Today I finally got around to weighing the stock two part lid on my fridge - it is 23.6 total pounds of finger crushing terror. I learned to avoid injury quickly after a few slammed fingernails, but this thing is borderline dangerous for casual users or guests.
Is this usual or is my lid saturated with water, filled with lead or just the heaviest fridge lid in the fleet?
Unlike some I've seen in photos this is one molded piece - no screws or visible seams. I'm hesitant to drill into it without a plan and hoping someone has already solved the problem.
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Denis
Brazen Article #1925
2001 Catalina 36 MKII
I haven't thought about fixing it, but mine weighs about the same. I do think the weight helps hold it against the seals, although there might be a better way with a latch. I divided my fridge into a freezer and fridge compartment and I like to be able to open either the fridge or freezer side separately.
My AB fridge was dead when I bought the boat. I replace the whole unit with a novacool LT201-rt4. I did the replacement myself and it was pretty easy. Hardest part was making a whole big enough to get the cooler lines through. It was pre-charged and you just connect the evaporator lines to the compressor unit, give it some power, and connect the thermostat and switch. Very easy. The LT4 evaporator fit right in the same space the old one was.
Its extremely efficient and kept everything cold. When I first installed it I only had it set as a fridge and I set it at level 5 of 7. Everything froze. I was keeping it at about 2.5 to keep 40 degrees or so. I did make a little door for the evaporator and that stays frozen.
I was taking the boat to the bahamas this last winter, and wanted a bigger freezer. So I took cardboard and made a template for a wooden divider that cuts the fridge in half. I can get to either fridge or freezer side by opening either side of the very heavy lid. I taped up the edges up with duct tape. Now when I run the fridge about 6 to 6.5 on the settings, it keeps the evaporator about 0-5 degrees, the rest of the freezer section at about 20-25, and the bottom of the fridge half at 35 and the top about 45. I put a wire shelf in halfway up the fridge to give me more storage space.
I was able to keep a bunch of food frozen on my two months bahamas trip, and ice cream and such frozen in the evaporator part. The fridge food was nice and cold although a few times I do kind of freeze some vegetables in the bottom. The Novacool is efficient, and 200 watts of solar is enough to keep it running. I had other power requirements too so I added a temporary solar panel as well to bring it up to 400 watts. I never wanted for electricity, and aside from 2 nights in freeport, I never docked the rest of the trip. There were a couple of days where the power got a little low due to overcast and not much charging. I think I might add a small wind generator for long term cruising in the future.
If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. Hope that helps.
I'm looking at the lid as a start to making the fridge/freezer work better for me. Plan is to divide the interior aiming for more freezer space. The original evaporator is pretty small, first thought was to change that to a bendable plate.
How did you improve the fridge and set up the divider?
Denis
Brazen Article #1925
2001 Catalina 36 MKII
Army Sailor
Online
Joined: 11/2/23
Posts: 39
My AB fridge was dead when I bought the boat. I replace the whole unit with a novacool LT201-rt4. I did the replacement myself and it was pretty easy. Hardest part was making a whole big enough to get the cooler lines through. It was pre-charged and you just connect the evaporator lines to the compressor unit, give it some power, and connect the thermostat and switch. Very easy. The LT4 evaporator fit right in the same space the old one was.
Its extremely efficient and kept everything cold. When I first installed it I only had it set as a fridge and I set it at level 5 of 7. Everything froze. I was keeping it at about 2.5 to keep 40 degrees or so. I did make a little door for the evaporator and that stays frozen.
I was taking the boat to the bahamas this last winter, and wanted a bigger freezer. So I took cardboard and made a template for a wooden divider that cuts the fridge in half. I can get to either fridge or freezer side by opening either side of the very heavy lid. I taped up the edges up with duct tape. Now when I run the fridge about 6 to 6.5 on the settings, it keeps the evaporator about 0-5 degrees, the rest of the freezer section at about 20-25, and the bottom of the fridge half at 35 and the top about 45. I put a wire shelf in halfway up the fridge to give me more storage space.
I was able to keep a bunch of food frozen on my two months bahamas trip, and ice cream and such frozen in the evaporator part. The fridge food was nice and cold although a few times I do kind of freeze some vegetables in the bottom. The Novacool is efficient, and 200 watts of solar is enough to keep it running. I had other power requirements too so I added a temporary solar panel as well to bring it up to 400 watts. I never wanted for electricity, and aside from 2 nights in freeport, I never docked the rest of the trip. There were a couple of days where the power got a little low due to overcast and not much charging. I think I might add a small wind generator for long term cruising in the future.
If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. Hope that helps.
Thanks Army Sailor - good information! My fridge works fine but the freezer evaporator is too small. I'll put in a temporary divider, maybe another computer fan and see if I can replicate your setup.
Denis
Brazen Article #1925
2001 Catalina 36 MKII
Is the lid covered with ceramic tile like on my 85 MK1?
and yes if it's the same lid insulating material as I had it can get wet.
depends how handy you are they can be made lighter and better insulated
Booker C
1985 C36 MK1
The previous owner made a one piece refrigerator top, avoiding the heat loss at the hinge. I've cleaned gasket & glued gasket with JB Weld Marine. Used a zoomed Depot paint stick to hold open when I flip up the top. Also bought $12 hardware store indoor/outdoor temperature thermometer, placing temperature sensor at the farthest point from icebox. I don't have to open the fridge to see if the milk or beer is getting cold. Works for me.
peter g
2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !. 5 th Catalina
They're heavy! No water-filling, just 40 year old technology. You could probably remove the plastic forms, empty what's inside and refill with expanding foam to reduce the weight. Still, most of the weight is likely the plywood and arboretum. I'm pretty sure that the depth of the plastic forms is overkill insulation wise.
Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada
After replacing the original unit with A nova cool, I did some fiddling and crafted an acrylic sliding drawer with a box on top that gave us much more access to the bottom of the fridge. Also added the computer fan the bottom. Much more efficient use of electricity than the original and the freezer box stays Frozen with some monitoring of the external temperature units and the thermostat.
Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada
Nice setup. I noticed you said you replaced with a nova cool but the evaporator lid still says adler barbor. Did you adapt the evaporator lid to the nova cool evaporator or did you use the original evaporator with a nova cool compressor unit. I replaced the whole thing with nova cool and my old evaporator lid doesn't fit it. I wasn't able to find an evaporator lid from nova cool.