This is our new countertop. Hidden below is the new fridge. It was built after I gutted the galley and added a new box, about 10 cu.ft with 6" of insulation all around.

Behind there is the microwave. I glassed in a compartment that goes back under the settee in the cockpit. It's available, but doesn't take up counter space.

Next to that is a small grill. Behind the grill is the Adlar Barber regrigeration compressor. It draws it's cooling air through the grill, getting cooler cabin air instead of heated engine compartment air. It does make a big difference.

Next to that is the ac receptacle. It has 4 outlets - one side is shore power, the other is inverter power. I find it much handier than switches or some of the other methods.

Just above the plug is a little switch that you might not even have noticed. It's the switch to the light in the fridge. It's one of the handier things we have! The switch also has a light in it (about $2 at Radio Shack) that lights red if the light is on. This prevents us from leaving the light on when we're not using it. It makes it much easier to find things in the fridge.

Behind the stove is an area that couldn't be used. It was just a void behind the stove. The fixed counter went behind the stove, hiding all that room.

I made a compartment there, then added a hinged lid, complete with a fiddle. It's amazing how much junk you can store in there. Even things the size of a cookie sheet will easily fit, out of the way, but easily accessable.

For those of you who want to inprove your icebox, here's a little bit on that.

There is really plenty of insulation on the sides and bottom of the original one. The problems with the original one are:

The place where the drawers are is pretty much wasted. Mine box is now next to the engine, where the drawers used to be, and the outer area next to the hull is storage.

I mocked up the shape of the area I had to work with in my garage, then made a box that would still leave me plenty of insulation on all sides (6") and 4" on top. If you do this, you have to either construct the new box inside the boat, or take care that it will fit through the companionway. (Seems basic, but I've overlooked basic things before!)

After suspending the box where it was to go I layered up blue styrofoam insulation board around it, filling voids with a spray can of foam insulation and presto, a new box.

It's not advertised, but you can get your evaporator from Adlar flat, or custom bent in addition to the horizontal and vertical box shapes. I strongly recommend you get the larger sized evaporator, and suggest you consider getting it bent to fit your finished box so that you make better use of the space. When I got mine, it was a $50 surcharge to have it custom bent. I've talked to people who got them flat and bent them themselves, but I don't recomend it.

Also, the supercold machine has no more cooling capacity than the cold machine, it just has a bit better corrosion protection, and it has the capacity of adding water cooling. The best choice for performance and cost is the coldmachine compressor and the larger evaproator. With the small evaporator (which I originally had) you'll get marginal cooling, and won't be making ice. In the same box using the large evaporator, I got far better cooling, and actually was able to use the lower part as a freezer, holding about 10 lbs of meat, and 10 trays of ice cubes.

Consider mounting it where it can draw in cool cabin air instead of air from a small compartment, or re-circulating the engine air. Mine draws air from above the galley counter, and discharges it into the engine room. Do not consider the holding plate option, it's not for our type use. If you have questions, give Adlar a call, they will tell you what is what.

It was one of the more useful mods we made to Rainbow Chaser, but it is a lot of work.