Refrigerator This project started four years ago. I used components from a household refrigerator to convert my icebox into a powered refrigerator. After four years, I had to replace the compressor with a 12V DC model, which I had planned to do from the beginning. So far, everything has worked well with an inexpensive Chinese-made thermostat like this one. Link to AliExpress However, I went through three of these thermostats in four years. I think the main problem lies in the sensor and sensing circuit: moisture and vibration seem to make them unreliable. After just a few days, the latest one started showing +26°C when the refrigerator was cold and +2°C when the box was warm. Maybe interference from the AC power lines affected it, but I got tired of fighting this battle. Welcome to my life ;-) I decided to design my own solution with a 1-Wire digital temperature sensor, remote refrigerator control, a connection to my boat computer, a food safety alarm if the te...
Boom Reef blocks and winches installation design As you remember I made 4 reefs on my new main sail, and 4-th i would likely never use ;) I tried to calculate what could be loads in reef lines on my boat and get really surprised numbers. My sail: Configuration Luff remaining Estimated area Full-sail area Full sail 11.14 m 25.60 m² 100% Reef 1 9.45 m 19.2 m² 75% Reef 2 7.80 m 13.6 m² 53% Reef 3 6.13 m 8.8 m² 34% Reef 4 4.46 m 4.9 m² 19% At fourth reef set, about 4.9 m² of mainsail remains exposed to the wind. At a worst-case wind speed of 60 knots, that sail area produces approximately 3.7 kN force. If about 40% reaches the reef clew, the clew must take 1.5 kN. Because the two reef-line legs pull at a shallow angle of about 10°, each leg carries approximately (1.5 ÷ [2 × \sin(10°)] = 4.3) kN. Allowing a 50% increase for gusts, flogging and shock x1.5 = 6.4 kN. so, a reef block i need for about 8 kN working load. The same logic calculation gives us about the same loads o...