The big fridge is dead - thank dog for big boats

We had to replace the refer in our boat last July. I had to cut the old one up to get it out the door. 24” refer 21.25” door. My wife found an Isotherm that was 20.5” with the doors off so the choice was made. The front door was damaged in shipping so 3 more doors later we have a refer that looks good and works great. It is the first boat refer that we don’t have to turn up all the way. It goes from 1 to 8. At first it was freezing things in the refer section so we kept turning it down and now run it on 3 out of 8. Freezes ice cream and keeps everything in the refer cool. Love it.

Wow, that is a serious fridge for in a boat. Must have been quite a job to get that on its place without damaging anything.
Won't be changing that for the next couple of years

backinblue said:

How does the dog figure into this?

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He could be one of those agnostic, dyslexic, insomniacs.

They lie awake at night wondering if there is a dog.

garmstro55 said:

He could be one of those agnostic, dyslexic, insomniacs.

They lie awake at night wondering if there is a dog.

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Yes there is a dog, just look at the name of my boat, Black Dog.

Comodave said:

Yes there is a dog, just look at the name of my boat, Black Dog.

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I'm wondering how you came up with that name....

We have a child that happens to be a Black Lab. He loves the boat and we love him so it was an easy choice.

Mambo42 said:

Wow, that is a serious fridge for in a boat. Must have been quite a job to get that on its place without damaging anything.
Won't be changing that for the next couple of years

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Easy peasy
I just stood back and watched the grunt do their thing.
Plenty of space, it was the height that was the issue with the last one.

garmstro55 said:

I'm wondering how you came up with that name....

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Are you one of those that think dog was white?

Loving our new fridge

With the doors and drawers off, this bad boy slipped through the center opening window above the helm. I still need to build a cabinet around it, but the original whiskey cabinet became a galley island. I will post a picture of the butcherblock counter once it is in place. Please don't chastise me for doing this, as the cost was $899 plus tax, much less than upgrading the 1976 under-counter units that I took out.

I am pretty sure that you have the record for the largest refer in a GB 42…

Jeez, that's hideous, but whatever works for you. Best make sure it's secure. That much larger a unit, especially with contents, is going to require steps to make sure it doesn't get torn loose and become an exit hazard or crush someone if it slides.

It is anchored by two brackets on the sole, two on the cabin bulkhead, and one at the top to the cabin wall.

hid·e·ous
adjective
ugly or disgusting to look at.
"his smile made him look more hideous than ever"

Thank you for the encouragement.

Hedley said:

Thank you for the encouragement.

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well, it was the first thing that came to mind, but as I said, if it works for you then go for it.

Hedley said:

It is anchored by two brackets on the sole, two on the cabin bulkhead, and one at the top to the cabin wall.

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Are the upper brackets throughout bolted to something substantial? If they are just screwed then a refer that size could rip the brackets out. Better to be sure than sorry.

Good point on through-bolting. When I build out the sides of the cabinet, I will use 3/4 ply all the way to the glassed in joists in the overhead. (I was planning on insulating the entire saloon overhead anyway.) I will then through-bolt that to pads glued and screwed to the top of the fridge.

This will be done before she leaves the harbor again.

I would not have gone to that degree of security without your suggestions.

Thanks for the input.

Nice, look forward to seeing the install completed. You can never have enough cold storage.

Good fridge access from the helm!

Hedley said:

Good point on through-bolting. When I build out the sides of the cabinet, I will use 3/4 ply all the way to the glassed in joists in the overhead. (I was planning on insulating the entire saloon overhead anyway.) I will then through-bolt that to pads glued and screwed to the top of the fridge.

This will be done before she leaves the harbor again.

I would not have gone to that degree of security without your suggestions.

Thanks for the input.

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Probably shouldn't glue and screw pads to the top of the fridge as you don't want to puncture the case and possibly wires and copper refrigeration lines.

On ours I simply made fiberglass/epoxy angle (doesn't everyone carry a roll of double bias and 30 litres of epoxy on board?)
And then Sikaflexed the brackets to the fridge.
Then screwed the brackets to the bulkhead.

It ain't going anywhere.
Tried and tested on previous big fridge for seven years full time cruising on a boat with no stabilisers

Nothing like a big fridge replacement, but I finally removed the non-op wine cooler from the flybridge. It required the saws all. Fit in so tight decades ago, wood swells and locked in tight.

The saw messed up the fridge big time, but I did good on the surrounding wood. The replacement will be a Dometic CD30 drawer fridge with a glove box on top. Yeah, nice to have cold drinks on the top without needing to do the 8 steps to the saloon.

Facing on Fridge is done

I couldn't wait to post this, although I am still waiting for the hinges and drawer pulls, and have yet to start on the bulkheads for the sides of the fridge. I am not sure if I like the grain here, but it looks a lot better than it did in stainless. The thermometers are functional, but redundant. The latches only function as door pulls, but I like them. Please be kind.

This is just an FYI-many campers have a similar problem of fit. There is a company here in USA that makes retro fit low wattage use compressors and puts them in old defunct RV refrigerators so the old box is useable