOAM WITH LIFE SEAL, PUSH INSULATION DOWN AGAINST CAULK
LATEST WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDES
A. INTERNAL (EXISTING BOX) INCLUDING NEW INTERIOR FIBERGLASS PANELS
B. NEW BOX CONSTRUCTION INSTALLATION.
C. EXTERNAL INSTALLATION.
A...... INTERNAL INSTALLATION
1. MEASURE YOUR BOX
To install our Refrigerator liner internally in your box measure each panel of your box. Cut a template for each panel, especially if you are going to form one panel around the Hull curve of the outboard side of the box. This measurement can be tricky.
2. CUT TEMPLATES/ CUT PANELS
After cutting templates for the panels you need, place the templates on the insulation liner. Decide which corners need to allow for the thickness of the liner. For a 1 inch liner allow only 3/4 inch room to get a tight fit at all corners. corners can be overlapped since each panel will be an individually sealed in a heat sealed bag. Cut panels with razor knife
3. SEAL UP AND INSTALL PANELS
Test fit the panels to insure a good fit, then remove them for sealing.
SEAL UP THE INDIVIDUAL PANELS
The kit comes with 100 sq. ft of heavy duty heat sealing material. It prevents moisture intrusion and prevents convection around the liner panels. Place each panel on the Heat seal material with the heat seal surface facing up. The Heat seal surface is the gray surface. The iron is applied to the bright silver, fold the material in half with it two inches longer than the insulation panel to be encased. This saves some material as it is now necessary to only seal 3 sides to get a four sided seal, the fold acts as one sealed side. Cut the material about 2 inches wider than the panel all around the other 3 sides. Using a standard iron on medium heat test two small pieces of sealing material for the proper temperature setting before sealing anything. Too much heat will cause the Heat seal outside material to melt and wrinkle badly, too little will not accomplish a good seal. Iron the seal with medium heat on one side then on the other to insure a seal from both sides. The seal should be strong enough that you can not pull it apart with a reasonable amount of force by hand. A Teflon iron should be used to insure that sealing material does not stick to the iron. If a Teflon iron is not available, use wax paper between the iron and the heat sealing material. Keep point of iron away from seal inner edge. If you should happen to nick the sealed bag and make a minor hole, this can be repaired by placing a dab of Life Seal caulk over the hole.
Once the seal material is cut for a panel, set the insulation panel aside, place the folded piece of sealing material on a flat smooth surface, Once the temperature is established for your iron, begin sealing the edges of the Heat seal material. Side A is the folded side, Seal side C then D about 3/4 to 1 inch wide, then open the heat seal bag, insert the insulation panel. Check for a tight fit from side C to D. If not tight then remove the panel and seal up side C or D another 1/4 inch at a time until the insulation panel fits tightly. This elements excess air with in the sealed panel. With insulation inserted, stretch side B and clamp it onto a 1/2" block as shown below to prevent formation of a wrinkle where it intersects with side C and D,
Elevate the bottom material 1/2 inch on a smooth block of wood to insure that the heat seal is in the middle of the edge of a one inch insulation panel. By doing this you will insure that the corners of the heat sealing material will not have wrinkles, stretch each side and clamp to the wood before sealing with the iron. Place a straw in one edge of the opening and suck excess air out of the bag using a vacuum cleaner taped to the straw just prior to completing the seal. Do not pull a strong vacuum. The closed cell foam will expand inside the bag. An important tip is to seal up any notched or curved areas prior to inserting the insulation panels. only seal up insulation panels on the last opening on straight openings. It is impossible to seal around a notched out area with an iron while stretching the sealing material around the edge of the insulation panels. Please, it is better to have a series of block shaped panels that are inserted and caulked together to form odd shapes rather than to try to notch out an area. It is easier to seal square blocks and assemble them into notches.
When encountering an area that has protruding refrigeration liner, or where screws must go through for holding plates, it is better to make two panels and put them together than to pierce an already sealed panel. placing two panels together will be more effective over the long run than taking a chance of compromising the insulation by getting moisture in it. where ever two panels are used together, fit the panels tightly together and then caulk the seam ( Boat Life Life Seal) to prevent moisture from getting into the cracks between panels. Moisture will facilitate heat transfer through creaks between the panels and all creaks and joints should be caulked up. over lapping and caulking the seal flange will help prevent heat gain at the joint.
Also when placing screws next to liner sealed panels, a small section of nylon tubing should be placed around the screw so that it does not chafe the sealed panel.
Panels can be folded or rolled some what to get them through small top openings. Sealed panels can be held in place with in the box temporarily with self adhesive Velcro until all panels are assembled and caulked into place.
Drain!. If you must have a drain, build a bottom panel with a U shaped cut out over the drain. Use the U cut out to piece sealed up in heat seal material to cover the drain when not in use. place a cork in the drain to prevent leaking of cold air out of the box. Do not use a brass plug with rubber around it as this only transfers heat into the box. Use a CORK. Note if you do not caulk the inside of the liner panels to prevent moisture from getting under the sealed liner panels, you are transferring heat around the liner with moisture.
If you should happen to puncture a panel, to a point where it cannot be repaired with a bit of life seal caulk, additional heat sealing material is available. If you have additional heat sealing material left over, you can use it to seal up your grain food products in it, or other items that you need to place in long term storage while voyaging.
INSTALLING PANELS INTO THE BOX.
Fold the heat sealed flanges behind the panels and tape them out of the way. Put small squares of Velcro on the back of the panels, fold the panels, insert them into the box stick them to the box wall. You should have a tight fit with adjoining panel. If you are not installing our Fiberglass inner liner material, then caulk the panels together at the seams. This provides a moisture seal to the panel joints where the seams come together. Heat gain at the corner joints will be negligible if the panels fit tightly together. The front side of each corner should be caulked with either Sikaflex, Boat life Life Seal or Silicone to prevent moisture from getting between the panels and transferring heat into the box. If installing our Fiberglass inner liner panel, then follow the instructions on page 12. NOTE: We recommend you use 1/2" to 3/4" Polystyrene foam, available at Home Depot, to attach our .040" fiberglass liner to, using Liquid Nails. The further you get the Heat Shield away from the cold source, the inner liner of the box, the better it works.
TOP VIEW LOOKING DOWN.
If you should happen to puncture a panel, additional heat sealing material is available. Heat sealing material is available at $2.00 per running ft. by 4 ft. wide.
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR HEAT SHIELD INSULATION AND POLYSTYRENE FOAM ATTACHED TO FIBERGLASS LINER INSIDE A REFRIGERATOR OR ICE BOX
The Fiberglass panels provide a smooth sealed white fiberglass interior to the inside of your newly insulated box
Assembling the Fiberglass panels
1. After heat sealing your HEAT SHIELD insulation panels, you should assemble them inside your box, one at a time and make a template for cutting out your FBG panels. FBG panels should be full width on the inboard and outboard (or longest) sides, The end panel should be wide enough to fit snugly into place while forcing the opposite ends of long sides out against the Heat Sheild panels. The bottom panel may hane been installed as part of the the outboard side, or installed first. If not then the bottom panel should fit down into the bottom snugly forcing the front, back and both ends out into place. It is not necessary to have a FBG panel on the top. The HEAT SHIELD insulation panel can be fitted into place and caulked to seal the insulation bag to the top of the box.
Cutting the Fiberglass Panels
2. The fiberglass panels can be cut easily with a pair of heavy duty scissors. When cutting the fiberglass panels with scissors, it is advisable to not close the scissors during the cut. Keep the scissors open wide and make a series of half cuts continuing until you reach the end of the cut. Panels can be marked for cutting with a marker pen. Closing the scissors will generate undue pressure at the end of the cut and cause a small crack in the Fiberglass panel. This is necessary when reaching the end of a marked cutting area and can be easily sealed with caulk when the panels are caulked into place.
Caulking the Fiberglass panels
3. Prior to placing the FBG panels in to the box for final caulking, it is wise to clean the area to be caulked to remove wax that is present on the surface of the fiberglass. It is not necessary or wise to clean the entire panel as the wax does lend a certain amount of vapor proofing protection to the Fiberglass panels. Only clean about a 1/2 inch area where the caulk will need to adhere at the seams.
Installing a drain in the Fiberglass inner liner panels.
4. Arrange the Heat Shield panels on either side of the drain so there is a space to insert a Thru Hull between the Sealed Insulation panels. Select a thru hull or plastic tube that will fit into the existing drain. Drill a hole thru the Fiberglass panel directly over the existing drain. Insert the thru hull into the existing drain thru the fiberglass panel. Note: if it is too long, mark it and cut the bottom off until it fits snugly against the fiberglass panel. Caulk the outside bottom edge of the thru hull fitting where the caulk will fill in the gap between the outside of the thru hull and the inside edge of the existing drain. Caulk the fiberglass panel where the thru hull flange will contact the fiberglass when fully seated into the drain. Insert the thru hull to its seated position and allow all caulked seams to set for 24 hours. Use only Boat Life Life Seal or Sikaflex for caulking. NOTE: SEVERAL REFRIGERATION EXPERTS HAVE RECOMMENDED THAT THE DRAIN BE PLUGGED AND OCCASIONALLY WIPE THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX WITH A SPONGE TO GET ANY ACCUMULATED WATER OR SPILLS OUT OF THE BOX. THIS ELIMINATES ONE MORE SOURCE OF COLD LEAK.
THE FOLLOWING IS AN ALTERNATIVE TO USING BOAT LIFE LIFE SEAL FOR INSTALLING THE FIBERGLASS SHELL INSIDE AN EXISTING REFRIGERATOR.
Internal fiberglass panels may be seamed together using epoxy and 4 inch 1708 biaxial tape from "Raka" marine at "raka.com" 561-3640-8086 (Everfair Entrprises accepts no responsibility for the use of epoxy inside your refrigeration unit. This is a choice solely of the boat owner.) This information is provided to assist you should you decide to use this method.
The procedure is as follows: Cut the internal FBG panels to fit inside the insulation panels but not touch at the edges.
Cut 1708 tape to fit each corner. Clean each panel to remove any wax according to Raka instructions, insert panels into box and arrange into place using some double sided tape to hold each panel into place temporarily.
Lay individual sections of tape down on a strip of 4 mill plastic, mat side down. Wet out the area of the panel corners where the tape will be installed. Wet out the tape, lift the plastic up and insert it into the subject corner, using the plastic smooth out the tape onto the corner, it can be arranged for a few minutes before the epoxy hardends. Watch it closely. It is like a 7 year old boy. Don’t turn your back on it till that piece has hardened. Then do the next piece. All pieces should be installed within 8 hours to get a chemical bond between all the overlaps. Sand and smooth corners according to Raka instructions.
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B.....NEW BOX CONSTRUCTION
HEAT SHIELD EXTERNAL INSTALLATION OF REFRIGERATOR INSULATION, ON OUTSIDE OF NEW OR EXISTING BOX .............Read everything and assemble all tools and supplies before starting!!!
On the outside of the refrigerator internal box install 2 to 3 inches of foam with epoxy. The epoxy is used to keep moisture from coming through a fiberglass box. The foam provides insulation against Conduction by being a thermal standoff between the cold box and the Heat Shield refrigeration liner insulation. Once the foam has been placed on the box, the Heat Shied Insulation should be cut to go on the foam lined box in as few separate panels as applicable. Then the panels should be placed onto the foam. The outside of joints where panels come together should be taped across with foil tape. The foil tape should be used only to tape the outside of one panel to the outside of the next adjoining panel. The foil tape is used only on the outside of the liner panels and should cover completely from silver liner surface to silver liner surface on the adjoining panel.
Once the panels are taped together, they will form an insulation mold that can be removed from the foam and turned up right on a small pedestal. The heat sealing material is then used to wrap completely around the top edge of this insulation form while sticking up far enough to be folded over to the inside of the insulation form and taped to the inside of the form about 4 inches inside the top all the way around. The bottom of the heat sealing material, which is hanging down past the pedestal should be long enough to fold together like a package to cover the bottom of the insulation form. The insulation form should be turned over top down to fold the heat seal material together and tape it at the bottom to provide a moisture sealed package around the entire insulation form. Once this is done the insulation form is completely sealed on the outside, It is then placed back onto the foam box by caulking it into place around the top edge and some spots on the inside to hold it into place on the foam.
Next, the whole completed refrig box should be inserted into the cabinetry in such a manner that it has a free airspace all the way around the outside of all 4 sides and the bottom. If possible this air space should be vented at the upper back and at the lower front to allow passive heat to be removed from the airspace thereby removing excess heat from the liners outer surface. It is best to have a box strong enough to free hang in the cabinetry. If support is necessary around the outside of the box, this can be provided by installing small squares of wood pads from the external cabinetry through small cutouts in the insulation to the outer surface of the refrig box as long as these support pads do not constitute more than 6% of the surface area of the liner and as long as they do not block the free flow of air. It would be necessary to caulk any surface cut outs in the insulation and heat seal material to the support blocks to prevent moisture from entering at these areas. If the foam is installed outside the Heat Shield the foam will build up conducted heat energy and if compacted against the heat shield material outer surface will greatly reduce the insulation value. NOTE: It is very important to understand that a 2 to 3 inch layer of the foam is next to the inner liner of the refrigeration box, the Heat Shield is placed on the outside of the foam, and the heat sealing material is put around the outside of the Heat Shield and acts as a vapor barrier. Finally, a space between the Heat Shield and the hull or cabinetry is desirable. A way to ventilate this air space makes the installation even better.
The bottom and top insulation panels should overlap all 4 side panels to prevent convection entering side panels from below and prevent infrared and radiant heat from entering side panels from above. If this refrigerator box is going to be installed high up on the side of the hull on a high freeboard boat, where the outside of the hull will get a lot of heat from the sun, It would be a good idea to place a 1/4 inch Heat Shield cabin liner section or 2 to 3 layers of left over refrigeration Heat Shield on that part of the hull directly associated with the area of the refrigerator box. This blocks the heating up of the refrigerator cabinet area from the hull side which may be in the sun. This is especially true with dark colored hulls.
Note: The following step not necessary if using foam sealant as described below.
NOTE: foam seams and Heat Shield seams (before taping) can be sealed up using a light bead of "Great Stuff" minimal expanding foam (only). It can also be used to seal the Heat Shield insulation form to the top lip of the refrigerator box to prevent any moist air from getting in between the insulation and the foam. If you get a bead of it some place it does not belong. let it dry and simply flip it off. This product adheres everything together and closes off any seams. It can be purchased at any Home Depot. We highly recommend this procedure. Ware latex gloves and try to do all the seams in as close a time as possible. It is hard to get one of these cans of foam to restart if you don't clean out the nozzle after each use. Also cut the supplied straw into 4 parts and use one part each time you restart the can of foam. Stitch tape the Heat Shield panels together on the foamed box using small strips of tape. Then spray the foam in-between the Heat Shield insulation panel joints while they are on the foamed box. Then tape down the length of the seam to close off the seam. Of course once the foam oozes out on the inside of the Heat Shield seam, it will stick the seam to the foamed box. If this is done at all seams, it should not be necessary to apply the moisture barrier to the heat shield. It can be left in its raw form. There is now no danger of the tape failing at a later date or moisture getting in-between the seams. This negates the need for wrapping everything in heat seal material, use it to bag up your food or good clothes prior to going to sea. The key to this whole procedure is to use a small bead of expanding foam, just enough to hold everything together and close off the air passages. Keep the can moving once you start spraying. It takes a while for this stuff to dry so you have 10 to 15 minutes of working time. NOTE: THE HEAT SEALING MATERIAL AS OF JAN 1, 2001, HAS A REFLECTIVE SURFACE WHICH WILL FACE OUTWARD TO THE HOTTER AREAS. ANOTHER LAYER OF REFLECTIVE MATERIAL WILL MAKE THE INSTALLATION WORK EVEN BETTER.
C....... EXTERNAL INSTALLATION
For those that have access to the outside of the box, like on an engine room bulkhead, you have the best of all worlds, this assumes your existing foam is in good shape and not wet. All that is necessary is to cut the Heat Shield to the appropriate sizes and using double sided tape or Velcro, attach it to the bulk head and you are almost done. Use double sided tape or Velcro or even fasten it with screws and finishing washers. If a corner is exposed we recommend you take some excess Heat Shield and wrap 2 or 3 layers of heat shield around the corner, and tape the edges with aluminum foil tape. You do not have to use the heat sealing material to wrap it. However, it will give it one more layer of reflective material and make it even better.