Our Fantastic Fridge and Freezer! The Technautics CoolBlue | Paragon’s Favourite Stuff Ep. 2

[@markmahan6768]

Drake, you're a natural teacher. You made it so easy to understand how your Cool Blue unit works, and how simply it installs, that I am now considering buying and installing one on my 1986 Catalina 30. Please keep this series going, it's a real pleasure to be one of your students...steady on matey!

[@mikeyleetee]

Agreed!

[@SailBeforeSunset]

We bought the same unit about five years ago. At the time we only lived about 45 minutes away from where they make them, so we stopped by and picked up our unit. One of the best purchases we've made. Works beautifully!

[@jpkalishek4586]

That is, in my opinion, a very good, simple design, made so that it could be fixed nearly anywhere, by most anyone. Kudos to them.

[@timothyreed8417]

Now you can have iced coffee on those hot days off of Greenland. You are a natural teacher. Fair winds and calm seas.....

[@philandlyndachristieson8808]

Having built 15 fridge freezers for boats, you did exactly the right thing. 12v, top loading, air condensed, with holding plate Windora's holding plate a internal s/s liner runs around all 4 sides of the freezer on the bottom, fridge on top, using 1/2" copper tube which requires a DB 80 12v compresser. The installation is completely glassed inside and out with epoxy, to stop all moisture. Here in NZ it runs twice for 20 minutes in 24 hours. In the tropics it runs 4 or 5 times a day, At 35 amp hours per day. Phil

[@franktartan6808]

I have never seen a job go so smooth and easy on a boat! Stay cool!

[@westmc45]

Just found your channel and enjoy your right to the point no BS sailing advice and repairs

[@spyglassfreowestaus2733]

Best series ever! I've looked for manuals to try to understand my fridge better (it works great) and I never can get down low enough under the cupboard to fit my head in there to see where the wires go / come from. You've stepped me through it splendidly. Great vid. Keep up the good work 👍

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

Great bit of kit. You cannot complain after 11 yrs of working. I don’t have refrigeration but certainly on the wish list if I can find a good spot to build a cold box. Hadn’t realised about the differences between the types of plates so very helpful. I saw you met up with James Harrison recently, he has been doing some miles recently. Stay safe guys. Andy UK

[@kmleary]

A Great VICTORY!! Thank you for this most informative video. It is so satisfying to complete such an intimidating project so effectively. Well done. Will indeed look into CoolBlue for the next upgrade. Thank you Paragon.

[@donnakawana]

Thanks for sharing this with us... So many ppl have issues with refrigeration on vessels. It's such an easy system to figure out.... Thanks again ✌🏼💗😊❣️

[@andywicker9865]

I was sent here by Mads and great stuff!! I would have liked to have seen a bit more HURRAY from you, when you said they sent you the parts for FREE!! You pay shipping is FREE in my book, especially if the unit was 11 years old. GREAT customer service, if you ask me. WOW!! Eleven years, no questions, just new parts. What else do they make? Buy it!! Love the way you explain, with diagrams and photos. You put a lot of work into these videos.

[@zatzilshadrack9835]

I'm so glad I found your channel.😃

[@jonathanoasis]

11:50 "And now undo the little screw... Oops ahh! Where did that drop??!" lol story of my life too

[@drakeParagon]

Yes! At least this time nothing dropped into the oil pan or, even worse, in the crooks and crannies forward of the engine. I can't even fathom all the little bits and bobs that are down there after so many years. -Monique

[@hellsop]

@@drakeParagon I keep thinking about all the places I want to put muslin shims or something under things on a boat. Like... "I'm working on a bowsprite. I'm gonna dangle an open umbrella under where I'm working so I don't lose that pin that's holding the whole furler on." Sure, it might bounce off of something and far enough away that it'll end up in the drink anyway, but it'll do that a lot less than it'll go straight down when there ISN'T an open umbrella there....

[@stowe18]

Great video- you’re a natural at teaching. Love this series you started, keep it up!

[@erichyney6287]

Thanks Drake. I'll See you guys next week.

[@denisconnaughton2923]

Great video. Just what i needed at this point in time. Thanks. From Ireland.

[@alecarriazo5629]

Im fixing up my 36 Hunter I just bought a year ago to live aboard when I finish at the Naval Academy and I was just starting to plan on upgrading the refrigeration (I have an evaporator plate, which its true that it sucks) and look here! Im probably going to get a CoolBlue but I want to redo the insulation before that way I maximize its efficiency. You made a video about this exactly when I needed it! Thanks!!!!! Fair Winds!

[@sailingwithourancestors]

Great video. Looks like I'll be installing a code blue freezer kit in my sailboat.

[@CaptMarkSVAlcina]

If you spray or rub cooking oil over the plat as a release agent , so when and if you get ice build up , it will just come off a lot easier.

[@drakeParagon]

Thanks for the tip! I'll try it. - Drake

[@CaptMarkSVAlcina]

DrakeParagon ok and let us know how it goes if you don’t mind.

[@CaptMarkSVAlcina]

@@drakeParagon so how did my idea work ?

[@amerikanviking]

I never thought of that. That's a good idea! Does PAM would well?

[@CaptMarkSVAlcina]

@@amerikanviking what is Pam ?

[@pfeif1312]

Thank you! Our Coolblue is on its way, this was a great video

[@davidcannamela]

Great video and informative!! Need more of this!!! Oh yea don’t forget some sailing vids too!!!!

[@celticlady1430]

Drake, love our Cool Blue. We bought ours at the Annapolis Sailboat show around 2006 or 2007 and still over it. Great video. Fair Winds and Following Seas from Capt Gil and the crew of Sv Celtic Lady Seawind II 68 Ketch.

[@cyclomaniac9086]

Excellent video.... looks like a great product. thanks

[@michaeltouchette8156]

very helpful Drake.... when the day finally comes to restore my ole boat, i'll have this to fall back on. I have the box but no running components. this system is exactly what I am looking for!

[@AfricanFlightStar]

Great job

[@b.vonhoff2218]

I never saw the inside of your galley so clean and tided up. Anyhow, good stuff to think about the “cooling” part of a boat

[@todmills]

Very cool video! I was expecting the consumption listed on the web page (24 Ah/day) to be more than the consumption for an Engel (as much as 64.8 Ah/day for the MT17F), but that is not the case; it is much less. Of course, I can't tell if I am comparing apples to apples, since Engel has graphs for various temperature ranges (both ambient and internal) where CoolBlue simply lists a single figure.

[@superwag634]

I have a danfoss compressor fridge with evaporator plate. It looks a bit bigger than yours. It’s done 31 years work. Amazing stuff

[@sailingsunlinenorth3154]

you guys just rock...keepo em commingo...cheers from canada

[@tonycarangi1151]

Nice explanation, thanks

[@robertgarbe6348]

I had one in my previous boat, it was really great.

[@normanboyes4983]

Drake that was an excellent tutorial/demonstration - I reckon this video and Mads more recent video will sell quite a few.😉

[@moejaime2654]

Ok you need to read up on Boils law ! Boils is the man that established how heat flow works and how it reacts in different states like gas fluid and solids

[@dssque1]

Indeed Boyle (one of many famous Irish scientists) did give us the PV=k law but I think it was latter scientists who cracked the heat transfer laws, Fourier Maxwell and Boltzmann

[@moejaime2654]

@@dssque1 "We all stand on the shoulders of giants " / paraphrase

[@BitcoinNewsTodayLive]

Super helpful Drake, thanks so much! I have an Engel that still runs like a champ but plan on repowering the original built in at some point when it dies. I was told I needed a keel cooler for efficiency and air cooling for on the hard use ideally. Now I'm going cool blue 😎 P.S I wouldn't have known to grab my free watch commander if I wasn't a follower so thanks again for the first episode, really glad you started with that. Maybe recategorize your presto canner for.this series? I love mine, especially for spicy Italian sausage and chorizo for.tscos :-D

[@deanxxi]

Always the best sailing videos out there. Thanks for another interesting, informative, superb one.

[@albatross5466]

The t -stat sensing tube is like the refrigerant lines in that they are sealed and contain a heat/pressure transmission medium. They are sealed and you want to handle them with some care.

[@jsvno]

Thank u.. informative video, but i think it is old technology with the tube sensor - it could be chip sensor like LM something or DS18B20....

[@albatross5466]

The little circuit board with the red LED is connected with an Ethernet cable & plug. You can get a longer Ethernet cable and mount that board remotely in a place that is easier to see.

[@paulfielding9010]

When you connected the thermostat to the controller box after removing the jumper cable, I would have thought there would have been a delay just as safeguard to ensure the compressor does not cycle on and off too quickly, which can damage it. It only needs to be 1 to 3 minutes. Perhaps the unit had not been running for a few minutes when you made the switch.

[@drakeParagon]

Hi Paul, happy to say that it's now been a few days since we got our CoolBlue up and running. The fridge and freezer are full and all is working as it should. So happy to now be able to make far fewer trips to the grocery store each month. :) - Drake

[@azoresmarine]

Obrigado

[@secondwindmusicproductions]

I think the compressor most likely didn't start immediately after you connected the thermostat because most refrigeration and air conditioner systems have a built in time delay to allow the high and low side pressures in the system to equalized before restarting. That is so the compressor does not have to start against the residual high pressure in the high side of the line set which takes a lot of power. Since the freezer side was at 16 °F, and freezers are normally around 0°F, I'm guessing the compressor started back up about 5 minutes after you connected the thermostat.

[@amykrizmanic5768]

We bought a sailboat that has a cool blue installed however we have tons of issues with it but that is most likely due to our ignorance about refrigeration. Our unit was installed in 2011. After much reworking of lines and sending the compressor to Technautics for assessment we finally have a cold refrigerator. However it is not getting the freezer under 25F. Is that the coldest I should expect? What is your experience? Thanks. Great video by the way.

[@SailGeja]

Great product, but 3x the cost of an Isotherm and 2x the compressor footprint. Sure, the latter has a flimsy evaporator plate, but still. Does the Coolblue have any smart features, such as running the compressor when battery voltage is high (engine running)?

[@netteypatch]

I have to build a new fridge box; just curious, would you be able to tell the approximate square footage of your fridge and freezer unit?

[@eddybella9073]

How much did this cost? Excellent video

[@yannkitson116]

Interesting video, thank you for sharing. What is the fridge/freezer box itself made of?

[@drakeParagon]

I believe that box is original one that was put into Westsail 42s. So it's from 1976. It's made of Fiberglass with some kind of gel coat, and it's surrounded by styrafoam insulation. I am definitely looking forward to the day when we can rebuild it, putting in more and better insulation.

[@yannkitson116]

@@drakeParagon Thanks for the quick answer. When I saw your system I got the idea of making a stainless steel box with a drain to get rid of condensation. It would be indestructible.

[@trev0239]

We have one on our Morgan 43 and it's working great so far. Haven't cruised with it yet but seems like it keeps it cold! I'm curious, about how many hours a day on average would you say yours runs in a temperate climate? I'm assuming a lot less the farther north you are!

[@drakeParagon]

It definitely runs a lot less during the winter time. One of these days I'd like to hook up some kind of timer to keep track of exactly how any hours it runs in a 24 hour period.

[@dennisboyd1712]

how can a tilting sail boat refrigerator and freezer compressor keep working with all the tilting??

[@timothyhaycraft2807]

Efficiency? Will solar adequately power the unit without requiring generator support?

[@drakeParagon]

We certainly do. We don't have a gas or diesel generator. But we usually have 7, 130 watt solar panels up + a D400 wind generator. When we're not hooked up to a shore power, we never worry about the fridge consuming too much electricity. The Technautics website says that the CoolBlue will use 24 amp hours in 24 hours for a 7 cubic foot fridge/freezer with R-30. Our unit probably uses a bit more electricity because our refrigerator box is huge and also not insulated very well. - Drake

[@timothyhaycraft2807]

@@drakeParagon Thank you for that exciting and encouraging information I'm putting this on my to-do-list, I am realizing that you are not only a sailing aficionado but also a steely-eyed yacht-master end oracle of all things oceanic. I am so very much appreciative of your allowing us vicariously through-the-lens adventures, give our love to Monique.

[@R.E.HILL_]

@@drakeParagon can you get it down to -18 Celsius?

[@terrygonzales5049]

Which version are you using? I’ve noticed CoolBlue has the non-eutetic vs eutectic system.

[@dougssemi-retiredlife9690]

Coooollll

[@kenamick]

How thick is your freezer insulation?

[@beazleteats4031]

Yeah!!!

[@mwatkins2464]

Is 16 degrees f the normal freezer temp?? If so it won’t keep food good for very long. In a normal freezer it should be 0 degrees f. I’m a refrigeration tech and was just wondering if you kept it colder than 16 degrees f ? Thanks

[@alvin1984fiji]

wow 26 long years

[@R.E.HILL_]

At 30C ambient is your freezer able to maintain -18C?

[@grahamatsea3575]

What size holes do you have in the partition between the freezer and fridge? . I've just ordered a coolblue freezer system and want to adapt my fridge to your set up, my current fridge is way too big so im going to pack it with insulation sheets to reduce the size down but im wondering what size holes you have to allow the freezer air through? Thanks

[@drakeParagon]

Hi, there used to be a 2”x4” opening with a little computer fan in it about halfway up the dividing wall. But I plugged it because the fridge side was getting too cold and stuff at the bottom was freezing. Cold air does transfer over the top of the divider wall, where there’s a small gap, well enough to keep the fridge side cold enough.

[@grahamatsea3575]

@@drakeParagon excellent info thanks......just in the process of configuring mine so that information is very useful....I .think I will make one small hole and expand as required or not .....I've no gap at the top.

[@sailnice]

Awesome!!!! I need thi system. Will it be shipped to Germany?

[@drakeParagon]

I'm not sure if they ship their refrigeration units to Germany, but if you email to [e-mail] they will be able to tell you.

[@stinkintoad]

Drake, does that compressor have ports to hook up gauges to?

[@drakeParagon]

Hi Michael, The CoolBlue has a low pressure charge port for recharging the unit with R-134A. But my understanding is that putting a gauge on this port isn't useful because the readings will fluctuate because of how the CoolBlue works. Recharging a CoolBlue with R-134A is easy and you don't need to hire a professional to do it. This technical support video made by Technautics shows how to do it. (This link starts the video where Rich is pointing out the charge port and showing the recharging process, but I would also recommend watching the entire video from the beginning.) CoolBlue Marine Refrigeration Troubleshooting Part 2 Charge Issues kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2aVZnuinJhrZrs

[@wizardmix]

I'm curious which system Mads is going to choose?

[@drakeParagon]

Please tell him to check out the CoolBlue! :) - Drake

[@josephcrawley3095]

Why is air cooled preferable to water cooled? Thanks

[@drakeParagon]

The first thing that comes to my mind is not having to have two thru hulls, one above and one below the waterline that you would need with a water cooled compressor.

[@beazleteats4031]

Hey D&M...you left us hanging in E65...come on, much as I love fridges, I much prefer your adventures, so please let us know when E66 is going to drop. Stay healthy and well.

[@drakeParagon]

Hi Beazle Teats, We're working really hard on the upcoming episodes. So please stand by and we'll publish our next adventure episode soon! :) A lot of the time the editing process is really time consuming, and we're doing the best we can. If you'd like to support our work then check out our patreon page where there's also a lot of extra bonus content available. - Drake

[@beazleteats4031]

@@drakeParagon Thx mate.

[@beazleteats4031]

@@drakeParagon Hi Drake. I'd love to be a patreon, but have been laid off from my work due to the virus, and as a 62 year old, there's not much on the horizon for me. And I still have another 5 years until I'm able to get my pension. Take care out there. Being in the film industry, I know how much time and effort each video takes to edit...you have done an incredible job so far. Where are you guys hiding out at present? I promise to become a patreon as soon as I can get work again.

[@BrunoWiebelt]

there are some newer systems out there with perier-elements only electrical installation required no coolant no compressor

[@drakeParagon]

I've not seen what you're describing, but our CoolBlue has worked great for us for the past 11 years. We expect that in 11 more years it will still be running great. I love having a system aboard that I don't have to think about. It just works.

[@jonathanoasis]

Peltier element you mean. They are inefficient, lots of amps, and will never get temp down in a freezer space. Peltier effect has been around a long time, and gas-compressors beat them hands down.

[@timothyhaycraft2807]

Greetings Drake & Monique, my apologies for having used this comment section to ask you for advice. I know of know other way due to my not having Twitter or Instagram, nor familiar with any method in this KZbin portal. Having just made an offer on a 1978 28' Pacific Islander sailboat design by Robert Perry in Oriental North Carolina. Having limited experience sailing some 35 years ago I am in need of some manner of assistance getting the vessel to its new berthing slip at the Marine Corp Base Marina at Camp-Lejeune. I may be mistaken but I seem to recall you mentioning a web venue where crew can locate vessels needing members and vice-versa, of course you being the go-to oracle of marine knowledge might have another suggestion. ..."May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face"...

[@nikolatesla5553]

This might be a good refrigerator kit but it should be gold plated for the price this company charges.

[@grahamatsea3575]

Not much different to Seafrost system in price.

[@marusholilac]

Today is August 30, 2024. I'm not sure the company is still in business. Their only videos were posted 8 years ago and their web page is a dead link.

[@drakeParagon]

They are most definitely in business. 😊 www.cruiserowaterandpower.com/coolblue-refrigeration-systems/

[@captainborchik3141]

Real problem with marine freezers is insulation

[@JonMadsen70]

:)

[@drakeParagon]

*·゜ﾟ·*:.。..。.:*·'ヽ(^▽^)ノ'·*:.。. .。.:*·゜ﾟ·*

[@davidjackson7675]

What are the wife and kid doing?

[@markmahan6768]

What are you referring to?

[@davidjackson7675]

@@markmahan6768 , I refering to the lady and young men Drake travels with....

[@markmahan6768]

@@davidjackson7675 oh ok, makes sense now.

[@SpyridonMouroutsos]

:)