MacGregorSailors.com

Does anyone have a particular favorite Icemaker for a mac..??

Since I already have a cooler, seems that spacewise I can live with an icemaker easier, frosty drinks, keep the food cooler supplied, and the excess can go in the beer/pop cooler....(or is that reversed). seems that 10 -15 lbs a day of ice would be about right for a mac... 12 Volt, chest type. low cost.......lol... (Hey, I ony have to take care of the thirsty crew.....)""

I like the icemaker we have. Makes all the ice you can carry. It's plastic, weighs almost nothing, and takes very little space aboard. It's the "Visa" brand and works at most marinas.

Optional Accessory

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Moe

Moe's not playing nice in the sandbox today!!! Randy

check out www.compactappliance.com I believe they had an icemaker that sounded good.

lol

indeed..Moe.. always the maximally efficient one arent you??

perhaps....the simplest solution for 95% of everyones trips..... however..

3 places of the most beautiful places in the northwest.. it doesnt work real well.....

Lake Roosevelt.... 155 miles long behind Grand coulee dam.. in some places more than 35 miles between marinas.....And marinas there have run out of ice on those hot summer weeks also... (must be all those RRE-Roosevelt Recreational houseboats -- houseboaters on the lake, P.S for those of you contemplating a houseboat vacation in the Northwest.. they are wonderful to work with)

Lake Chelan, the top 25 miles of lake is basicly Visa Deprived.... except for Holden and stehekin

West side of vancouver Island, and east side past Texada... much longer and rougher than I like to make for an ice refill.....

So I guess my problem is, I am boating in Visa deprived locations..

Checking in more detail to try and get a handle on the "www.compactappliance.com" icemaker, it is not 12 V, and I have been unable to get specs as too how cold it freezes.., but a catalog reference does identify 400 Watts..... it will be interesting to see if this is average or peak.

any others????

It looks like just keeping purchased ice frozen with one of these little DC refrigerator/freezer units could be a 60 amp-hour/day problem.

I'm not sure they could move the BTUs to freeze much water. Then you'd have the problem of ice cube trays spilling water if you heeled.
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Moe

An icemaker huh....maybe you guys better switch over to a shrimp boat

Supposedly the Engel 35 will make ice (don't know how long it takes though). Of course, as Moe points out, you still have to come up with the ~60ah if you want to keep it running like that all the time.

--Mike

I saw a variety of chest coolers all around 600 dollars at the boat show.

All drawed around 7 to 8 amps at 12 volts and were able to freeze stuff.

use ice trays with one.

A real icemaker gets to -5. -10 deg F, 15lbs day..... That is about perfect for the cool drink and 68 Qt. cooler consumption on a mac.. equivalent to 1 1/2 blocks a day in the summer. enough for 4 people. They are small and fit in out of the way places, A chest style matches the seat storage of the mac, Personally a regular fridge freezer doesnt seem to fit for me on the boat.

most of the small freezers and icemakers get to around 5 to 10 F, (measured and running) (probably hindered by the insufficient insulation around them. (as they are all using the same refrigerants( and that ice does not last as long.....obviously.....

I would guess the Florida contingent would also enjoy such an appliance on their boats..., but with every marina having ice and many more marinas, it may be a moot point

On the Columbia, we cruise up or down river, anchor and have a blast with our friends.....we love to play with boats and jet skis....do not like to make ice runs, waste of precious time and fuel. This is why to would love to find a nice little ice maker.....seems to much amps....Moe, help me, or Darrin.....what would I compare a 60 amp draw to? I have two deep cycle batts.....what kinda pull would that be.....? Randy

0
Well,
I can give you a rough idea for 3 used batteries..........lol

seriously, marine deep cycle house batteries easily range fro 65 to 120 Ah ratings......I cary a bank of three(80 AH) for a house bank. and totally separate sealed emergency battery topped manually only..

My problem here is the icemakers, not the calculations..

But like many of the RVr's here, I also dont like to take my batteries below 50%, (+5 years of battery life is appealing to me)and with a nominal available of 120 AH ...... I would feel comfortable for only one day, since I also have microwave, inverter, stereo, lights ....so, two days without engine running would be the ragged edge..... and that poor little nissan alternator is not going to bring it back up in an hour....

but if you were going to regulary run that down, and use 60 Ah, and wanted to be able to do a weekend (48 hours refrigeration and house load) I would recommend at least 300 AH house battery bank capacity, giving you a nominal 150 Ah available for use, and 120 fridge/freezer, and 30 to radio, lights, micro, head, etc....

That is obviously dependent on a frizdge freeer that only actually takes 60 AH per day. and then charge when you get home or back to the dock..(dont forget to buy the larger charger)

This is also assuming no engine operation in a day... something very few mac sailors do......

Maybe I should design a good icemaker for a Mac.......I'm thinking the left hand storage pocket location in the galley....lol (Since I already have access panels available.. and dont want to put it above the 3rd battery...)
for the rest of you, ........... my preference would be in one of the seats......

Oh well.....another one for the list....(LEts see combo stirling cycle generator, heater/cooler.......lol)

AS far as 60 AMp hour....draw on your existing 2 batteries.....you could run a day (28 to 30 hours.) if those were group 24 or 27 (nominal 70 to 80 Ah each) if you were reallywell insulated in the cooler and light on other loads on, and not using the engine much.,

AS a general note tho.....
The greater the temperature differential in a cooling machine, the more efficient the refireigerant cylce., however...... it is generally less efficient for the motive system....

In our cases.... a R-134A or R22 refrigerant based system (sutiable for a fridge) will provided sufficient cooling to retard spoilage in a boat for a few days in a refrigerator, (provided things like pop and beer are prechilled, Going through phase change (making ice) takes considerably much more energy and would not be considered an efficient process., (Though I do want Ice.!!!!!)

I will keep looking into this....But Ice on a small boat without available power or dedicated power generation, such as gen, wind or solar is a losing battle when the cost of a couple of fridges of spoiled food is more than the cost of the fridge or generator...

And so I look for 10lb of cube Ice a day.....lol

An icemaker huh....maybe you guys better switch over to a shrimp boat

Shrimp anchor
Shrimp Bow
Shrimp Canvas
Shrimp Deck

............

Shrimp Zebra

(Pause)

I think thats it.... (Bubba in Forrest Gump)

I thought I wanted the Engles refrigerators 35+ quarts. I like some of the installation locations also. But on further musing I'm thinking that the Nova Kool 2.4 ft3 refrigerator is more of what I'm looking for. I would fit under the galley. Of course, the Nova Kool 3.4 ft3 would be killers, but, it's just a bit too tall 28.75". As far as power goes, I managed to get a Honda 2000 generator and I also have a MarineX wind generator installed. Still, I'm looking for the "Perfect" solution.... a 75 mile extension cord.

you all are cracking me up waternwaves, thanks for the explaination, I am not an engineer and what technical data I know is from asking people like you and self taught(trial and error, expensive and time consuming) so, I appreciate your comments. I did not know that the two batteries I have would last that long. I do run the motor, as our favorite private beaches are a half hour cruise away....two hour sail(big wind)....batteries are usually good....(I get three years out of my batts...harsher weather perhaps?) That is a great idea to keep a spare, sealed battery...where do you store it? I am thinking of getting one of those coolers with the little refridgerant units on it.....but I would like something more industrial.... I will keep watching for what you discover.

I do like the idea of a 75 mile extension cord, expensive and heavy though
Also, while I love to eat shrimp, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, baked shrimp, stuffed shrimp, BBQ shrimp, shrimp gumbo, shrimp potato, shrimp sandwich, shrimp salad, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp and shrimp cocktail.....I don't want my boat to smell like that, and I just don't have room for that size of a maker!!!