Keel Cooler

Keel Cooler

Keel Cooler Inside

These are pictures of my new keel cooler installation. This is a device that circulates the refrigerant for the ice box and refrigerator into a heat transfer device that cools the refrigerant by using the water the boat is sitting in. In the past there have been two ways to cool the refrigerant: using an air cooled coil or pumping water through a heat exchanger. (This is, by the way, how marine engines are cooled. This keeps the salt water out of the engine cooling system. In recent years Frigoboat has pioneered the use of a "keel cooler" as the heat exchanger.

I have had a Waeco-Adler Barbour refrigeration system for my refrigerator since I purchased the boat. It has been nothing but trouble. (Maybe now that Waeco has taken over it might be better.) It is acting up again. I decided it was time for a new brand. The only way to install a Keel Cooler is with the boat out of the water so this was a good time to get it installed. Unfortunately the rest of the parts are a little out of my current budget so it will take a couple of months before the system is operational. (As an aside I was stunned when an Adler-Barbour tech told me that their systems were not waterproof. And this for a boat!)

One of the annoying things about installing things on boats is that you always have to move and disconnect all sorts of things to get to the place you want to do the installation. This was no different. I had to remove most of the battery system to get to the hull. In the process I discovered that there was water leaking into the area. So as is also typical one simple project has lead to another. Oh well.

Fair winds and following seas :)