Monday, June 8, 2015

And Still, It Didn't Get Done

Projects on Adventure Us Two are an ongoing, never ending saga.  Sometimes they are straightforward, and sometimes they are very detailed, regardless they are never dull.  

Our refrigeration system has been working wonderfully except recently the digital readout for the box temperature decided to abandon the role it plays in keeping us informed of the temperature inside.  Okay, the thing quit on us.  Without it functioning correctly it is difficult to find the desired temperature so foods won't freeze, or get too warm.  Frozen lettuce, unlike a frozen margarita, is not a good thing.  To find a solution to the problem, Michael called the manufacturer and ultimately sent the controller to Sea Frost for an inspection and re-calibration.  They sent a box temperature probe back with the controller because most likely it was bad. 



Eight o'clock Sunday morning was the time slot we set aside to pull the old probe out and install the new probe.  The first challenge Michael faced was to contort his body into a boat yoga position kinda like this...  
                          
internet photo

...but with his head inside a twelve inch opening in the counter.  Our fridge doesn't have a light in it like land based refrigerators so I had to shine a flashlight just right so it would reflect off his mirror.  Not only was he in an awkward position, but he had to clip a tie wrap with clippers by looking into the mirror and twisting his brain to work backwards.  Talk about getting dizzy! 
 
Internet Photo

Even after freeing up the probe on the inside he could not push it through the wall of the fridge, so he tried to access it from behind. He could see the damn thing from inside the engine room, but he could not reach it. He went into the bathtub/shower and opened the access door, but the opening was too low. Next he took the upper part of the shower wall apart and tried to reach the freak-en probe from above. Nope. He could see where it came down from the back of the controller, but of course he couldn't see where it went into the fridge. Okay, things are not looking too promising at this point, but my Michael is persistent, so as a last ditch effort he went into the cockpit and began removing part of a lazarette. He drilled out half a dozen bungs to get to screws holding teak trim in place. With the trim removed he could now remove even more screws holding a nifty tray in place and carefully pry it up. "WOW! Would you look at that? What a cool hiding hole for valuables we might want to keep hidden." But as for the stupid, freakin, pain in the ass probe? Not so good.


It was now two in the afternoon and we were barely beyond where we were at eight in the morning. We sat in silence for a moment and I said to Michael, "Wouldn't it be easier to just leave the old probe, drill a small hole and connect the new one?"
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More silence.