Ice Chest Myth?

S

swallowtail

New Member
Nov 17, 2010
3
South Dakota
Boat Info
C: 169 Mark Twain
N: Sea Ray 180
Engines
C: 150 Evinrude
N: 4.3 Mercruiser
Apologies if this is in the wrong place. I looked around in newbies and older Sea Rays, but this seemed the most likely place.

I am in the process of buying a 1989 180 long distance.

In looking over the 1989 brochure from the Sea Ray website, I discovered that SR claims there is an "ice chest" in the port console somewhere. Further investigation showed that there apparently is such a thing as "in dash ice chest" comes up on numerous Sea Ray models.

Since my Ray is far away, I found a similar model (1990 200) locally and tried to take a look at this feature. Couldn't find anything that looked like an ice chest in the dash of that boat. I looked over the 1989 owners manuals and parts list of the Sea Ray website and can't find any mention of such a part or feature. It's only shown in the brochure.

Did a internet browser search and can't find any picture of such a thing for the '88-'90 "swallowtail" sport boat models.

Is there such a feature? If so, where is it, how does it work, and how much does it hold.

Thanks for your patience :)
 
My buddy had an 87 or 88 180 bowrider. It had a deep cooler in the dash, but the opening was glovebox size, so it really only could hold drinks.
It self-drained - into the bilge, i believe.

We still used a carry-on most of the time, but for a big day out we would use the dash cooler. It did not hold a chill too well.

Enjoy your new ride!
 
This is kind of a thread hijack, but have any of you tried to upgrade the insulation on one of these in-dash cooler before? Mine is not very effective as a cooler other than being self-draining. The outside insulation looks old but there aren't any holes in it and I'm not sure if it was ever any more effective than it is now. I tend to use mine more as a trash receptacle than a cooler. Anybody out there tried in reinsulate one of them?
 
my 95' 200BR has one, the opening is on the flat part of the port side console, between the cup holders. It holds a lot of ice and drinks. It's bigger than the door would lead you to believe, and drains out the port side.
 
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Our 1988 Sea Ray Sorrento 23 had both a glove box and an ice chest in the port console. The ice chest was huge and could hold two cases of cans. It was not insulated. It drained overboard and also had a small water faucet connected to a three gallon water tank under the port bow seat. I removed the knee shield, pulled the chest out and insulated the chest with spray on expanding insulation. Then trimmed the insulation to fit the hole, reconnected the drain and stuffed it back in. It was the best and most convenient ice chest we ever had. We used a rubber cork to block the drain hole. It always has lots of ice left in the morning!
 
denwatson said:
Our 1988 Sea Ray Sorrento 23 had both a glove box and an ice chest in the port console. The ice chest was huge and could hold two cases of cans. It was not insulated. It drained overboard and also had a small water faucet connected to a three gallon water tank under the port bow seat. I removed the knee shield, pulled the chest out and insulated the chest with spray on expanding insulation. Then trimmed the insulation to fit the hole, reconnected the drain and stuffed it back in. It was the best and most convenient ice chest we ever had. We used a rubber cork to block the drain hole. It always has lots of ice left in the morning!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion Denwatson. BTW, I tried to send a reply to your private message but it said your account didn't accept them.
 
My 1994 180BR had this very ice chest and it self drained to the OUTSIDE of the boat. As others have said, it is really only good for drinks as the surface opening is very small. I also agree the insulation isn't all that great. Additionally, when the ice begins to melt with the drain plug still in the bottom, a full throttle startup can give quite a surprise to the passenger when the get a LAPFULL of VERY COLD WATER because the lid lifted up during the startup. Funny when it's your buddy that gets doused :smt043. It becomes the doghouse when it's your wife.:wow:

Eventually, I too began using it as a built-in trash can.
 
I leave the plug in and let the drinks stay in the ice water. All day in the hot Carolina weather and the drinks are ice cold.
 
Mine is in the port dash. It is decent size, It's just a pain to load drinks and ice then (heaven forbid) all the beer doesn't get drank you still have to have a cooler or something to put all the unused stuff in. It's not worth the hassle. We typically take two or three smaller coolers instead of one large one. It's a lot easier to store (and carry) them. I use the in dash cooler for all the sun screen and lip balm type items. I don't have to worry if one of the lids leak or making a mess with them. It drains overboard so it can just be washed out if/when one leaks.
 
2002 310, has a flush lid in the port side wet bar, next to the sink. Beneath that lid is the "ice box" with a drain. I'm thinking about putting an air pump in there and using it as a live-bait well. It certainly doesn't keep ice for very long.
 
But, now I know that second glove box in my 95 bowrider was actually an icebox. Never even dawned on me. Old post and rehomed bowrider.
 
Information never gets old. I find the search feature of forums is the best first step in finding answers. These forums are like a library of good stuff.
 
Mudder said:
Information never gets old. I find the search feature of forums is the best first step in finding answers. These forums are like a library of good stuff.
Click to expand...

They are. It is sad that FB is taking traffic from boating sites and has no good way to catalog the information.

MM
 
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