New Fridge installed in 53MY!

Yesterday it was out with the old and in with the new fridge. We managed to get it all done in about 9 hours, including the time it took to go pick up the new fridge and later take a break for pizza! Basically it was my good friend Bill DeWitt and I with some brief help from 3 guys on the dock to lift the new fridge into the boat. There was some Admiralty aid as well...;)

It went better than I expected although there were a few tricky spots. There are some pics attached below.

The first "tricky spot" turned out to be, as Pascal (I think) mentioned, the opening between salon and galley was not the same size at the top as it was at the bottom. The electrical panel cabinet at the top of the stairs, starboard side, cannot be removed in any reasonable manner. Therefore if you have a 53 with this panel (not all do), this will be your most important dimension. On ours, we had 24" at the top and 24 3/4 at the bottom. with the molding and grab-handle removed on the helm side. Counter-depth refrigerators' standard depth without doors is stated as 24". All moldings around the opening that affect the actual clearance must be removed.

Another item I had not realized was that a portion of the headliner and wood panel at the head of the stairs has to be removed because you have to rotate the fridge downward as it goes into the galley. At 36" wide (standard for counter-depth) it will not slide directly into the galley; it will hit the panel and headliner (see pic). The panel was GLUED in place so this was a total pain to remove. I believe the gluing was done by the previous owner when he went through this same process in 1997. After removing the trim, I could see the oem staples in the headliner vs the "new" staples where he had pulled the headliner back.

We removed the old fridge without too much difficulty. Before doing so we removed the doors and all the internal shelves/baskets, etc. There is a pic of it coming through the opening. The old fridge was a bit shorter in every dimension than the new one - about 1/2 inch so it squeezed through the opening without too much drama. The two of us slid it out to the back deck, padded the rail with a moving blanket (used lots of these) and lifted it up on the rail. I balanced it there while Bill went dockside and took hold of the compressor end. With him supporting most of the weight, we lowered it to the dock.

We then went to the store to pick up the new fridge. Back at the marina, we removed the doors and all internals, then hand-trucked it to the boat. To get it up was more difficult than getting the old one off, gravity being what it is... Fortunately, several folks nearby saw us and 3 guys came over to help. With this assistance, we easily lifted the fridge into the balance position on the rail. Bill then came back aboard and the two of us lowered it to the back deck onto moving blankets, slid it into the salon and into the opening.

No go! There was not any clearance - the fridge was a tiny bit wider than the opening at the top (bottom was fine). We removed the screws that adjusted the front wheels, which projected about 3/32nds of an inch. ALMOST! Another screw in the front door section of the box needed to be removed. That 1/16th did it and we were able to move the box into the galley. Note that these clearances are with no padding of any kind - a couple strips of masking tape in a few spots - that was it.

Fridge is now in galley. It's important to note that when moving it into the galley it must be lifted at the salon end so it will drop into the galley. The guy on the galley end will be taking all the weight, standing where the dinette table was (it must be removed) and holding it while the other end is resting on the dinette seat back (well padded). Then the other person must get in the galley, take the other end of the fridge so that it can be rotated and lifted upright.

Next big problem - will it actually fit under cabinet? Previous MULTIPLE measurements indicated that it was basically an interference fit.

Nope - wont' go more that an inch or two..

The wheels are as low as they will go but there was interference with the base of the cabinet. As I mentioned in a previous post, the cabinets cannot be shortened. There is an air handler inside and it would also have to be moved which is not, in my mind a reasonable thing to do. There is no lip on the cabinet that can be cut off - that had already been done by the previous owner to get the old fridge in.

So from the back, I removed the rear wheels and put a strip of thick material under that portion of the fridge. We gained about 1/8 inch and slid her in with NO clearance to spare. After checking, we slid her back out and I connected the water and plugged her in!

The fridge is a Frigidaire PHSC39EESS. Another model, with fewer "features" is identical in dimension: FSC23R5DSB. These two models are the ONLY counter depth models I could find after days of internet searching with stated dimensions less than 69" tall and less than 24" in depth (23 3/4) Again, unless a small fridge is adequate for your use, the ONLY normal home fridge that will fit without MAJOR boat modification is a counter-depth model. No other standard kitchen model has any chance of passing through the salon/galley opening. IF the electrical panel molding/door assembly could be easily removed, their would be comfortable clearance for a counter depth. Unfortunately, that panel, at least on our 53, would meet structural requirements on a house! It is not designed to be removed. The same is true of the overhead cabinet. It is solidly built and the fact that on our 53, there is an airhandler in it, means that major work would be required to alter it.

We did manage to gouge the electrical panel door rather badly in one spot and scratch it in a couple of others but although I didn't like it, it's probably too much to expect that no damage of this kind will occur - there is basically no extra clearance and you're dealing with an object that weighs quite a bit. I can sand out the scratches - the gouge will require a litttle more work but it won't be particularly noticeable when finished. Making a new door wouldn't take long either and might be the easiest thing to do.

Pics show:

1. Headliner in portion of galley removed - Bill is working to remove the panel just over his head. It was the one that was screwed/glued in place!!!:mad:

2. The old fridge coming out; arrow points to area where panel was removed. Going in or out the fridge has to be angled downward toward the galley; it can't be if the panel is not removed.

3. New Fridge in place - Advertising shot! If you enlarge the area at the top of the fridge, you will see there is NO space between fridge and cabinet.