www.iFourWinns.com

Can any 298 owners tell me the size of your cockpit fridge?

Also, any advice for installing one.

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2004 Vista 298
Twin 5.7L Volvo Penta GXi-E

Hi Noexcuses, I am interested to hear as well,

I am looking at a 288 and can you tell me what fuel consumption you average with your 5.0l twins?

I take it you don't have a cockpit fridge currently in your 298? These are super easy to install, the fridge is just held in by some screws on the front perimeter frame face, some plugs just cover the screws after install. You just need a 12volt feed to the area which I'm sure your 298 already has, and their is a 110 volt plug in the trash can cupboard right beside where the fridge goes that our cockpit fridge plugs into. I'll try and get some images and sizes for you.

As for the other posters question about fuel usage, over a season our 298 with two 5.0 MPI's averages about 10.5 US gallons / hour or for my fellow Canadians, about 40 liters an hour. We do a fair bit of on plane driving in that average though. Our sweet spot seems to be at about 3400 rpm's while on plane.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

Thanks Alan, you're right I do have AC/DC already run I'm particularly interested in how Four Winns vented it.

Sorry MKAZ but I don't keep track of fuel consumption, I like to stay oblivious of how much money is going throught the exhausts but here is a link to the manufacturers fuel consumption data for the boat you are looking at.

http://www.fourwinns.com/upload/Documen ... s_2007.pdf

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2004 Vista 298
Twin 5.7L Volvo Penta GXi-E

By vented, I'm guessing you mean the fridge? There's typically just enough natural convection from a gap below the face of the cabinet, up behind the fridge, and then out around a port hole above (if there's one in the cabinet like on our 348).

Some fridges have support for a 12v fan being added to help cool the compressor. This keeps it from running as often, which uses less power and extends your battery time when at anchor. I had to add the fan myself to the back of the fridge, and I just used a simple 12v computer fan (120mm, iirc).

I think when they make most of these boats all the wiring is already installed, even if the options aren't. It's easier to put that stuff into place during manufacturing. It might be money wasted if the customer doesn't chose the options, but if they did that 'lost' money would get chewed up pretty fast retrofitting the wire.

Just be aware some models and circuits sometimes used somewhat undersized wire for their 12v side. Just be prepared to run a bit of heavier gauge wire for the DC side if it's not enough. One way to determine this is to check the voltage level when the fridge is connected and running. Compare that against a measurement directly from the batteries. If it's more than a half volt lower at the fridge then you might want to run heavier wire. This because under load the smaller wire would incur losses that a larger one wouldn't. Lower voltage means the motor in the fridge compressor works harder, using more power from the system and slightly heating up the wire in the process. Larger wire helps avoid that voltage drop and loss.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Below is a shot of the cockpit fridge area on my 298 and I don't see any additional venting above or below the fridge.


I agree completely with Bill"s comments, I've upgraded the wiring to both fridges as we are always on the hook on all weekend, we don't have a genny, or want one for that matter. Another trick for the top fridge is at bedtime we turn it off for the night as our cockpit fridge only holds beer, wine, and soft drinks, the cabin fridge does all the food. We turn it back on when we get up in the morning, so this saves the batteies too. We have a bank of 3 group 31 house batteries and easily go 3-4 days on the hook without any re-charging.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

Oh, wait, you said COCKPIT fridge, my mistake. I was talking about the one in the cabinet below!

The advice still applies, but you may want to have a grille added above/below the fridge to allow for convection. I had to add one to our 348 because the factory didn't do it yet for that model (new in 2005). Now they all have it. This to allow the hot air to waft up out of the enclosed cabinet.

Some exterior grade fridges have better ventilation for this than others. Our cockpit has the icemaker but it's got a door in front of it, so it's not specifically an 'outdoor' model. It's still a marine-grade unit, not just residential. But we almost never use it for it's icemaking purposes (who wants tank water ice?). It's on my list of things to change 'at some point'.

Like the 'last minute' name Alan, clever!

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Thanks for advice and photo, I'm already aware of the potential wire gauge issue, I had to run heavier gauge to my cabin fridge a few years back.

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2004 Vista 298
Twin 5.7L Volvo Penta GXi-E

Thanks No excuses, I look forward to seeing what can come out of this forum as I too would like to fit a fridge in the cockpit.

Alan, do you know the interior depth of your fridge, would I be able to store Coronas bottles on their side? (Coronas are 9.5 inches tall)

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2004 Vista 298
Twin 5.7L Volvo Penta GXi-E

You could stand them up in the door for sure, maybe a half dozen, and pull the middle rack out and stand them up in the fridge too I think but I'll take a measurment next time I'm at the boat. I usually always go the can route because you can easily carry twice as many cans as bottles, and you don't want to risk running out after all!

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"