The refrigerator again

[William Lieppe]

We love the boat, but hate the refrigerator.

The setting that keeps liquids (beer) cold enough causes the freezer to ice up every 10-14 days.

Has anyone come up with an effective solution to this issue?

Bill Lieppe

hull #162

[Phil Kling]

I have the same concern, Bill.

I have had some success  with improving the seals on the doors and placing a dish drying pad  over the top door. Replacing the condenser and evaporator is an expensive option and looks to be a difficult job. I’ll be very interested to see the responses to your question.

Phil Kling 

Hull #5

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Catalina355 group. To post to this group, send email to catal...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to catalina355...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/catalina355?hl=en
 
If changing the topic, please start a new message and send to catal...@googlegroups.com, rather than clicking "reply" to an existing message.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catalina355" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to catalina355...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/3655d374-27ac-4d13-84ce-e65b3522b277n%40googlegroups.com.

[Ken Kloeber]

The issue is humidity, not the compressor or evaporator. Poor sealing or keeping a fridge freezer open for too long will cause icing (and yours has no de-icing cycle!)

Air getting in that might be a comfortable 50% humidity in the saloon can become 90% when it's cooled down in the fridge.

[William Lieppe]

Thanks Ken.

In our case, the problem is poor sealing.  After it's defrosted, it ices up badly in 10-14 days even when we're away from the boat and the fridge is not opened.

The question: is there an effective and hopefully easy way to improve the sealing?

Virus-free.www.avast.com

On Thu, Aug 21, 2025 at 4:11 PM 'Ken Kloeber' via Catalina355 <catal...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

The issue is humidity, not the compressor or evaporator.   Poor sealing or keeping a fridge freezer open for too long will cause icing (and yours has no de-icing cycle!)   

Air getting in that might be a comfortable 50% humidity in the saloon can become 90% when it's cooled down in the fridge.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Catalina355 group. To post to this group, send email to catal...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to catalina355...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/catalina355?hl=en

If changing the topic, please start a new message and send to catal...@googlegroups.com, rather than clicking "reply" to an existing message.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catalina355" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to catalina355...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/80FFEA20-05F4-43E9-87EB-6682C9E9EDA0%40aol.com.

[David Slider]

I've got hull 164.Had the same problem with the refrigerator. 

The guy who did the refrigerator install at the plant sent me a new metal latch plate for the lower door that solved the problem. It seemed like he had dealt with this issue before.I got access to the plant guy through Warren Pandy.

The Isotherm guy I talked to also said that they had seen this problem on Catalina's due to the upper door cutout not sealing properly.

David Slider

Mystic, #164

On Thu, Aug 21, 2025 at 3:35 PM William Lieppe <wli...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Catalina355 group. To post to this group, send email to catal...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to catalina355...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/catalina355?hl=en
 
If changing the topic, please start a new message and send to catal...@googlegroups.com, rather than clicking "reply" to an existing message.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catalina355" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to catalina355...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/3655d374-27ac-4d13-84ce-e65b3522b277n%40googlegroups.com.

[Ken Kloeber]

Bill

Not being a 355 guy so can offer only generic possibilities.

I'm slso not an HVAC guy but I've heard that low refrigerant can cause an AC evaporator to ice up.

[Daniel Young]

Same issue with the fridge.  Tried defrosting and put a new gasket around the lower door, helped a little.  Then I set a small USB rechargeable fan in the back of the basket and it worked beautifully bringing the fridge from 41 down to 35.  So my plan is to install a 60mm 12v DC fan in the fridge.  According to the wiring diagram, there are + and - connections on the electronic unit for a fan.  Wiring a fan to these connections will allow the fan to run only when the compressor runs.

That my plan.  I'll let you know how it goes.

[Lyle Becka]

Move to wine or liquor?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/CA%2BHfkQwgakJpbxnN1-24zyWUgUUeA%3DA_-eEFMUHZqTEo6%3D%2Bz2g%40mail.gmail.com.

[Lyle Becka]

Couldn't resist.....

[William Lieppe]

Lyle, that's a very pragmatic solution.

However, for me, there's nothing like a cold IPA after a warm sunny day on the water.

Virus-free.www.avast.com

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/1168715769.713013.1755805903143%40mail.yahoo.com.