380 S2: Installation of electric cooler under cockpit seat

[jbinbi]

Installation of Electric Fridge
I wanted a better solution than having a cooler that needs ice in the cockpit. The 380, at least my unit, a 2015 3 cabin, comes with a regular cooler that fits under the cockpit seat behind the galley. I had originally wanted something that resembles a real fridge. It is a PITA everytime someone wants a drink that the person sitting on the seat has to get up, open the locker, open the fridge, close it all, etc. My 380 has 3 140 AH batteries, and I put 2 280 W solar panels, so I figured an electric fridge would be better. I read that someone put an isotherm drawer frige in the cockpit, and another owner put an isotherm cube fridge/freezer under the helm in the locker with the 2 handles perpendicular to the sliding door.. Those looked attractive, but in the end I decided for simplicity
The closest thing was one of the new thermo electric coolers. Basically, these look just your regular cooler, but they use electricity to cool the box. Just plug in and it works. Made for RV/Camping/Stadium tailgating events, they use either 12V DC or household AC.
I chose the Dometic 35 because it was almost the exact same size as the cooler that came with the boat.
Very importantly, the Dometic has a cutoff if the battery voltage falls below a certain level, so it won’t drain the batteries if left in and on. More on this later.
https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/pro...x-35w-_-137965

Attached file shows installation details

[rabbi]

Hi jbinbi,

Quick question if you happen to be on the boat:
How much room is left between the top of this particular box and the lid?
Just asking if there is room for a bigger box like the cff45? Its about 2cm longer and 7cm higher.

[jbinbi]

Don't have the boat anymore. My boat had a lip on the bottom that the original cooler fit in, and the model I got fit pretty darn close to that. Not sure if it had an extra 1" there.

Do not think there was an extra 3" of extra room to be able close the top. I had wanted to get the largest freezer possible and for this brand, I got the largest one I thought could fit. This was a few years ago, don't know if anything has changed.

Sorry I don't have exact dimensions for you off the top of my head.

[rabbi]

Thank you for the information. I already guessed from the photos that the 35 was more or less the maximum to fit.

I just happened to find the cff45 on sale locally, but I will look where to find the 35. The successor is same size within a few mm so should fit.