refrigerator question

[paulga]

The fridge in the galley is a Whirlpool residential model powered by a dedicated Cobra 1000w inverter. The fridge was made in 2008 and the model has been discontinued.

the salon layout is shown below, in this type of boat, is the fridge usually transported inside through the forward window by removing one pane?

 

[Comodave]

It depends on the size of the doors and windows. In a previous boat we put a residential fridge in through the door. I took the doors and trim off the refer and also the trim around the door. Then I had 1/16” clearance to get it in. I taped around the cabin door to help protect the refer and it went right in.

 

[paulga]

It depends on the size of the doors and windows. In a previous boat we put a residential fridge in through the door. I took the doors and trim off the refer and also the trim around the door. Then I had 1/16” clearance to get it in. I taped around the cabin door to help protect the refer and it went right in.

The salon has a sliding door on the starboard. Removing the door is much easier than removing a window pane. It allows the fridge in in a flat posture. The next challenge is to move it down to the galley via a three step stair. The space between the helm station and the kitchen cabinet is too narrow for the fridge. Anyone has experience in a similar boat?

 

[mvweebles]

Paul - not sure you caught it in Comodaves post, but when you say the fridge is too big to fit down the stairs, do you mean that removing the doors from the fridge won't provide clearance for the fridge sideways? Looks like a gslley-down layout - maybe over the counter where your toaster oven is?

 

[jleonard]

We had to replace ours in the Albin. I removed the doors to get it thru the side door ( did not remove the boat door). It fit down the galley steps barely. It made one scratch on the electrical panel in tje way down.
Getting it into the recess was a bigger challenge as there was very little space for someone to get in front to lift and push it into its perch. ( luckily we had a real skinny guy to do that).
It took 6 of us old guys to do the job.
BTW, i had to remove the doors to reverse the opening so removal was not a wasted effort.
Hope this helps good luck!!

 

[paulga]

Paul - not sure you caught it in Comodaves post, but when you say the fridge is too big to fit down the stairs, do you mean that removing the doors from the fridge won't provide clearance for the fridge sideways? Looks like a gslley-down layout - maybe over the counter where your toaster oven is?

Thanks. I thought Comodave took the cabin door off.

 

[paulga]

We had to replace ours in the Albin. I removed the doors to get it thru the side door ( did not remove the boat door). It fit down the galley steps barely. It made one scratch on the electrical panel in tje way down.
Getting it into the recess was a bigger challenge as there was very little space for someone to get in front to lift and push it into its perch. ( luckily we had a real skinny guy to do that).
It took 6 of us old guys to do the job.
BTW, i had to remove the doors to reverse the opening so removal was not a wasted effort.
Hope this helps good luck!!

do you know if the home Depot delivery and installation service could cover this?

 

[jleonard]

do you know if the home Depot delivery and installation service could cover this?

Wouldn't have a clue.
I did however once get a mattress and a loveseat delivered to and into the boat.

 

[Comodave]

I did take the cabin door off. Once I got it in the salon it would not fit down the stairs so we lifted it over the counter above the galley and took it down into the galley vertically. It took 2 guys but the refer wasn’t too heavy with the doors off.

 

[paulga]

Thanks for your input.
Another question is how to make sure the new fridge can be powered by the Cobra 1000w inverter before buying.

 

[Comodave]

You would have to look at the specs on the refer and see what the draw is. Generally if the draw is less than the output of the inverter it should work. Is that inverter a pure sine wave or is it a modified sine wave. Some refers may need a pure sine wave.

 

[tiltrider1]

While I can’t say with certainty you are safe, most refrigerators in your size are 3-5 amps or 360-600 watts. I am not to worried about this but I do suggest you check the specs and steer clear of anything that uses more than 8 amps.

 

[Comodave]

And make sure the power cable supplying the inverter with DC are large enough to give it adequate power. I like to calculate the wire size needed based on the max current draw and lenght of wire round trip. Use a chart to get the size based on these. Then I like to go one size larger. Cheap investment to get really good power to the device.

 

[paulga]

While I can’t say with certainty you are safe, most refrigerators in your size are 3-5 amps or 360-600 watts. I am not to worried about this but I do suggest you check the specs and steer clear of anything that uses more than 8 amps.

the fridge's full load amp is specified as 6.5A
new fridges made today likely will be more energy efficient

 

[paulga]

And make sure the power cable supplying the inverter with DC are large enough to give it adequate power. I like to calculate the wire size needed based on the max current draw and lenght of wire round trip. Use a chart to get the size based on these. Then I like to go one size larger. Cheap investment to get really good power to the device.

i remember the dc cable to the inverter is at least 8g