Need advice for installing refrigerator in 22

K

Kathryn

New member
We have a 22 cruiser and would like to install a refrigerator, presumably under the helm seat.

We have been looking online at the Norcold and Dometic. Recently the Novakool wass suggested as being better both in terms of power drain and noise.

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience to report?
It seems the norcold 2.7 or the novakool 1.9 are the largest we could use.

THANKS!
Jackie from Kathryn
 
The newer Norcold's use the same motor as the Novkool does currently. (The older ones used a "swing motor"--which seemed to have problems with the circuit board--since it used 27 volts AC as I remember.)

Look at your use, and the size of the refrigerator. We had one of the small Norcolds in the 25, and it worked well, but they are small, and we still needed a large ice chest for any significant trip. They use a lot of battery power--and you do have to add at least one battery (we like group 31's for this application). Another option is the chest type which several of us have installed--see the "Thataway" album. Not sure if there is the depth under the helm of the 22 or not.
 
We have a Norcold on our 22. It fit under the helm seat with no problems. I even have the autopilot and other items in behind the refrigerator. Take a look at our photos, I have a few of the install. Very little noise and works great for us.
 
Jackie,
I have the stock refridgerator I removed from our 2008 Venture. I worked when I took it out I'm thinking it was the same unit they used in the 22' cruisers. If you are interested let me know. I'm thinking half the price of a new one plus shipping. It has a black panel on the front. Let me know if you are interested. We removed it and installed an Espar D-2 heater in the same where it resided.
Dave Deem
 
Jackie,

I would invest in a really good ice chest, such as the Yeti, instead of a refrigerator. They work nicely, can handle dry ice, and don't have moving parts.

Steve
 
You might want to think propane. I have run propane freezers and refrigerators in my boats for over 40yrs. without a problem. Being a heat absorbtion system that operates on "Thermal Dynamics", the main consideration is the orientation of the cooling coils. The unit should be located as close to the center line of the boat as possible, with the coils orientated to port and starboard. on boats that plane at a sharp angle. The unit should be turned off while running.

Jack... :smiled
 
Jackie – I have a Dometic 33 qt portable refrigerator/freezer. It is very efficient and quiet. It runs on either 12v or 110volts. I have an old five plus year old group 27 house battery and after 24 hours with the refrigerator on 12 volts; my battery still registered 12.5 volts. Lots of things can affect how well the battery maintains a charge. When I am stopped without shore power, I limit the other things that use house voltage and I limit the amount of times I open the refrigerator. The Dometic is expensive but I believe it is worth it.

Dave dlt.gif
www.marinautboats.com
 
I have a 1.7 C.F. Norcold DC fridge very happy with it. I have ran it on the batteries for a whole weekend no problem. I would recommend it. Very easy to install I had to remove the door/shelf under the helm and epoxy a board to further support the fridge. There are pics in my album under modifications. Very easy to install.
 
Tom,

I've frozen salmon, herring and shrimp in my little fridge but only in the freezer compartment (SMALL). You can get one little salmon in there but that's all (3-4 packages of herring). I don't know but I doubt the fridge on it's coldest setting would freeze salmon in the fridge compartment. However, you can by 12v/120v freezers for the boat if you wish. You just need the space for them and they come in all sizes.

However, if your primary interest in freezing the vacuum packed fish so that you can have the prior days limit on board in a form that is legal while you're fishing for today's limit, there's a simpler way. Fillet and vacuum pack as you normally would. Prepare an ice chest with a 1-2" layer of ice with some rock salt sprinkled liberally on top. Add a layer of fish in vacuum bags. Add a layer of ice with rock salt on top. Repeat layers alternating fish, 2" ice with salt until all fish are covered. Done properly in a good cooler, fish will freeze solid in about 3 hours. I do this to fish I've caught at Neah Bay and they're frozen solid by the time I get to the Kingston ferry terminal.
 
roger I know the rules but what I want to avoid is the whole ice shuffle. I'm not just going to the coast for the weekend.
We do a trip every year for a 10 to 15 day period and I don't want to be forced to fish just at the end so the fish does not spoil. We had that happen this year. we wanted to go to sooke to fish but had to time it for the last few days of the trip. Well thats when the wind came up so no sooke and few fish, still got a pink and a ling. If I could freeze my two( me and Susan ) two day limits at any time and then not worry about ice and water for the next ten days that would be great. Also the "one of these days" trip to Alaska. I would love to freeze a nice halibut and maybe a king or two and just leave it in the fridge while we travel for the month. other wise its just what you catch that day and can eat in a few days. i have the room in the cabin for a fairly large fridge for the fresh food and more then enough room on the back deck for a larger freezer/seat for the fish.

Having read about the low battery use combined with my style of running and looking around every day I don't think that I would ever run down the battery with two units. I may just add another battery just in case but that's just in case.

Dave thanks for the link and when the time comes I will let you know.
 
I don't know about dropping a grand on a freezer to keep 20 pounds of samies and some ground fish from going bad. Better to practice catch and release and stop at the fish market on the way home. Better than playing catch and release with your dollars on a freezer IMHO. What size freezer 65 quart? That grand can buy a lot of ice.The new coolers keep ice a lot better than what you were used to. I bet even with a freezer you will still need a cooler with ice or are you going to stop fishing, clean and vac u bag the fish and place in you new freezer free of blood and slime, before you return to fishing. Let's face it fisherman will always be junkies for ice.
D.D.
 
We have been on the road/water for over 4 weeks and still have a bag of Mahi fillets frozen solid in our Engel cooler sitting in the cockpit of our 22 in the San Juan Arm of Lake Powell. If the smallmouth bass keep biting we may return to Texas with them still frozen.

We are very pleased with our Engel. It will operate as a fridge or freezer, just set the thermostat as required.

I like to keep it at 28-30 degrees, the stuff on the bottom is frozen solid and the beer on the top is ice cold.
 
Will-C":lwshdq2z said:
I don't know about dropping a grand on a freezer to keep 20 pounds of samies and some ground fish from going bad. Better to practice catch and release and stop at the fish market on the way home. Better than playing catch and release with your dollars on a freezer IMHO. What size freezer 65 quart? That grand can buy a lot of ice.The new coolers keep ice a lot better than what you were used to. I bet even with a freezer you will still need a cooler with ice or are you going to stop fishing, clean and vac u bag the fish and place in you new freezer free of blood and slime, before you return to fishing. Let's face it fisherman will always be junkies for ice.
D.D.
Click to expand...
I agree with you on the ice/cooler side of things but buy fish at a market? That's heresy. :wink: :lol: Seriously, my fish go from swimming to bled and cooled in less than 15 mins and to vacuum packed and frozen in less than 8-10 hours. I know they will taste great. The stuff I get in the store is generally not handled as well.
 
Roger,
I was just joking about the fish market. Bleeding and getting fish on ice asap is the only way to do it right if I'm going to eat it. I have had people I gave fish to say this fish doesn't even smell like fish. The fish they sell in stores sometimes smells like they poured ammonia on it. Unless we catch a couple of tuna or a bunch of Mahi I usually try to avoid freezing fish. We will vaccum bag if we are meat fishing and get lucky. Sometimes fish end up getting lost for quite a while down in the bottom of the freezer. I feel bad tossing what was a decent fish or using it for crab bait or chum. The older I get I kill less and less. But to catch fish, care for it properly and eat it the same day is what we like to do. Don't need no stinkin refrigerator for that.
D.D.
 
Agree - I do fine with my fish in a cooler and I can freeze them with rock sat/ice more quickly than I can in a freezer. (see we can agree on some things) :D
 
Will, I can't find a model number on it.
It is the new model specific for marine use with an impact resistant plastic outer shell rather that the metal. They only make the plastic one in one size. Seems to be the perfect size for our needs.
It is tough. We use it as a step to get in and out of the boat.
 
texasair, thats good to here and just what I had in mind.

Will-c. If i was willing to continue to support commercial fishing and bad tasting fish I would buy fish and sell the boat. Not other good reason to own one. There is nothing as good as a well cared for fish. I don't know if you have priced good ice chest recently but a really good one is around $800 to $1000 and you still have to get ice. Like i said if I was only day tripping then a ice chest , even a cheap one would work.

What I want is the ability to travel without ice being a constant concern. It does not keep veggies good and ruins fish if more then for a few hours. I have tried dry ice with limited success. The cost of dry ice is not easy to take either. No I think that quality fridge/freezer is in my future.
 
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