35CB refrigerators & sink drain

[Nancy]

Back in June, we decided to replace the old Isotherm refrigerators. They were on the small side, and it was taking 48 hours to make ice cubes or get the beer cold. Unacceptable!

We started with these:

refrigerators-1-06.18.22-2040.jpg

valentine-16-04.05.22-2040.jpg

Replacement units are two new Isotherm Cruise 49 refrigerators (C049RBBAB71113AA), same as we had on our 28TE. They were nearly plug and play.

We removed the old units, cleaned all that nastiness in the cabinet, and all looked good except the 110V receptacle had to be turned 90 degrees, which of course meant that that 12V bus bar had to be moved inboard to make room, which of course (#2) meant that the bundle of 12V wires needed to be re-jiggered to provide enough slack. The usual project creep, but really not bad.

refrigerator cabinet-1-06.25.22-2040.jpg

refrigerator cabinet-5-06.25.22-2040.jpg

And hey, as long as we were there and had access, what better time to replace the nasty pitted galley sink drain. Interesting fitting, but it works.

galley sink drain-06.25.22-2040.jpg

So the first refrigerator went in, the aftmost one, and it nearly fit except the cabinet opening at the top wasn't quite high enough for the top of the fridge to sit flush. We did lots and lots of cutting and fitting, fridge went in and out innumerable times, until we finally smartened up and decided to try removing the two rubber feet on the bottom of the fridge at the back. Success! Took off the back feet of the the forward fridge, and it went in on the first try with no cabinet modification whatsoever. Lots of eye rolling ensued along with the usual three-letter exclamation or two.

Here are the new refrigerators:

refrigerators 07.25.22-2040.jpg

And the new sink drain:

galley sink drain 07.13.22-2040.jpg

And then I really went nuts and sprang for a shiny new faucet handle:

galley sink 07.25.22-2040.jpg

We are very happy to now have ice cubes and cold beer within a couple of hours! Priorities!

[WillieC]

Yes! Priorities!
Looks like you are having fun with your new boat and a nice cold beah at the end of day is perfect. Ice cubes, too! That IS sweet!

[Pitou]

As per usual .. awesome job Nancy!

[Nancy]

Thanks, Willie and Kevin. I should hang a print of that sink drain contraption in the galley to remind myself to be extra careful that nothing but liquid goes in there...no bread crumbs, no nothing. That weird little copper fitting and the hose are so small.

[Rondo]

Nice work, Nancy. I had replaced the two fridges before I joined up, but should have done an article. The units you show appear to be the same model we installed, though on ours, I didn't meed to move any electrical. SInce the new units have the power supply on board, I just needed to connect the wires. The one thing I did was to improve the ventilation around the units. I removed the drawer unit under the refrigerators. I then cut a series of two inch holes in the back and bottom of the drawer unit enclosure. This allows the units to draw cool air from the bilge, move it across the evaporator coils and flow out the vents in the counter top. Our freezer sections stay around zero, and the fridge is a cool 38. These are amazingly efficient, and stingy with the power needs.
Cheers, Ron O

[Maogwaicat]

Please keep publishing your improvements! I am studying each one closely since we have the same Albin boats. Thanks!