31TE Galley Refrigerator

[Slackwater]

I have 2004 31TE. The lower refrigerator in the galley has died. It is an Isotherm, 41 liters, I think. I am going to replace it this winter. Is there any non apparent difficulties involved in removing it. It appears like all that needs to be done it to unscrew the outer trim and pull it out.
Are the wires to it long enough to allow it to be pulled out?

[jrhess3]

In my 28TE the wires were long enough

[Mark Laurnen]

Hello Slackwater. I have 2004 Hull # 207. I have thought about upgrading the original Isotherm units in my boat as well. My originals consist of an Isotherm Cruise 49 below and a Cruise 65 above. Certainly the easiest swap would be exchanging for the same, but I am considering switching to size comparable Dometic units instead. These would be a Dometic CRX-1050 below and a CRX-1065 above. From what I see the dimensions are very close and would require minimal box alteration, if any at all. The beauty of the Dometics is that they are convertible. Like the Isotherms, they arrive with a main refrigeration section with a small freezer compartment. Unlike the Isotherms, the freezer compartment of the domestic can be removed to convert the entire unit into either a refrigerator or a freezer! I see this as a nice solution keeping vacuum packed salmon frozen through extended fishing trips in my PNW waters. On my boat the lower unit seems to be 12v/110v whereas the upper unit is only wired 12v, I do not know why. I am wondering if it would be worth rewiring the upper unit to allow both power options when I do get around to replacing it. Please let us know how your replacement goes as I'm tired of always being the one to discover how it might have been done easier! Thanks.

[Slackwater]

Hi Mark, I’ll have a look at the Domentic options. On my boat the upper (bridge) unit is wired for 12v/110v and the lower (galley) unit is 12 v only. On my breaker panel there is a 110v breaker labeled for galley refrigerator, but it doesn’t appear to be actually wired to anything. Maybe when I pull it out I’ll find out more.

[Mark Laurnen]

Oh, you are correct! I am far away from my boat and my dyslexic memory fouled me up. My arrangement is as you stated. I don't know why they would have installed the lower unit as 12v only. I can't imagine they would draw enough current to put undue strain on the port side 110v branch , unless maybe it might while using the galley appliances. Please do let me know your ultimate choice and how the change out goes. Thanks.

[Slackwater]

Mark, I pulled the lower unit out today and found that the unit, although it was a 12v unit, had an adapter screwed and zip tied to the back of it. This adapter took 115v from an outlet behind the unit and converted it it to 12v. This adapter took both the 12v and the 115v volt wired to its input and fed 12v to the compresser. The 115v to this outlet was wired to the 115v breaker on the panel board. Problem was this adapter did no longer function properly so the refrigerator only ever saw the 12v input. Which caused the compressor to run only from the 12v source. So my unit would “run” but not cool ,so I had two problems. The adapter box and the refrigerator itself. So I can buy a unit that runs of of 12v and/or 115v without any wiring modifications. Now I just have to take some measurements and choose a unit.
All I can think of is that maybe 20 years ago the smaller units were not available in dual voltage. Therefore Albin added this converter/adapter to make it operate as a dual voltage unit.

[Jkraft]

Isn’t that funny. On my boat, both units are 120 volt or 12 volt with breakers on the panel. It seems that no two of these 31s are the same

[Slackwater]

JB, that’s how my boat would have been if the adapter/converter thing hadn’t died. If the refrigerator itself hadn’t quit working I’d have gone on assuming the galley unit was 12v only and the 115v breaker label galley refrigerator was not wired to its input.

[Slackwater]

Mark, I ended up going with an Isotherm Cruise 49 Elegance. The installation was pretty easy. The only modification I had to do was to cut out the opening about 3/8” higher with a saber saw.