Crosley IcyBall

[Bdog]

http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/crosley_icyball.html
Crosley bought the rights to the Icyball refrigeration idea, and brought it to market. Powel Crosley had a gift for recognizing great ideas and gift for marketing. Crosley built thousands of Icyballs in at least two factories, one in the United States and one in Canada. Icyballs have been spotted throughout North America and as far away as Africa. The Canadian made Icyballs carry a tag indicating that they are Deforest Crosley Icyball, those made in the USA are labeled Crosley Icyball.

The Icyball is an intermittent heat absorption type of refrigerator. A water/ammonia mixture is used as the refrigerant . Water and ammonia combine easily. So, they combine in the hot ball at room temperature.

When the hot ball is heated, for about 90 minutes, the ammonia evaporates first because it has a lower boiling point than water. The other cylinder is in water to help condense the ammonia in the cold ball. When the balls are fully charged, the cold ball is placed in the insulated box, as the ammonia evaporates to recombine with the water in the hot ball it removes heat, cooling the inside of the refrigerator for 24+ hours. A hole in the cold ball was for a special ice cube tray.


http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/HomeBuilt/HomeBuilt.html
Larry Hall liked the concept of the Icyball but thought it was a bit large so he made a smaller version that could be used in a standard size ice chest when he went camping. Larry Hall has supplied instructions for building you own Icyball, Larry points out that in the original Icyball pressures reach as high as 240psi during the charge cycle. Please don't try making your own unless you know what you are doing.