HELP. How do I get my new refigerator into the cabin???

[Seaslug44]

1989 32' Sport Fish. Norcold refrigerator died. Spent all the money to buy a replacement. Never stopped to think that BOTH the interior and exterior cabin doorways are too small to get the old refrigerator out and the new one in.

Any suggestions/ideas?

Thought I read that others have replaced their refrigerators. My exterior cabin door has some teak molding around it. Looks like without the woodwork and the cabin door frame there would be enough clearance but do I really want to start tearing down the frame and woodwork? And even if that works, the interior doorway between the forward and aft cabin has an opening that is even smaller! The void where the cabin privacy divider slides to close off the the divide seems like a larger opening but it's square. Not sure if the dimensions are large enough to squeeze either refrigerator through. Spent all this money, now what do I do?

I feel like such an idiot.

[DougSea]

Does the door and hinges come off of the fridge? I've removed them on "real" refrigerators to get in apartments. I doubt the factory installed it before most of the interior was in so it SHOULD be able to fit.

Good luck!

[Seaslug44]

Does the door and hinges come off of the fridge? I've removed them on "real" refrigerators to get in apartments. I doubt the factory installed it before most of the interior was in so it SHOULD be able to fit.

Good luck!

The door on the fridge is recessed when closed. It adds no additional length or width to the unit when it's on.

[jruesr]

Seaslug, you do come up with very interesting problems. My frig is pretty big (5 or 6 cubic ft). I have never thought about getting it our of the boat but will do some checking later today. There is a removable ceiling panel that opens to the instrument enclosure but I do not think a frig could fit through there. I worked for a refrigerator manufacturer for 12 years. This is a common problem with lots of installations. I thought the door removal would allow you to get the old one out but sadly not. If the old unit is defective then there is nothing to loose by disassembling it. The shell probably comes off along with the doors. Keep us posted.

John

[jcollins]

Did you ever get your refrigerator installed? Or is it sitting in the cockpit?

[jruesr]

I hope you are not still waiting for some advice on the refrigerator. My laptop crashed and I have been off line for a while. My forward hatch measures 24 inches square without removing the frame. I would guess that the frame could be removed yielding just over 25 inch square opening. It looks like my refrigerator must have come in through this opening.

Also I took my boat out of the water for a month to install covers to the drive shaft inspection opening. While out I removed the rudder post and drive shaft. I changed the cutlass bearings, rebuilt the stuffing box, straightened the prop shaft (only out by .006 inch), repacked the rudder log and covered the prop shaft opening with fiberglass board and bolted it through with threaded rod. The boat runs as smooth as silk. I blame the improvement on the covers as nothing else was in real bad shape. Thanks for your input on the shaft inspection port covers especially.

I purchased the rubber mat and placed it over my engine cover and it keeps the water out. Great Idea.

Passages III

John

[jruesr]

My friend (owner of a newer CB35) observed that my forward hatch is larger than his. After further inspection I found that my forward hatch has been replaced with a larger one. My 25 inch square frig fits through the new hatch. It would not have fit through the original one. I love the big frig.

Hope you have solved your replacement problem long ago.

John

[Seaslug44]

Thanks for the input everyone. sorry i've been away from the website for so long. The new fridge is in my garage still. Never figured out how to replace it.

[gerygarcia]

Would it help to remove the door off the refrigerator, then reinstall when inside the cabin?

[RobS]

If all else fails, the option of replacing the fwd hatch with a larger one isn't terrible... My master bath got a new larger window thanks to the new fiberglass stall shower unit not making it through the door. A sawzall solves many problems.