Fish Box Insulation: 41 Viking

[hobie2]

Has anyone added insulation to a fish box that is in the deck? on the older 41 vikings, the boxes are removable but not insulated at all so our ice melts quickly. it would be great to have things stay cold in there and also be able to remove them at will. any thoughts would be very helpful so that i can add to the to do list.

thanks

[alex n]

I had the same situation in my Jersey Cape, I used the stuff I've seen used in HVAC systems which is basically bubble wrap with foil on both sides, check mcmaster.com and look at the various insulations they have . My boxes now hold ice much better than before . mcmaster.com page 3452 scroll to the bottom

[DAVE B]

I CAN ATTEST TO THE HVAC INSULATION. I DID THAT ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO AND THE RESULTS WERE GREAT.

[hobie2]

thanks guys... i want to get the big cooler off the boat and use the fish boxes instead.

[hobie2]

are you just lining in inside of the box and the back of the hatch with the insulation? does insulation on theback of the hatch absorb any of the fish blood?

[alex n]

You put it around the box in the back not in the inside

[hobie2]

You put it around the box in the back not in the inside

right, i understand that part... i was wondering if you put it on the underside of the hatch too.

[dubb]

I did this project on a 32 albemarle. I had about 1 inch of room around the box and deck hole. I used a 3/4 inch blue closed cell foam board glued directly to the box on all sides and the bottom. I covered the foam with the foil faced bubble wrap and taped all the seams with foil tape. It has been about 7 years now and it still works great. The only thing I have not done is the fish box lid. I think the lid should be done. I just have not put the effort into it. I got all my material from lowe's.

[jimbo62]

this is an idea that I have been thinking about as well.

but if you place insulation around the outside of the box, then won't that make it impossible to pull the fishbox out without removing the insulation?

[JD5652]

this is an idea that I have been thinking about as well.

but if you place insulation around the outside of the box, then won't that make it impossible to pull the fishbox out without removing the insulation?

I had this done on my fishboxes. They took my old fish boxes and used them as molds and created new boxes that were about 1 inch narrower and shorter than my original ones. This is how I gained enough room to install the insulation.

Green board closed cell construction grade insulation (3/4") was then applied to the outsides and bottom. This has worked well, but I'm sure if I installed the foil backed bubble wrap, then it would improve even more.

This was done on a 44 Ocean.