The Little Chill

The Carver 506 features a lot of refrigeration – six Marine Air reverse-cycle heater/air conditioners, a Dino Mobile Refrigerator and a Raritan Icemaker built into the wet bar on the bridge, and a Marvel refrigerator and Marvel freezer in the galley.

Of these units, two failed after only 9 months in service. The first to go was the Dino refrigerator on the bridge (photo, center). The second was one of the six Marine Air air conditioning units. Both failed in November.

Even though the boat was in the first year of Carver's warranty, in which everything is fully covered, we were directed by them to contact the manufacturers directly for warranty claims. I suppose if we had had a dealer right next door, we could have twisted their arm to run interference, but as it was, the nearest Carver dealer was inconveniently several hours away by sea. And, as it was turning out, they were proving reluctant to support a yacht that they didn't sell. But that's another story.

We found an excellent resource in Alan's Yacht Refrigeration, in Marina del Rey, run by Alan Rosner. He was an authorized Marine Air dealer and repair facility. And while he was not similarly credentialed by Dino North America, they agreed to provide him the necessary parts at no charge.

Alan completed the repairs, and we paid all of his labor charges (in spite of the warranty) pending his receiving reimbursement from the manufacturers, particularly Marine Air. We believe in supporting sole proprietors and small businesses with fast payment, and thus took the financial risk ourselves.

Unfortunately, in this case, our faith in the manufacturers was futile; it has been nearly three years, and Alan never received any reimbursement for labor. Thus, in spite of the warranty, we got stuck with the bill.

I give Alan Rosner an "A", Carver a "D" for not providing an umbrella warranty that covers all of their installed OEM equipment, Dino North America a "D" for a product that failed after only 9 months in service, and Marine Air an "F", for apparent breach of contract coupled with infant mortality in what should be a simple, robust product.

A refreshing footnote, however. About the same time, one of the plastic rails in the door of the Marvel Refrigerator simply broke away from the door shelf. I spoke with Jerry Claypoole, Technical Service Coordinator for Marvel Industries, and asked for a replacement plastic door liner, the minimum repair possible. He demurred. Instead, he sent me an entire new door. So I wouldn't have to take apart the old one. Free of charge. Marvel, this is a weak point in your otherwise excellent design. "B-". Jerry, you get an "A". Way to go.