Home built meat cooler ??

[bigshooter]

I have a 16 foot car trailer. The sea can would be strong for taking on and off and it would leave room for some quads. Just thinking.

[Brambles]

I'm going to retrofit my shed into a meat cooler when I get my shop done, Its a pretty decent sized shed, 8'x16' with vaulted 10ft ceilings in it, I already have a I beam with a roller chain hoist on it for game. Its got double doors so I can back my tailgate through it and attach the chain hoist and up she goes. Probably won't use the hole shed for a meat cooler because the air compressor for the shop is in there too but I'll partition off a good chunk/

I have a friend in refrigeration and he got me a good used commercial refer unit from a school that was upgrading. The building is 2x4 insulated with R12 but I'm going to line the inside of the building with Steelcraft insulated garage door panels Those panels are R12-R16 depending on thickness, might put a layer of SM Foam panels in first for another R12. R36 should be nice. My other buddy is an installer and I got a boatload of dunnage pannels from him. Once they are installed I'll have a nice insulated metal lined meat cooler.

With those two bulls we killed this year a meat cooler would have come in handy. We had to cut them the day after the kill.

I just gotta finish the shop cause the shed is chocked full of crapola.

[Trapper]

freonguy

I bought one of those cool-bots and a 18000 btu a/c and it works like a charm, i have it in a 10x10 shed with 4" styrofoam walls and 6" floor and ceiling in styrofoam, it can be 35c outside and i can have it down to 3c degrees in 30-40 mins. and when it is in the defrost mode it does not shut down the a/c,it keeps running the fan,you can hear when the compressor kicks in and out,so far its worked flawless.

Man oh man!!
Essential ' has it mostly right - a window mount A/C is designed to keep a room @ 70 F. It will dehumidify though, and that latent load is a big part of a cooling system load.

The Coolbot, while it looks like it will do the job, it addresses a couple issues - it has a frost ' sensor ' which, it looks like, will shut the unit off to defrost it, however, it looks like it can only shut off the entire unit - what a commercial system does is have a defrost that keeps the fan running but shuts off the cooling source ( compressor ) to successfully defrost the inside coil. A couple of problems I see - shoving the coil sensor between the coils and squeezing the fins back - - - wiring a heater to ' trick ' the sensor for the a/c to running all the time, - well, Red Green would be proud - hey, it has some merit - but:

1) Make sure the A/C you use restarts after the power goes off - many of the new electronic ones don't and it looks like the Coolbot shuts the unit off to defrost
2) Ensure the unit is sloped slightly to the outside so the moisture ( condensate ) runs to the outside ( and make sure there is nothing that will be bothered by dripping water underneath the unit,
3) Lots of insulation and tight fitting doors as well as the vapour barrier on the OUTSIDE of the insulation ( especially if using fibreglass ) - the vapour barrier always goes on the warm side of a structure.

Another reply said that they had the thermostat changed to a ' commercial ' style - that may help, but there is wiring considerations - -

I am a 30 year in the Refrigeration Trade guy - I have seen many of these ' abortions ' where people have brought them to me and ask why they don't work - NOT SAYING THERE ARE NOT SOME HOME MADE UNITS OUT THERE THAT GUYS GET TO WORK; it amazes me how much effort people will go to to make something that is intended to keep their prize in good condition, without talking to someone who knows, or heaven forbid, shell out a few bucks to buy the right equipment - ( not that it is cheap BTW ) - - - - Talk to someone who knows - - - - - - -

I am not soliciting for anything here - I just get a chuckle from all the effort that goes into a guessing game - there was a post a few months back about guys who were concerned about putting meat into plastic bags in cold streams - better to hang in the warm shade, because, heaven forbid, anything put in plastic rots - think condoms - keep the air out of the thing and you get good heat transfer - better to have meat in an air free garbage bag in a cold creek ( = good heat transfer ) than hanging it in the shade on a 70 degree day - ?? Basic physics 101.

Sorry for the rant - get to know a competent Reefer guy and go from there -

Freonguy

[freonguy]

Trapper:

Glad to hear you had success with a COOLBOT - They must then take the heat off of the thing that that ' tricks ' the compressor to run all the time ( while cooling ) - thus the compressor will cycle and fan stays running .

I guess I am a purist of sorts - like I said, I have seen all kinds of abortions - one guy had a built in unit in his shop ( on the Charlottes ) - the guy he bought the house from said it worked like a charm - it was the guts out of a small ice machine with the plate style evaporator to cool an 8 x 8 room - I don't think so !

Your success has alot to do with the amount of insulation - thanks for the report - hope others can use the info as well.

Freonguy

[leadpillproductions]

Any more idea's im going to build one 6 ft long 5 ft wide should hold a 4 quarters fine