Hi Friends,
Not all on the same day….
We removed the Norcold 751 series fridge to install a safety handrail for Eileen in the Nav seat for rough water (I hold onto the wheel). It’s a bit larger…2.7… than the std 2.3 but requires cutting out the std insert a bit. There is still a lot of wasted space in that cabinet to the port of her seat. The new grab rail doubles as a method of heaving ourselves out of the berth. We’d been grabbing the fiberglass seat insert when it was in marina position and eventually cracked the insert, which cost $300 to fix by a pro.
The fridge had a lot of cosmetic scuffing/SS rust areas. I tried spray painting the removable door with Krylon paint+primer, and Eileen thought it turned out so well that instead of reversing the SS panel to a New side, she decided to just keep the spray paint option for now.
In the past we’ve just used teak oil on the teak cabinets, but this year we decided to try 7 coats (one every 24 hours for a week) of Epiphanes. Came out well.
Renogy now has a VERY thin plastic 100w solar panel that can be glued onto a curved surface like the TomCat 255 central roof. I bought mine from Lowes.com on sale with free shipping. $143 is a yearly ‘Maintenance Item’ for us despite a 5 year warranty.
https://www.renogy.com/100-watt-12-volt ... lar-panel/
Renogy says just use silicone adhesive to glue it down on a slightly curved surface like our TC255 central roof.
I bought a Victron (I like their products) 75v/15A controller with no plans to add other panels (no room) and a 20 ft copper connector, with genuine Ancor 8 AWG tinned copper cables back to the House battery. I had to wriggle completely into the aft cabin to do it and the newest knee was not happy at all. (Colby, just hire it out).
This all went surprisingly well, and the Victron 702 monitor showed 13.8V going into the battery at 3PM in heavy clouds here. We regard this mod as one to throw up on the roof and connect out the aft port window as needed when anchoring out, which we don’t do nearly as much as you do. It can hang on the wall in the head (48”x22’).
But it is a significant gain in solar tech, and maybe you should consider it. Hope this is useful.
Safe Travels!
John