Wow! Its like walking into a haunted house and finding a hidden passage way and secret room! I'm wandering how many owners know that there is a pretty large compartment below the aft cabin mattress on the port side, just outboard of the centerline water tank. I sure as heck didn't know it was there. The reason I'm excited about it is that is a perfect place to locate my new fridge compressor/condenser unit. Its cooler that the lazzerett and frees the laz up for storage without the problem of stored stuff banging into and/or blocking the unit. I'm really wondering why Catalina didn't install the units there in the first place. Except its probably a little more trouble and expensive to mount a flat surface to the curved hull bottom that forms the floor of that compartment.
So, I'd like a show of hands...how many of you knew that compartment was there? I found out from owner Hal Smith 1994 C36 #1346, who just installed his new fridge there and has an article about it ready to send in.
OK, show of hands...And can anyone give me a reason I shouldn't put my new fridge compressor box there? (its big enough for an AB or Sea Frost unit and the tube/wiring run is actually closer than my old AB)
Sam
Capt. Sam Murphy
1994 Catalina 36, Hull 1327
Shoal draft, two cabin model.
Panama City, Florida
You're talking about what is known as the hell hole? I keep spares there. I wouldn't think there would be enough air flow there to cool a fridge unit properly. It's bad enough for lack of air flow in the lazarette. We cut our run time down by 30% on a hot day by keeping the lazarette door propped up. Once that compartment heats up I suspect the efficiency of the unit will drop way off.
Sam,
I agree with Bud. The reason you can't just plop a compressor in that spot is because it is adjacent to the engine compartment, and it gets HOT there when the engine is running. The only way it might be possible is to attach a plennum to the compressor, and run a 3-4" hose from it to the base of the galley bulkhead. This will allow the relatively cool air from the cabin to feed the compressor. I placed the compressor on Julandra just aft of the fridge, below the cockpit locker, but Julandra is a MkI and I didn't have a fuel tank there to deal with. There are several pix of my install here:
[URL]http://www.c36ia.com/node/263[/URL]
Hope this helps.
Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT
Very good points both. Hal Smith seems happy with his Sea Frost unit there so far. But maybe he has only run it at the dock without the engine. The Sea Frost unit comes with a fan and is ducted to a grill in the cabin where cabin air is drawn in.
So, today, I'm going to go to the boat, and place my little thermometers in the Lazzerett, and in the "Hell Hole" and check temps with and without engine running. I'll let you know the results. Might the flow of water by the hull there provide some cooling? Or is the fiberglass hull too much of an insulator? I'll report back.
Sam
Capt. Sam Murphy
1994 Catalina 36, Hull 1327
Shoal draft, two cabin model.
Panama City, Florida
My compressor is under the galley sink,up here in the Northwest the water temp is pretty cool and it does not get the hot air in this area and air flow is good
Bill Miller
S/V Lorraine
Pacific Northwest,Sound Sound
Grapeview,Wa
1990 Mk1
today I placed thermometers both in the lazzerett and in the "hidden" compartment and let them soak for an hour, then checked them every 15 minutes for the next two hours. The hidden was consistenly 2 degrees F cooler. I ran the engine for over half an hour with both laz hatch and access panel closed. The temperatures didn't change in either compartment. Actually, today was cloudy with light rain and if the sun had been out I think the laz would have been much warmer. (This is St. Marks, Florida) But the "Hidden" compartment is insulated from the sun and below the waterline.
The fact is that the engine compartment is contained in its own fiberglass box and is a foot or so forward and just higher than where the Sea Frost compressor/condenser will be. I don't think its going to effect the temperature of that compartment much at all. And based on my 30 minute test, it doesn't. And with the fan pulling in air ducted from the galley, its going to be so much cooler than the lazzerett.
Sam
Capt. Sam Murphy
1994 Catalina 36, Hull 1327
Shoal draft, two cabin model.
Panama City, Florida
Sounds good but you still have to get the heat from the fridge out of there, once thar area is fully heat soaked the efficiency will take a dump. This is even a problem with the lazarette which is why we prop the door up and get a substantial reduction in run time.
That's a good point Bud. I'm hoping that there is enough space throughout that part of the boat to absorb the heat. Unlike the Lazerette, that space doesn't have confining walls but really allows flow aft all the way to the transom and f'wd up to past the bildge I think. Plus with the fan drawing in fresh cooler air from the saloon, I'm pretty sure its going to be a preferred spot over the lazzerett. My unit has shipped so I expect I'll know in a couple of weeks. I will monitor heat in the compartment and amp usage and report back. Worst case, I can always move it. But it will have to be pretty bad before I'll do that.
Thanks for comments,
Sam
Capt. Sam Murphy
1994 Catalina 36, Hull 1327
Shoal draft, two cabin model.
Panama City, Florida