Removing 12v Fridge. UPDATE: New Cabinet Installed w Pics

[wahoo33417]

I see only a few, small Phillips screws around the trim panels. So I know it can’t be that easy. What surprises await me?

I know when I get it pulled most or all of the way out, I’ll have 12v wires to disconnect. Anything more than that?

Thanks in advance for the wisdom of those who have done it.

The boat is a 2007 Sailfish with a 12v only Isotherm frigve

 

[ScottyCee]

I did it too. It was Phillips screws, so what you describe was mostly it - IIRC. There might have been a set of l-channels holding it in too, but I honestly can't remember. That means it was easy.

I clamped/supported and left the power lead in place. On mine it was powered whenever the accessory battery was on, so I disconnected from the power bus directly under the helm - I would avoid leaving a hot "home run" under there....

 

[wahoo33417]

Thanks K2. I intend to finish off the area for storage. The power leads will go to a switched dome light.

Currently, I leave the fuse out of the fuse box just to make sure I’m not unintentionally draining the battery.

Thanks, Rob

 

[Meanwhile]

Marlin had 4 screws, slide out a bit, 2 connectors to unplug. That was it.

 

[Flot]

Can't speak to a 282, but on a 330 yes it was just about 6 screws. 330 had the regular ones holding the fridge in and then a small starboard trim panel underneath, but all the screws were exposed.

It should be a 15 min job at worst. My original 2002 fridge was flaking off rust (a lot) on the bottom - put a moving blanket down, set the fridge on it, wrap it up in a bundle to carry it out.

 

[wahoo33417]

Thanks for all of the confidence-building posts. And all accurate. Now the more thoughtful job is how best to finish the space for storage.

For anyone else attempting to remove the fridge;

Remove four small screws along the top that hold the door in place.


Remove three screws from lower Starboard trim. These screws were in tight and I nearly stripped one.




Mine took a little gentle coaxing and gentle rocking to 'break free'.


Looked around some to get to know the internal workings. All with another eye toward using this space for storage and future removal of hot water heater.

Heavy gauge white wire leads to 110v outlet at foot of berth. At top is drain from ice box outboard of butane stove. Interestingly, this drain hose leads to a 'T' junction where it can drain overboard, above the waterline, or follow the hose sharply uphill and then down, apparently into the bilge - but I could not confirm that bilge part. (Now know that it leads to shower sump.)

Refrigerator power leads are orange and black. For most of their run they are taped to red/black wires. Red/black go outboard and then up. And then I lost them. My best guess is the stereo.




Close up of sink and ice box overboard drains. Red/black 12v wire can be seen heading up towards countertop

 

[Fishtales]

Good space there if you are not installing a refrigerator unit. A good cabinet maker can get you a lot of efficient use.

 

[wahoo33417]

Good space there if you are not installing a refrigerator unit. A good cabinet maker can get you a lot of efficient use.

Fishtales. Yes, that is the plan. Just agreed on a price for a custom cabinet. Will be a couple of weeks before it is done.
I had a few ideas I was looking forward to trying. But I’m sure this will look better than anything I would have done.

Rob

 

[RussGW270]

Thought about removing ours. Not sure if the a/c we may add some day can fit with the fridge there too. Currently, we put a frozen water jug in there and store drinks, when underway....otherwise, storage would be nice.

 

[wahoo33417]

Russ: Frozen Water jug is a good idea.I presume drinks have to be cold to start out? Also, have you ever tried using what I call the cooler space just outboard of the burner?

 

[RussGW270]

Well, lol....I will beat everyone to the punch....I have no need for cooler space, the driveway is only a short walk to the kitchen lol....

That being said, only took it to the coast the one time and really did not go out far. So, I take it like my kitchen and coffee, both very important to me (I am a bit of a cooking fanatic)...

It took 4 moves and a month and a half to find the right fit for my coffee maker and cups....since I use that a lot, I needed to have the “motion” of my morning routine just right.

The boat, is a lot like that. The time we went out, we had a monstrous ice chest on the aft transom, with the seat up. It took up way too much room, so I learned that leaving it in the truck and taking what I need was best, even though we did not go out.

The fridge, I fill, just as you guessed, ice cold things like lunch meats cheese etc or drinks, with a couple quart milk jugs or a gallon, to keep it cool and not wet.

Like you mentioned the area aft of the sink has a drain so a good place for the lunch stuff, in the future, as it drains....important...frees up more space for drinks in the fridge.

I know the transom ice chest can hold a case of drinks, but I consider myself “old school”...don’t care if I have to wipe fish blood off my drinks, heh...I am testing out not using it all together. I want to see if I can “live” without the transom ice chest...if I can, I may turn it into a second livewell. Often, we need two types of live bait, shrimp and finger mullet or croaker...and they do not mesh well. If I do nothing but run a better drain there and a portable aerator, it gives me options. We will see. To be honest, I can always put a smaller ice chest in the cabin when underway to add my ice and cold drinks. I want to think more “versatile” for fishing.

Anyway, did not mean to hijack. Just installed a couple new fuses, a new 30-amp shore power and a new klaxon 10-amp aft bilge pump. Wanted to go to the lake today but do not have help launching and would really like help heh....so, may wash the boat instead.

Sorry togo on a ramble, Wahoo...heh, but a blah day Boat all ready and....nada.

 

[wahoo33417]

Got the custom cabinet installed. Many thanks to my wife who did most of the heavy lifting. It fit like a glove. Color choice was starboard white or black. Beginning to wonder if black would have been a better choice. White starboard is not easy to keep clean.

I opted for the simple box. I don’t really know what I’ll want to keep in there there yet. And it will change for fishing trips vs. great loop trips. And the addition of shelves and tackle storage would have pushed the price up quickly. I can add my own removable shelves.

I will add one of those super bright, battery powered LED light switches to the top panel.






Upper 5” not as deep as rest of box. This is to allow space for electrical outlet beneath the Corian counter top and for the steel wrapped hoses coming down from the sink. I tried to take advantage of as much space as I could while using a sturdy box.

 

[RussGW270]

So, you lose the fridge all together, to get the A/C, right? Well worth it.. heh, but I just bought a portable a/c, for at night. We have shore power. My plan is to try that out, see how much I use it, then plan to do what you did if it is worth doing. Will learn from your awesome job, @wahoo33417

Oh, you did not install an a/c, just the cabinet. It looks awesome. Very nice going with the Starboard vs wood. That looks sharp.

R

 

[wahoo33417]

Russ: You're right, did not install AC yet. Every time I talk about the cost of it, my wife starts talking about new furniture and then I stop listening. When and if I get there, it will go behind the aft berth, as another member here has described.

A couple of tips for the portable AC. Challenge for me was how to keep it stable. First, I cut circumference of original box about 8" from bottom and have never removed it from that portion of the box. That helped. Then I used small C-clamps as attachment points for straps in the cabin. Some felt pads made me feel better about tightening down the C-clamps.

Finally, I found it much easier to run the AC exhaust hose to a pie plate in the cabin rather than a window. That darn hose really gets on the way more so that the AC itself. For me running the hose directly into the removed hatch and sealing it up with duct tape did not work well. Instead, I found it easier to use the window frame attachment that comes with the portable AC. Cut that long window strip attachment to something just long enough to overlap the pie plate by a few inches. Then you're only running duct tape around the edge of that rectangular attachment.

On the 282, I was able to exhaust through a pie plate that was also very near a pie plate outside the cabin. By removing it, I was pretty much exhausting to the outside.

Rob

 

[Capnjim7]

Russ: You're right, did not install AC yet. Every time I talk about the cost of it, my wife starts talking about new furniture and then I stop listening. When and if I get there, it will go behind the aft berth, as another member here has described.

A couple of tips for the portable AC. Challenge for me was how to keep it stable. First, I cut circumference of original box about 8" from bottom and have never removed it from that portion of the box. That helped. Then I used small C-clamps as attachment points for straps in the cabin. Some felt pads made me feel better about tightening down the C-clamps.

Finally, I found it much easier to run the AC exhaust hose to a pie plate in the cabin rather than a window. That darn hose really gets on the way more so that the AC itself. For me running the hose directly into the removed hatch and sealing it up with duct tape did not work well. Instead, I found it easier to use the window frame attachment that comes with the portable AC. Cut that long window strip attachment to something just long enough to overlap the pie plate by a few inches. Then you're only running duct tape around the edge of that rectangular attachment.

On the 282, I was able to exhaust through a pie plate that was also very near a pie plate outside the cabin. By removing it, I was pretty much exhausting to the outside.

Rob

Could you post some pics of your portable ac and details please? Additionally, I was just going to buy an Isothem from Rusty Ron's but may go with the storage box instead as well.

 

[wahoo33417]

Jim: Will take me a couple of days to dig up pics of AC in use. I believe they are on external hard drive. For what its worth, I went with a company called Trimmed Out in Seminole, FL. They followed my measurements exactly.

 

[OBX Sailfish]

Jim: Will take me a couple of days to dig up pics of AC in use. I believe they are on external hard drive. For what its worth, I went with a company called Trimmed Out in Seminole, FL. They followed my measurements exactly.

Thanks.... honestly I'm not inclined to pay the money to use shore power AC maybe a couple times a year but If I could Jerry rig a portable like that , it might be worthwhile.

 

[wahoo33417]

Jim: Pics not so hard to find.

First pic is without any stabilizing straps in place. Exhaust runs to pie plate on port side of aft berth. If you remove pie plate just below live well, the two are very close and you have outside exhaust. Big drawback is you lose easy access to aft berth as a storage space. Still thinking about how I might easily hang the exhaust from aft berth 'ceiling' without anything too permanent.

This image just shows how I used C-clamps for one of the straps. Not shown in the photo is another set of C-clamps on the starboard opening of the aft berth that allowed for a strap that gave opposing pull to the strap shown. For the 1,500-mile trailer ride, I filled the spaces within the straps with a sleeping bag and pillow. For normal days just running on calm water, I just used the straps. On this particular trip, Once I hit the ICW, I got lazy and just used the one strap on the starboard side of the aft berth and left it in place.

This little unit actually fits inside the head leaving enough room to use the head. (One) Problem is exhaust hose can't make sharp enough bend to go straight up to window. I'm still thinking about that problem. Maybe remove the sink and run it up through vanity...

No wonder my wife doesn't go with me on these Great Loop adventures!

 

[Capnjim7]

Thanks...pretty small unit...not pretty but very practical.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Jim: Pics not so hard to find.

(One) Problem is exhaust hose can't make sharp enough bend to go straight up to window. I'm still thinking about that problem. Maybe remove the sink and run it up through vanity...

look at the vent aisle in Home depot for rectangle to round vent adapters/couplers