Spending boat units in Seattle

[bobofthenorth]

We've dumped several boat units into Gray Hawk since arriving back here late last week and more are on their way.* If any of you local PNW residents have noticed an uptick in the economy over the last week ..... you're welcome .... I'll take my thank you in the form of single malt,* McCallens 15 is fine if you need ideas.

Right now we're waiting on a quote from a carpenter to replace the two large Norcold objects in the kitchen.* Evidently they once served as refrigerators but it seems we would need an account with the local ice merchant if we wanted to use them that way now and they hadn't heard of putting service ports in them all those many years ago when these were built.* It's not that big a deal - we planned to renovate the galley anyway, maybe just not right now but tradespeople seem to be readily available in this economy.* I'll have a couple of surplus Norcolds from an antique Defever if anybody is interested in parts.

I also have a Lewco Model 1240 that is taking up space on the wall of the engine room.* I expect it still works but make no representations about it.* If someone wants it they are welcome to pick it up for parts or maybe for use.* Otherwise it will hit the dumpster sometime in the next week.

Our goal is to be in Sidney by mid-January.* We've got a slip leased there so we might as well be in it but we don't want to make the news on the way over so I have a few maintenance items to tend to first.

 

[Tonic]

On behalf of us Seattleites, thanks. Perhaps we can get a pothole or two filled now. Unfortunately I just ran out of McCallens! Where is the boat while you are having the work done?

 

[sunchaser]

Hi Bob -- I spend way too many BUs in Sidney, at Van Isle Marina. By the way, I threw out my Tundra (Dometic) two years ago and replaced it with a Nova Kool which is a much better design for air circulation. There is a nice DF in our Marina similar to yours.

-- Edited by sunchaser on Friday 24th of December 2010 09:14:57 AM

 

[Arctic Traveller]

Hi Bob,* I sent you an Email, but in addition I wonder why you have a carpenter working on your refers?*

Lack of service ports is no big deal, as adding them is pretty easy, and far less expensive than replacement.* No matter what you do, getting it done prior to ariving in Sidney is a good idea, as prices there are quite a bit higher than in Seattle.*

Anyway, should I be able to help you, even a 10 year old single malt would be just fine, although a 15 year old one might be better.......Arctic Traveller

*

 

[bobofthenorth]

Tonic wrote:

Where is the boat while you are having the work done?


Bravo-46 at Elliott Bay.





Arctic Traveller wrote:


I wonder why you have a carpenter working on your refers?

The real problem is that the fridges were a disaster from the get-go. Crawling around on our hands and knees to access them just didn't do it for us. Yes, we could likely have put service ports into them and got them working again but pouring good money after bad has never been a favorite activity for me. The carpenter is quoting us on building a teak recess for a brand spanking new upright Energy Star fridge to fit into. That was another big driver - those old Norcolds were about as inefficient as you could ask for and we hope that we won't spend our life tied up to a dock.

 

[C lectric]

We haven't bitten the bullet yet but in the spring I think a new Nova Cool will replace our old Norcold. However, as CC suggested, VENTILATE. I added a fan many years ago to our Norcold and it made a HUGE difference in its operation. Natural venting is often simply not good enough for these things, no matter what everyone thinks.

I used a 4" muffin fan which draws 180mA. The fridge doesn't even notice the current draw.
Many of these fridges offer a 12vdc output for that very purpose, just be sure whatever you purchase can drive a small fan like that.

 

[Marin]

C lectric wrote:

We haven't bitten the bullet yet but in the spring I think a new Nova Cool will replace our old Norcold

If you have not already done so you might also check out Isotherm.* When we thought our 1997 Norcold was giving up the ghost we started researching replacements and decided on a specific Isotherm unit.* We did not want to modify our galley cabinet nor switch to a different type of refrigeration system.* So we were looking for a drop-in (more or less) AC/DC unit.* The Isotherm seemed head and shoulders above the others of the size and type we need.* It uses a Danfoss compressor, which is a Good Thing, and is available in "regular" metal as well as all-stainless.

Our Norcold "fixed" itself (we have no idea why it did what it did or why it stopped doing it) and it's been running fine for almsot two years now.* But it will die someday and when it does, we'll replace it with the Isotherm model we selected if that still proves to be the best replacement.

*

 

[Larry M]

C lectric wrote:

We haven't bitten the bullet yet but in the spring I think a new Nova Cool will replace our old Norcold.

Take a look at Sea Freeze of America, Bellingham WA.**Their standard units are very efficient.* They made a custom, super insulated *unit for us over 3 years ago and we*love it.


*http://www.seafreezeinc.com/marine_refrigerators.shtml


-- Edited by Larry M on Monday 27th of December 2010 02:49:47 PM

 

[Datenight]

C lectric
We replaced our Norcold with a remote compressor Isothem in 2001 after over a year of research. We went from 120 plus amps per day to about 70. It fit in the same spot as the Nevercold but has a little more interior space due to the separate compressor. We just finished our tenth season of flawless performance.

We considered water cooling but were convinced by the company rep to stay with air cooled. As an aside, he said if we had to have water cooling to use our fresh water tanks with a recirculating pump. According to him it would not raise the temp. of the drinking water by a significant amount.

Rob
37' Sedan

 

[koliver]

You don't necessarily need to replace the whole fridge. If the cabinet has been custom made to fit the fridge, you might want to keep the box and just re-power it with a more modern unit. I did my Nevercold 12 to14 years ago and never looked back. Went to North Shore refrigeration, and had Freddie freezer do his magic on it. He took the old AC/DC unit out and threw it away. In went a Danfoss DC unit that keeps the beer just as cold on 2.7 amps v the old AC/DC unit's 10. Now I am dealing with failures in the NC's plastic external bits. Still a lot easier than trying to fit a different brand into the custom built cabinetry.

 

[bobofthenorth]

koliver wrote:

You don't necessarily need to replace the whole fridge. If the cabinet has been custom made to fit the fridge, you might want to keep the box and just re-power it with a more modern unit.

This is all very good advice but the bottom line was that we didn't much like standing on our heads to access the fridge even when it was working.* The cat likes it just fine but it got old real quick for both of us.* Still haven't found a cabinetmaker to do the build but in the worst case I'll do it myself.* And that really would be the worst case because I am more of a carpenter than a cabinetmaker and not a very good carpenter at that.** We do however have a high efficiency domestic fridge bought on a Boxing Day sale and arriving in one week. In theory it will fit through the hatch so we'll have to deal with it when it arrives.

 

[Phil Fill]

If you hire a dirt carpenter tell him to leave his level and square on the dirt, unless the boat is perfectly level.* I have found the best is to eye ball it and line it up with something close by, so the eye does not see it.*

*

We bought a new Norcold 15 years ago, I used marine ply and regular molding that was stained to match the surrounding teak.* One of the first project on the boat and it turned out not bad.* The hardest was finding the stain to match the surrounding teak.* However, teak/wood absorbs stain/varnish differently even the same piece so it all sort of blends in.* The areas I thought turned out not splotch people have comment how nice the wood grain looked.***

**

*
*****


-- Edited by Phil Fill on Monday 27th of December 2010 11:18:09 PM

 

[skipperdude]

Speaking of boat bucks in seattle.

I am going to be there for the show 1/21,22,23/2010.

Anybody know about boat show prices for electronics.

Looking to upgrade on a Garmin GPS plotter sounder radar etc.

SD

P.S.* Garmin because I have stock in the company.

-- Edited by skipperdude on Tuesday 28th of December 2010 11:35:46 AM