Refrigerator replacement on 53MY

[MadHatter53]

My fridge is on its last leg and looking for a replacement. Orig size is roughly 64”H x 33W x 25D with doors off. Problem is my ac panel at the top of stairs, the trim sticks out 1 3/4” so I have only 23 1/2” of width, if I can remove it easily I’ll have 25 1/4” of width. All I see is two plugs on the top corners and I can’t see any other fasteners that hold it to the wall. I really don’t want to butcher it up and can’t find a fridge that would fit down the stairs. Any help with fridge or panel removal is greatly appreciated.

 

[GCSI]

A heads-up. Just replaced Fridge on my boat, as a function of COVID there is NO inventory.

 

[SEVEN]

I’m in the same predicament. Mine is still running but costs 3.75 a day to run it. What ever you do please take photos and give us the model number you decided on. I’m looking at putting a 12.5 cubic foot in and adding a draw at the bottom to raise it up and a slide out panel on the side as a small pantry. If that doesn’t work I’m looking at making it look enclosed. Pascal wrote about this and removed the left side of the stair case to open the area up. Please send photos of what ever you do.

 

[MadHatter53]

I looked at the handle side but that would be way too much carpentry the way Hatteras put things together “glued screwed And or nailed”. The smaller 12 cu would slide right in but as you see there would be a lot of extra un usable space.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

The wisdom of the galley up boat.

 

[Red Hatt]

Look at YouTube 53 Hatteras. Virginia yacht brokers . Starfire 53 Hatteras . The video shows a subzero refrigerator at the top and a pull out freezer on the bottom . Lots of room for food and drinks and ice. Fits nicely.

 

[oscarvan]

If I was facing this, and I may well some day if not sooner I will make little pieces out of the fridge. (Yes I have reduced many appliances and electronics and even tires to garbage size pieces.) I would replace it with drawers or multiple smaller units that EASILY fit down (and up) the stairs.

 

[Westfield 11]

Now I know why the PO widened the opening to 32.5 inches! The stairs are the original width, but the opening is bigger and a full size fridge could slide in over the dinette.

 

[MadHatter53]

Not a fan of the drawer type and a bit pricey. It would give me some counter space but I would lose too much fridge capacity. I still can’t figure out what’s holding framing for my ac panel to the wall.
I pulled the cover plate and there is no visible connections. If I could remove the framing things would fit better.

 

[miboatnutz]

We just replaced ours last year. I'll take pics and post make and model fridge tomorrow morning as I'll be at the boat later today.

To get it down the stairs we removed both fridge doors and actually had to remove a piece of trim in the main salon door opening to the pilothouse. That's due to the ED configuration.

Fridge is a full size unit with double door refrigerator on top and freezer on the bottom. Unit is stainless steel. Had to trim cabinetry above and to the side of the fridge but since we're going to redo the galley anyway not a big deal for us. We could just add some wood trim and call it a day if need be but next year is the galley redo so decided to leave cabinetry for now.

I'll post more info later.

 

[wallison]

I was not a fan of the drawer style either but opted for it due to the Admiral’s strong preference. Cut the old one into a couple of pieces with a sawzall and in about an hour it was out. 3 guys got the new Thermador installed and running in about another hour. Works great and am very happy. So happy that we plan to pull the old dishwasher out and put a second Thermador in giving us considerably more fridge/freezer capacity (and redundancy) than we originally had. Got more countertop and cabinet space to boot.

 

[miboatnutz]

Purchased an LG refrigerator with French doors two years ago. Many of the LG countertop depth models have a 23-5/8 inch case with the doors removed so they will go down the companionway.

As mentioned, only trim we had to remove was in the main salon doorway to the pilothouse. Galley was a little disorganized as sister was putting stuff away.

 

[MadHatter53]

Thanks Brian, from what I remember LG has/had a horrible reputation. How has it been ?
looks like you needed to trim the upper cabinet frame For the height. I did find a 12cu from Norcold that would be a perfect fit but it’s $4k+.

 

[miboatnutz]

Honestly, when we first got this fridge I was very skeptical. Not sure I liked the French door arrangement, plus it's an LG, which is OK, but not great as far as brands go.

After using it for two years, I've really grown to like this unit. Very efficient and keeps food perfectly cold. There's digital controls above the doors (when opened) making adjustments easy and refrigerator has lots of shelves and storage.

Galley cabinet redo is on the list for early next year, so I'll trim out around the refrigerator and put the doors back on above the unit during the retrofit. Going to replace the rest of the appliances at the same time, but the toughest part was the refrigerator, so now that it's in place, I can do the rest without the heavy lifting.

Time will tell but for right now, we're pleased with this choice.

 

[miboatnutz]

Yes, had to trim the the bottom of the cabinet just above the refrigerator. I think we took about an inch off the bottom to get it into place.

Doors will fit back on the cabinets, but I have to move the hinges up the same distance as the material trimmed off the bottom (basically shifting the doors up on the cabinet one inch).

 

[rourkeh]

when I bought my 61' CPMY it had a Traulsen commercial refrigerator installed which is narrow enough to come down the stairs. It had a compressor problem right away and the way it was installed with the compressor mounted on top of the unit and only accessible from above meant cutting behind the helm to repair. Otherwise it has been an awesome, huge refrigerator. I just bought a huge freezer only to install in the forward stateroom closet with a bit of modifying as no freezer was a problem. I am including some of the other modifications to the galley refit which is now about 95% done. We really tried to maximize storage as we live aboard most of the time.

 

[rourkeh]

more pics

 

[rourkeh]

even more pictures

 

[rourkeh]

last couple of shots

 

[Pascal]

I put a Whirlpool French Door on my 53, since it s now galley up since wasn’t much of a concern. Really like the shelves set up and it s made in the USA

On the boat I run I added an extra fridge for long Exumas trip, downstairs forward in a corner which used to had a small desk. The only that would fit down the stairs was a Samsung which is pretty good. Also French door although I prefer my Whirlpool