Hunter 42 Owner Modifications and Upgrades

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Reefer Seal Repair

posted 05-29-2017 by Terry Cox


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Belle-Vie came standard with two side-by-side reefers; a freezer located on the outboard side and a refrigerator located inboard. Hunter used a grey plastic insulation strip, as seen in this photo, around the lid sill to keep cold air inside each unit. When we took possession in 2002 I used a dollar bill around the closed lid to determine whether there were any places that would allow cold air to leak out. There were.

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Over time the grey plastic seal seemed to lose its effectiveness, but still had service life, so I found some material to help make a better sill seal.

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Big box stores carry a small foam self-adhesive weather stripping that is maybe a quarter inch thick and about a half inch wide. This stripping was applied to the sill of both reefers and has managed to fill the small spaces the grey stuff was unable to close.

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The original grey seal was left installed. The new weather stripping was placed along the sill to enhance the grey seal purpose. The difference was noticeable resulting in less frost buildup and fewer cooling cycles. It was a simple but effective solution.

Around the exterior of each box Hunter applied about four inches of insulation foam making for an effective reefer operation. The freezer is an original 1991 system. I replaced the refrigerator system two years ago myself with the same Adler Barbour product purchased from Defender.

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