Refrigerators used by Hunter

Jun 8, 2004
265
Hunter 49 60803 Lake Erie
General Hunter Refrigeration Question

Have a small and large front opening refrigerator on my 2007 Hunter 49 and they are getting to the point where they are struggling to maintain proper temperature. Has any one recharged the units with new refrigerant? and if so did you find a recharging connection point some where? I haven't been able to find on.

Hunter 49 Refrigeration Question

There is an access panel behind the cushions that allows you to have access to the back of the small frig and the sink faucet. I don't see any way to get to the back of the larger frig with out fully removing it from the cabinet. Has any one worked on either frig? and if so how did you get access? also see question above?
 
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Likes: desodave
Dec 25, 2000
5,704
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Different model here, but when our freezer stopped cooling in 2002 I had a local refrigerant guy recharge the system and it has been working fine ever since. Cost me $50 for the recharge, which consisted of some amount of R-12 (1991 system). Ours has a charge port, but I had no access to R-12 at the time. Unfamiliar with your model to provide any access information. Ours has very easy access.
 
Apr 4, 2015
26
Bavaria Vision 42 Campbell River
I have a smaller 38 same vintage and the NovaKool fridge and freezer slide out easily. Big might be more difficult to handle but I suspect Hunter builds consistently. I pulled my units and added insulation - there was none before. Big improvement in performance
 

senang

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Oct 21, 2009
304
hunter 38 Monaco
You have to slide out the fridge. It is held in place with 4 screws in the black iron frame around it, screws are hidden behind black plastic covers. Most probably you won’t have a filler point, you will have to swage one on. Don’t overfill, the Danfoss compressors run with a very small quantity. However looking for the leak will be better if you don’t want to have a recurrence. Hire a competent fridge repairman, they have special tools for leak tracing.
 
Jun 1, 2009
1,737
Hunter 49 toronto
You have to slide out the fridge. It is held in place with 4 screws in the black iron frame around it, screws are hidden behind black plastic covers. Most probably you won’t have a filler point, you will have to swage one on. Don’t overfill, the Danfoss compressors run with a very small quantity. However looking for the leak will be better if you don’t want to have a recurrence. Hire a competent fridge repairman, they have special tools for leak tracing.
I Agree
You need to pull the fridge.
Real easy. Just a couple of screws on the front.
I had to pull it to fish more wiring (in addition to the Approx 3 miles I’ve already installed ).
 
Jul 6, 2017
158
Hunter H 41DS Hampton, VA
Very easy to pull the fringe and set it on the counter to diagnose any issues. Just make sure you disconnect the 12V power supply first.

The t-stats tend to go on them also. Also a cheap fix.
 
Jun 8, 2004
265
Hunter 49 60803 Lake Erie
Looks like 8 screws but looks easy enough pull out ... thanks to all for your advice
 
Jun 8, 2004
265
Hunter 49 60803 Lake Erie
Ok I am to the point where I have decided to replace at least the larger refrigerator and maybe the smaller? Have any 49 Hunter owners replaced theirs and if so what brand model etc. did you use.

Also, my boat came from the factory with the wine frig option. I would have preferred the ice maker option. Can some one with the ice maker option tell me which model brand etc. Hunter used.

Thanks for the help
 
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Likes: T J Furstenau
Apr 6, 2004
59
Hunter 49 Downers Grove, IL
Ok I am to the point where I have decided to replace at least the larger refrigerator and maybe the smaller? Have any 49 Hunter owners replaced theirs and if so what brand model etc. did you use.

Also, my boat came from the factory with the wine frig option. I would have preferred the ice maker option. Can some one with the ice maker option tell me which model brand etc. Hunter used.

Thanks for the help
99% sure that my icemaker is a Uline model. Headed to the boat on Friday and will be happy to get you model info for it. What I can confirm now is that the ice maker is only 120v and will only run on shore/invertor/generator. The boat has trained us that best course of action before heading out for a full day or longer is to pull all of the ice and throw it in to the top load freezer (12V) and then leave it off until you get back to power (or need ice and run the generator/invertor). Insulation is not fantastic, and after a long day, we get back to the dock and reconnect power, and quickly find a solid ice mess. Looked around unsuccessfully to see if there were any 12V options.

Quick note/comment on the front load fridges - after the thermostat on the small one failed a couple of years back, I pulled them both and replaced the mechanical thermostats with digital ones. As has already been stated, a few screws and they fridges slide out very nicely. Mounted the digital displays in the cabinet face just above the small fridge. It's nice being able to see an accurate read on temps and to be able to dial in a temp that keeps cold things cold, but does not freeze what it shouldn't. I plan on adding digital thermostats to the top loaders, but that exercise was a bit more of a task, so has not yet been tackled.

T J
 
Jan 5, 2021
158
Hunter 41 DS Saint Petersburg
I have a Nova Kool R3800 fridge and a F1900 freezer on my 2005 41DS. Just replaced both of mine. You can get the fridge with or without the small freezer section. I still have my old units with SS fronts and new door gaskets.